Great Western Arcade

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Great Western Arcade, Temple Row entrance

Great Western Arcade

The Great Western Arcade is a covered Grade II listed Victorian shopping arcade lying between Colmore Row and Temple Row in Birmingham, England.

It was built (1875-6) over the Great Western Railway line cutting on the London (Paddington) side of Birmingham Snow Hill station. The cutting was covered in 1874. Originally the broad gauge Paddington line ran through a tunnel which stopped at Temple Row and then an open cutting to Snow Hill station. The cutting was roofed over in 1874 and the Great Western Arcade built on top, the line of the new 'tunnel' being offset slightly to the north of the centre of the arcade. The extended tunnel has a length of 596 yards. The arcade was designed by W H Ward of Stone, Staffordshire.

The arcade has entrances at each end: that at Temple Row being ornate, unlike the modern reworking at Colmore Row, opposite the entrance to the station. The arcade's glass roof was destroyed during World War II and has been replaced. The arcade, containing shops on both sides, has a clock which strikes the quarters on a set of five exposed bells.

[edit] Sources

Images of England - photograph and details from listed building text
Pevsner Architectural Guides - Birmingham, Andy Foster, 2005, ISBN 0-300-10731-5
Salute to Snow Hill: The Rise and Fall of Birmingham's Snow Hill Railway Station 1852 - 1977, Harrison, Derek, 1978, 1983, Birmingham: Barbryn Press, ISBN 0-906160-00-6