Stirchley Library in Pictures

October 22, 2025
Exterior view of Stirchley Branch Library. Photographed by Lewis Lloyd in 1913. Held by Birmingham Archive.

Opened in 1905, Stirchley Library is one of Birmingham’s ten Carnegie libraries, built with funding from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to bring books and learning into local communities. Designed by architect John P. Osborne, the library is a fine example of Edwardian civic architecture, with its red brick, stone dressings, and distinctive gabled frontage.

Inside, the library once featured a traditional entrance desk where librarians presided, while light filtered through skylights and tall windows to illuminate the reading rooms. Over time, spaces have been adapted – but the …

Continue Reading →

Bournville Market (Stirchley Flora-entis)

October 14, 2025

Have you ever noticed this cheerful chappie when walking down Bournville Lane from Bournville Station towards Stirchley Library?

Or his sleepier companion – dreaming beneath a flourish of scrolling leaves, and echoing the green men that gaze from church nooks and crannies across Britain and Europe?

During Heritage Week (12-21 September), local artist Jen Dixon led a walk exploring Stirchley’s architectual flora – those stone flowers and leafy faces hidden in plain sight. It was an excercise in looking up, and noticing the overlooked details we miss in daily life.

The two faces appear on one of several surviving, intricately …

Continue Reading →

Carnegie Libraries Exhibition for Birmingham Heritage Week

October 1, 2025

As part of Birmingham Heritage Week 2025, Stirchley Library hosted a special exhibition celebrating the city’s Carnegie libraries.

The display explored the history, architecture, and community role of Birmingham’s Carnegie buildings, which were funded in the early 20th century by Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Through research, photographs, and interpretation boards, visitors could learn about the enduring features of these much-loved libraries – from their light-filled reading rooms and junior sections to their distinctive architectural details.

Highlights included the story of Northfield Library, rebuilt after an arson attack in 1914, and boards focusing on how design choices – skylights, windows, …

Continue Reading →

Local Green Spaces: Stocks Wood

July 8, 2025
The pool at the foot of Stocks Wood. Stocks Drive can be seen just in the background. Taken in 1879. Held by Birmingham Archive.

On the site where Selly Manor now stands, there was once a pool of water – it lay at the foot of Stock’s Wood. Selly Manor, along with its nearby companion Minworth Greaves, is a timber-framed building saved from destruction by George Cadbury. Both were carefully dismantled, moved from their original locations, and rebuilt near Bournville Green. Their histories are fascinating (you can find out more [here]), but the land …

Continue Reading →

Local Green Spaces: The Robin Garden

July 1, 2025

This summer, the library’s reading challenge is “Story Garden” — and we’ll be sharing a series of posts about local green spaces: some tucked out of sight, others hiding their secrets in plain view.

We begin just behind the library itself, in what’s sometimes called the Robin Garden, named for the painted robin perched on a wooden stump. This space is cared for by the Fruit & Nut Village, who’ve transformed it into a vibrant patchwork of fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and other useful plants.

Plum (Prunus domestica).

This tucked-away green space is full of surprises. While many …

Continue Reading →