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 HORSE FAIR
24
39th
36 Bristol Street, Birmingham B5 7AA
021-622 4655
HF
1930
 
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The existing retail shop and house at 36 Bristol Street were let at £50 per annum and subject to the Rent Restrictions Acts. Possession of the Stafford Arms was available on completion of the purchase, although there was a small area let at the rear producing £12 per year subject to three months' notice. However, completion of the purchase was only possible after the vendors of the Stafford Arms (Mitchells & Butlers) had finished erecting a new public house elsewhere, so that their existing licence could be transferred there. The Bank's desire to open a branch in this area was therefore delayed by the lack of an immediately available, suitable freehold property. It proved necessary to demolish the exiting premises, thus further delaying the project. Unusually, both an office and a residential flat on the first floor were incorporated into the design by the architect, Norman Twist. The construction was carried out by George Mobbs at a cost of £3,987.  It was not until May 3rd  1930 that Horse Fair branch was formally opened by the Lord Mayor (Alderman M L Lancaster).
 
During part of the Second World War, the branch was one of twenty-two offices that were opened on a restricted basis due to a shortage of staff. Details at Combination of Branches.
 
When Sherlock Street branch was closed on May 31st 1960, all remaining open accounts were transferred to Horse Fair branch. The ancient horse fair is commemorated by a mural, in the nearby roundabout at the junction with Smallbrook Queensway.
 
 
 

 
below:
36 & 38 Bristol Street:
 - prior to construction of Horse Fair branch; and
 - after completion of the branch in 1930
below:
Crowds assembling for the branch's opening ceremony: May 3rd 1930
below:
The Bank's Chairman (Alderman Sir Percival Brown)
speaking at the opening ceremony to the assembled crowd
Branch interior: 1930
 
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One of the features of the fairs that were traditionally centred on Birmingham's Bull Ring, was the horse fair - located on the edge of the late 18th-century town at Smallbrook Street. The horse fair was the last of Birmingham's fairs, ceasing to exist as late as 1912.
 
After several years of attempting to find a suitable site in this densely populated area, the Bank was successful in 1927 in their negotiations for the purchase of a freehold property. The properties purchased for the sum of £2,500 were 36 Bristol Street (a gentleman's hosier and dwelling house) and 38 Bristol Street (the Stafford Arms public house) as shown in the photograph below. At about the same time, the Bank also purchased land in the nearby location of Sherlock Street. Examples of the area's back-to-back houses survive nearby, courtesy of the National Trust.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
= location of 36 Bristol Street. An additional branch was located in nearby Sherlock Street @
Managers:
1930 & 1931 - E H Viney
1934 - F Fitzpatrick
1937 - C H Massey
 
1958 - G L Boden
1959 & 1960 L F Evans
1961 - E B Spencer
1963 to 1965 - A H F Giddings
1966 - C Russ
1967 to 1970 - E A Stewart
1971 - W Porritt
1971 - D M Bickley
1974 - D J Glenn
1974 - J W Hall
1976 - D A Coton
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