Birmingham

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History

There is evidence of early human activity in the Birmingham area dating back to around 8000 BC, with Stone Age artefacts suggesting seasonal settlements, overnight hunting parties and woodland activities such as tree felling. The many burnt mounds that can still be seen around the city indicate that modern humans first intensively settled and cultivated the area during the Bronze Age, when a substantial but short-lived influx of population occurred between 1700 BC and 1000 BC, possibly caused by conflict or immigration in the surrounding area. During the 1st-century Roman conquest of Britain, the forested country of the Birmingham Plateau formed a barrier to the advancing Roman legions, who built the large Metchley Fort in the area of modern-day Edgbaston in AD 48, and made it the focus of a network of Roman roads. Birmingham was then later established by the Beormingas around the 6th or 7th century as a small settlement in the then heavily forested Arden region in Mercia. The development of Birmingham into a significant urban and commercial centre began in 1166, when the Lord of the manor Peter de Bermingham obtained a charter to hold a market at his castle, and followed this with the creation of a planned market town and seigneurial borough within his demesne or manorial estate, around the site that became the Bull Ring. This established Birmingham as the primary commercial centre for the Birmingham Plateau at a time when the area's economy was expanding rapidly, with population growth nationally leading to the clearance, cultivation and settlement of previously marginal land. Within a century of the charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous urban centre of merchants and craftsmen. By 1327 it was the third-largest town in Warwickshire, a…

Geography

Birmingham is located in the centre of the West Midlands region of England on the Birmingham Plateau – an area of relatively high ground, ranging between above sea level and crossed by Britain's main north–south watershed between the basins of the Rivers Severn and Trent. To the immediate south west of the city lie the Lickey Hills, Clent Hills and Walton Hill, which reach and have extensive views over the city. Birmingham is drained only by minor rivers and brooks, primarily the River Tame and its tributaries the Cole and the Rea. Birmingham is located significantly inland, and its nearest body of sea is at Liverpool Bay. It lies at the same latitude as Lowestoft, Britain's easternmost settlement; it is therefore much more proximate to the western coast of Wales, at Cardigan Bay. The City of Birmingham forms a conurbation with the borough of Solihull to the south east, and with the city of Wolverhampton and the industrial towns of the Black Country to the north west, which form the West Midlands Built-up Area covering . Surrounding this is Birmingham's metropolitan area – the area to which it is closely economically tied through commuting – which includes the towns of Tamworth and Cannock to the north; the city of Coventry and the towns of Nuneaton, Warwick and Leamington Spa to the east in Warwickshire and the Worcestershire towns of Redditch, Kidderminster and Bromsgrove to the south west. As the crow flies, Birmingham lies approximately north-west of London, north-east of the Welsh capital Cardiff, south-west of Nottingham, south of Manchester, and north-north-east of Bristol. Much of the area now occupied by the city was originally a northern reach of the ancient Forest of Arden and the city remains relatively densely covered by oak in a large number of…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  15,762
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,866
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,485
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,465
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  12,296
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  12,232
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,303
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,301

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2023-06-28
  2 km SE of Cheadle, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2022-05-30
  2 km ESE of Prees, United Kingdom
• M 3.2 — 2022-02-21
  5 km N of Hockley, United Kingdom
• M 2.8 — 2015-09-22
  2 km W of Cottesmore, United Kingdom
• M 3.8 — 2015-01-28
  2 km WSW of Market Overton, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2014-10-28
  2 km NNE of Hucknall, United Kingdom