A Dark History of Birmingham

Birmingham is England’s second-largest city and it was the Industrial Revolution that kick-started its growth. The city grew rapidly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as the area became home to a host of factories and workshops. Working conditions were hard and the population crowded in back-to-back houses with little sanitation. Disease ran alongside deprivation, and despite the city’s efforts at sanitation the canals became foul dumping grounds.

Author: Anthony Poulton-Smith

Warwickshire, West Midlands, True crime, Local history

Published on 15 Oct 2026 by Amberley Publishing.