Pictures of Edgbaston

About Edgbaston

This is perhaps the leafiest of all Birmingham suburbs, it is also one of the oldest, there was a settlement here at the time of the Doomsday Book which was recorded as Celbeldstone.

Throughout its long history Edgbaston has been home to numerous famous people. Cardinal Newman lived here so too did Austin and Neville Chamberlain who was Prime Minister at the outbreak of the Second World War. It was also home to J.R.R. Tolkien and George Cadbury of the famous Cadbury family.

Edgbaston is a district of wide leafy roads lined with elegant houses, lately these have become interspersed with more modern buildings, yet the suburb has somehow managed to retain much of its 19th and early 20th century charm, despite some of its former mansions being turned into luxury hotels, or pulled down to make way for apartment buildings. The Plough and Harrow Hotel occupies a gracious brick built Victorian building on Hagley Road, this perfectly epitomises the Edgbaston of yester-year when nearly all the surrounding properties were of similar style and proportions.

The suburb is the home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, with the massive complex of Birmingham University being watched over by towering "Big Tom" the University clock. For many years Edgbaston was also the home of the BBC's television studio at Pebble Mill, but this has recently re-located to Birmingham's new Mailbox Centre.

Apart from the University, Edgbaston is the home of other fine educational facilities these include Edgbaston High School for Girls which was founded in 1876. The Priory Tennis Club was established in Edgbaston over 130 years ago, this has produced may talented players including Wimbledon winners and Davis Cup players. The club occupies an idyllic position at the heart of Edgbaston and offers indoor and all weather courts, swimming pools and relaxation facilities.

There is a wide selection of hotels, inns and multi-cultural restaurants together with a small parade of shops and a shopping precinct.