A History of Birmingham

Birmingham was a village worth only one pound in the Domesday Survey, yet it rose to become the second city of the British Empire with a population that passed a million. Its growth began when Peter de Birmingham obtained a market charter in 1154 for his little settlement by an insignificant river, with all roads leading to its all-important market-place, the great triangular Bull Ring, with the parish church of St Martin's in the middle. In the succeeding centuries, Birmingham has been a p...