I'd previously been at the other end of Banbury Street earlier in the year when I took shots of the former Eagle & Tun pub. I had no idea back then that a Grade II* listed building was at the end of the road.
I checked beforehand on Heritage Gateway for any Grade II* listed buildings in Digbeth and the Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House came up.
For a Sunday morning there was no one here, might also be due to it's location, other side of the railway line.
Quite regularly down here I head trains passing by loudly.
Obviously this place was built before the railway line existed (but probably after the local canal was built).
Near here is Proof House Junction (on both the railway line and canal).
Here it is, at the end of Banbury Street.
Gun Barrel Proof House is Grade II* listed.
A gun barrel proof (testing) house commissioned by the Guardians of
the Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House from John Horton and opened in
1813. The building was added to by Charles Edge in 1860, Bateman and
Corser in 1868-70 and again in 1876, and by Jethro Cossins in 1883.
MATERIALS: The building is of red brick laid in a variety of bonds
with painted stone and terracotta dressings and a slate and plain
tiled roof.
PLAN: The original building of 1813 has two storeys and a basement and
lies to north of the site. To its north is an entrance forecourt which
has a gate screen and two-storey lodge to the west. At south is a yard
which contains the single-storey proof rooms and magazine and loading
rooms.
The buildings all abut each other or are joined by covered walkways,
but they are described here separately for clarity.
THE ENTRANCE RANGE FROM BANBURY STREET of 1883 has a central round
arch set in a shaped gable. This was raised in 1970 to accommodate
larger vehicles. At either side are shaped gables, that at left
belonging to the gate lodge. The diapered brick work has moulded brick
dressings and there is a stone tympanum to the central arch which
shows the coat of arms set in a cartouche. The south flank of the
entrance lodge is of three bays, with a central two-storey porch with
shaped gable.
THE PROOF HOUSE RANGE OF 1813 is joined to the entrance range and the
furthest right hand bay of its north face is masked by the block to
south of the arch. EXTERIOR: The 1813 front has ten bays and is of
Flemish bond brick. To near-centre is the principal door, which was
formerly a throughway. This has a frontispiece which has a basket arch
with Tuscan pillars to either side and an entablature with blocking
course. Projecting from the blocking course is a tablet supported on
brackets which reads `ESTABLISHED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT / FOR PUBLIC
SECURITY, ANNO DOM : 1813.' Above this is a broad, shallow niche which
contains an elaborate trophy of arms (attributed to William Hollins)
and to the top is a segmental pediment with a circular clock face. To
either side of this feature are rainwater pipes with hoppers which
each have the date `1813'. To left of this are five bays, and to right
are four bays, of a former eleven-bay composition. Both floors have
painted stone surrounds to the windows with brackets supporting
segmental pediments. Between the first and second bays at left is the
Guardians' entrance which leads up to the Board Room at first floor
level. This has a six-panelled door with fanlight and Tuscan doorcase
with open, segmental pediment. Until 1868 there was a matching doorway
at right of centre which gave access to two houses of proof house
officials. The south face of this range, which fronts the yard has
numerous additions. On line with the pedimented centrepiece on the
north front is a single-storey, canted bay lighting the office of the
Proof Master. Above is a staircase window and above that a circular
clockface set in a pedimental gable. To either side at ground floor
level are single-storey additions of later-C19 date which accommodate
the enlarged receiving and testing rooms. These have lean-to roofs
with rooflights. The first floor sash windows are all of four lights
with segment heads. Extending from the right side across the yard is a
covered walkway with iron columns and open sides and a pitched roof.
Plans show that this existed by 1833. A wing projects at far right and
this connects to the Proof Hole.
INTERIOR: The Guardians' entrance hall has a ceiling rose and an
open-well staircase with wrought iron balustrade and wooden handrail.
Some cornicing survives to the Receiving Room, which was formerly
housing for staff of the Proof House. The first floor board room
survives largely intact and has cornicing and carved wood surrounds to
the doors and windows which have reeding and patera. There are paired
doors to the east and west end walls and a fireplace to the south wall
with a marble surround The adjacent Museum Room,which was perhaps
formerly the Proof Master's Office, has similarly moulded surrounds
and a large two-door wall safe.
THE PROOF HOLE OF 1860 is in a Round-arched style and of orange bricks
laid in English bond, with blue brick dressings. A bomb blast in 1940
caused the demolition of the southernmost of the original four bays.
EXTERIOR: The western, yard, front has three bays with round arched
openings to the lower body, all fitted with heavy metal shutters with
louvred panels, above which are small oculi. The roof consists of a
louvred arrangements of timbers to allow smoke to escape. The east
front of the Proof Hole is blank. Close to it and flanking the canal
wharf is a further, smaller, proof house with similar brickwork which
is used to retry those barrels which have failed to discharge in the
Proof Hole. This has a deeply splayed door surround to the south front
and metal bosses to re-enforce the walls. Joined to it at its north
end, and also flanking the canal wharf, is a two-storey building which
has lavatories below a late-C19 magazine, which is now disused.
INTERIOR: The lower walls are lined with thick plates of iron which
are heavily scarred and there are iron screens at both ends of the
room. Two raised brick platforms face each other across the width of
the room. That to the west side has a stone surface, grooved to hold
gun barrels, which are held in place by piled sand and fired in
sequence by a fuse. On the opposite side the surface is covered with
piled sand to absorb the shot. The roof has a curved metal canopy to
the centre to deflect shot. Above this, the roof structure is louvred
to allow smoke to escape. The three arched openings in the west wall
have thick iron shutters and louvres which are worked by heavy metal
crank arms.
PROOF HOUSE RANGE: A further range of smaller testing rooms lies along
the south side of the yard.
EXTERIOR: The range has a series of four cambered doorways with blue
brick dressings and metal re-enforcement. To the south-west corner is
a larger room which was also used as a proof hole for multiple
firings. It has blank walling to all sides, a deeply chamfered door
surround to the west face and a renewed roof. To the west side of the
yard is the washing-out room for cleaning the barrels after firing
which has a canted bay to the yard front and was formerly a loading
room with Priming and Ramming rooms off.
INTERIOR: The series of proof rooms each consists of two chambers; an
outer room in which the rifle is placed in a metal box and directed
through the dividing wall to the second room which contains a sand
bank. Both chambers have solid brick walls and there is thick metal
cladding to the lower walls of the second rooms. Some of the dividing
walls between the rooms have been removed.
THE MAGAZINE BUILDING at the centre of the yard has plain brick
walling of English bond to three sides and a half-glazed door to the
west gable end. Plans show the building to have an outer and inner
room.
The C20 buildings to the north side of the entrance forecourt are
excluded from this designation.
HISTORY: The Gun Barrel Proof House was set up as a statutory institution by an Act of Parliament of 1813 to test barrels and completed guns. The Act was requested and obtained by the Birmingham trade and the Proof House was run at its own expense. It was, and still is, governed by a Board of Guardians composed of Master Gunmakers, magistrates and councillors and run by a Proof Master. Gun barrels and complete guns are tested by inspection and are fired to ensure their soundness and marked with a die stamp if they are passed. The original building of 1813-14 was designed by John Horton of Bradford Street, Deritend. A watercolour drawing of this time shows the original treatment of the north-facing, entrance front, which had a Tuscan throughway, which led to the yard behind. To the east of this were five bays and to the west were four. At the centre of the rear yard and on line with the central arch was the original magazine, which was treated as a classical kiosk. The survey plan of 1833 by Henry Jacob shows that the four bays at west belonged to two houses for officials of the Proof House, entered from a passageway common to both. These were altered in 1868-70 by Bateman and Corser and converted into workshops and at the same time the facade was altered to make it more symmetrical with five bays to the west side of the arch. Also at this same time the throughway appears to have been filled in and a semi-oval staircase added. A new, plainer magazine was added at the centre of the yard by the same architects in 1876. Prior to this, in 1860, a new `Proof Hole', or testing house, of four bays had been built to designs of Charles Edge. The entrance range to the forecourt was added by Jethro Cossins in 1883, including an archway which was raised in height in 1970. A bomb fell in the yard in 1940 and caused the destruction of one bay of the 1860 Proof Hole and the associated range of loading rooms along the south wall.
SOURCES
Andy Foster, Pevsner Architectural Guide, Birmingham (2005), 187-9;
The Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House, Services and Facilities.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Gun Barrel Proof House is designated at
Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* The original range of buildings designed by John Horton and built in
1813 has distinct architectural quality and includes an impressive
gateway and board room.
* The large Proof Hole of 1860 by Charles Edge suffered some damage in
the Second World War but despite this is a remarkably intact example
of its type with a large number of original fittings.
* The buildings were designed as an obvious, public expression of one
of Birmingham's foremost industries which was pre-eminent in England
throughout the C19, and the pride which it took in its reputation.
* The full complex of buildings, including proof rooms, loading rooms,
inspection rooms and magazine provides a clear indication of the
functioning of the Proof House.
Gun Barrel Proof House - Heritage Gateway
A 10 mph sign on the left.
