, now used as a public library and college campus The name
Handsworth originates from its
Saxon owner Hondes and the
Old English word
weorthing, meaning farm or estate. It was recorded in the
Domesday Survey of 1086, as a holding of
William Fitz-Ansculf, the Lord of Dudley, although at that time it would only have been a very small village surrounded by farmland and extensive woodland. One of the oldest buildings in Handsworth is the
Old Town Hall which dates from 1460. Historically in the county of
Staffordshire, it remained a small village from the 13th century to the 18th century. Accommodation was built for factory workers, the village quickly grew, and in 1851, more than 6,000 people were living in the township. In that year, work began to build
St James' Church. Later
St Michael's Church was built as a daughter church to St James'. In the
census of 1881, the town was recorded as having approx. 32,000 residents. By the census of 1911, this had more than doubled to 68,610. The
Council House, in Soho Road, now used as a public library and college campus, was completed in 1879. The development of the built environment was sporadic and many of Handsworth's streets display a mixture of architectural types and periods – among them some of the finest Victorian buildings in the city. Handsworth has two
grammar schools –
Handsworth Grammar School and
King Edward VI Handsworth School (for girls).
St Andrew's Church is a listed building in Oxhill Road which also held Sunday school classes in a small building on the corner of Oxhill Road and Church Lane. It also contains
Handsworth Park, which in 2006 underwent a major restoration, the vibrant shopping area of Soho Road and
St. Mary's Church containing the remains of the founders of the
Industrial Revolution - Watt, Murdoch and Boulton. The 1901
Red Lion public house was
grade II* listed in 1985, but has been empty since 2008 and is considered "at risk". In 1894 Handsworth became an
urban district, on 9 November 1911 the urban district was abolished and merged with the
County Borough of Birmingham and Handsworth parish was transferred from Staffordshire to
Warwickshire. On 1 October 1930 the parish was abolished and merged with Birmingham. Birmingham historian Dr.
Carl Chinn noted that during the
Second World War the boundary between Handsworth and the outlying suburb of
Handsworth Wood marked the line between being safe and unsafe from bombing, with Handsworth Wood being an official evacuation zone, despite being at least ten miles away from any countryside that might now qualify as "green belt" land, and being on the periphery of many "high risk" areas. During the Second World War,
West Indians had arrived as part of the
colonial war effort, where they worked in Birmingham
munitions factories. In the
post-war period, a rebuilding programme required much unskilled labour and Birmingham's
industrial base expanded, significantly increasing the demand for both skilled and unskilled workers. During this time, there was direct recruitment for workers from the
Caribbean and the area became a centre for Birmingham's
Afro-Caribbean community. A tram depot was erected near Birmingham Road, next to the border with
West Bromwich, during the 1880s, and remained in use until the tram service ended in 1939. Although it has since been demolished, a replica of the depot was created later in the 20th century at the
Black Country Living Museum in
Dudley. == Boulton and Watt ==