54 - 57 Albion Street, Hockley, Birmingham B1 3EA

Evans and Sons is a family owned silverware and plate firm, which has been described by English Heritage as the finest example of a 19th century manufacturing premises in the "internationally important Jewellery Quarter".

 

The buildings, equipment, stock and company records alone have considerable value to Birmingham's heritage.   They are complimented by the substantial knowledge of the current owner, Tony Evans, the third generation of the family to run the firm.

Birmingham Conservation trust has been working since 2005 with a range of partners, to find ways to acquire the buildings and contents and identify the best way to conserve them and put them back in full use.

Below is an outline of the original proposal. Since this was created, research by the trust has established that these plans are very unlikely to be financially viable. Critically this means we won't be able to get the right level of grant funding, so the project currently needs new ways forward.

The trust has taken this message back to our partners and potential partners.

The Buildings.

54 -57 Albion Street is a Grade II* terrace of four early nineteenth century houses.    They were built in 1837 and the full height bay windows were added around 1900 while a few years before workshops had been built at the back of the buildings - filling the entire plot with space for the company.

This group of buildings appears on the English Heritage buildings at risk register .

Alongside are another three listed early C19th houses. Albion Street is in the Jewellery Quarter Conservation Area and lies in the industrial core that has been identified by Birmingham   City Council planners as a zone which needs to be preserved for continued commercial use.

The Project.

The business is still running and the properties are filled with the tools, equipment and documentation from over 100 years of operation.   The owner is very keen to secure the heritage.  

English Heritage and the Birmingham City Council commissioned a study to explore a future for the buildings. This identified the opportunity to create a vibrant, mixed use scheme that would address many of the aspirations expressed in the new Jewellery Quarter Charter . It would comprise:

•  A high quality retail outlet selling products made in the Quarter and where visitors would access the specialist skills for repairs or specially commissioned pieces

•  A manufacturing heritage attraction where visitors would understand and appreciate the skills involved in the production of silverware. This would also act as a focal point for visitors to the Quarter.

•  Commercial units specifically targeted at local makers creating a Centre of Excellence

English Heritage Photo-essay on the Jewellery Quarter

A few books on manufacturing in the Jewellery Quarter

Sheena Mason, Jewellery Making in Birmingham, 1750-1995, Birmingham, 1998.

John Cattell, Bob Hawkins, The Birmingham Jewellery Quarter: An Introduction and Guide, Birmingham, English Heritage, 2000.

Birmingham City Council (Donald Insall Associates and Weatherall Green & Smith), Jewellery Quarter Conservation Area, Character Appraisal and Management Plan, Birmingham, 2002.

John Cattell, Sheila Ely and Barry Jones, The Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, An Architectural Survey of the Manufactories, Swindon, English Heritage, 2002.

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