Harborne

For other uses, see Harborne (disambiguation).

Harborne
Population	21,070 (2001 population census)
OS grid reference	SP020836
Metropolitan borough	Birmingham
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BIRMINGHAM
Postcode district	B17
Dialling code	0121
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Birmingham Edgbaston

Harborne is an area three miles (5 km) southwest from Birmingham city centre, England. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district and in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston.

Geography

As a parish, it covered an area of 3,300 acres (13 km²), 100 acres (0.40 km²) of which was of woodland and plantations.

History

The former City of Birmingham fire station, now divided up and converted into private homes.

Harborne is a thriving and prosperous Victorian suburb with a large stock of housing dating from pre-1900 and the early 20th century. The oldest part of what is known locally as 'Harborne Village' is centred around St Peters Church which dates from Saxon times (St Chad preached there) and whose current tower was (re)constructed in the 14th century.

There is also some evidence of a Roman fort at Metchley Park, near Harborne.

The earliest written mention of Harborne is an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086, however the settlement pre-dates this.

The spelling of Harborne has appeared with several variations through the centuries, and the derivation of the place name has often been disputed. One of the more probable suggestions is 'boundary brook', although 'high brow' and 'dirty brook' are also possibilities.

Harborne became part of the county borough of Birmingham and thus transferred from Staffordshire to Warwickshire in 1891 by the Local Govt. Bd.'s Prov. Orders Conf. (No. 13) Act, 54 & 55 Vic. c. 161 (local act). It then became part of the West Midlands in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972.

Harborne railway station, at the end of the short Harborne Branch Line off the LMS Birmingham-Wolverhampton line at Ladywood, opened on 10 August 1874 and closed on 26 November 1934. It is now the Harborne Walkway, a two mile (3 km) nature walk and cycling route from Harborne to Ladywood, where the canal can be followed either to Birmingham or Wolverhampton.

Demographics

The 2001 census revealed that 21,070 lived in Harborne and that 16.5% of people were aged under 16, 62.5% were aged between 16 and 59, while 21.0% were aged over 60. The minority ethnic population made up 22.0% (4,701) of the ward’s population, compared with 29.6% for Birmingham. 61.3% of households were owner occupied and 17.6% were rented from either the local authority, housing association or other registered social landlord. The remaining 21.1% of households rented privately or lived rent free. The census found that 66.0% (10,390) of the population aged 16 to 74 were working or seeking work, this compared with 60.4% for Birmingham.

Many residents of the area are academics from the nearby University of Birmingham, as well as medical staff from nearby hospitals including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Famous residents

The former Ireland and Leeds United legend Johnny Giles has been residing in Harborne for many years. From 1865 to 1870, Elihu Burritt, a US Consul sent by Abraham Lincoln, resided in Harborne in a house called New Britain Villas, Victoria Road, which still stands. Burritt was a social activist, working to promote international peace. Harborne's most notable resident was W. H. Auden - the present day swimming baths stand on the site of his childhood home. Other famous residents include landscape painter David Cox, the composer Granville Bantock and Thomas Attwood who became the first MP from Birmingham. Edward Augustus Freeman was born in Metchley Abbey in 1823 and was a noted historian appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford. The Nobel Prize-winning chemist and physicist Francis William Aston was born in Harborne in 1877. The Arts and Crafts jeweller-silversmith George Edward Hunt resided in Harborne from about 1900 until his death in 1960. The former England cricketer Dennis Amiss was born in Harborne. In the mid/late 1990s Ocean Colour Scene lived just down the road from the High Street. Radio show presenter Adrian Goldberg who currently presents on Talksport was born in Harborne. Jerome Wallington, the first person to perform as Tiny Tim in the world premier of Leslie Bricusse's Scrooge the Musical at the Alexandra theatre Birmingham and who subsequently recorded the original cast sound track at Abbey Road Studios in London was born in Harborne in 1982. Ben Richards, currently starring in The Bill, grew up in Harborne. Keith Law lived for a while in Croftdown Road.

Soap actress, Corrinne Wicks who is best known for her role as Dr Helen Thompson in the BBC soap Doctors and her 2010 role in Emmerdale, resides in Harborne.

Politics

Harborne ward forms part of the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency at Westminster, currently represented by Labour's Gisela Stuart. However, at local government level, Harborne ward is represented on Birmingham City Council by two councillors from the Conservative Party, including current council leader Mike Whitby. The other councillor is from the Labour Party.

In the upcoming boundary changes there is a new constituency of Birmingham Harborne created.

The ward has a Ward Support Officer.

Public transport

Harborne is served by the National Express West Midlands bus routes: 11A, 11C, 22, 23, 24, 29, 29A, 448, 636 and 821. The suburb had a railway station which opened in 1874. The station however closed to passenger traffic in 1934 and to freight in 1964.

External links

• Birmingham City Council: Harborne Ward
• Early history
• The Harborne Society
• Harborne Village Partnership