The Bull Ring is a term that refers to two distinct and notable locations in England: a prehistoric Neolithic henge monument in Derbyshire, and a historic market and shopping district in Birmingham.
The Bull Ring (Neolithic Henge), Derbyshire
The Bull Ring is a Class II henge monument built in the Late Neolithic period, located near the village of Dove Holes in Derbyshire, England. It is a scheduled monument (National Monument number 23282) and was designated on 26 November 1928.
The henge consists of a large circular earthwork comprising a bank and an internal ditch, separated by a berm. The bank is currently about 1 metre (3 ft) high and 9–11 metres (30–36 ft) wide, though it was originally 2 metres (7 ft) high and 5.5–7 metres (18–23 ft) wide. The internal ditch varies between 0.5 and 1 metre deep and 8 to 12 metres wide. The henge encloses an area approximately 53 metres north–south by 46 metres east–west, with entrances to the north and south, each with a causeway across the ditch.
A single standing stone (orthostat) was recorded as remaining in 1789, potentially the remnant of a stone circle. It has been suggested that stones from the henge were used as sleepers for the Peak Forest Tramway around 1790.
Several archaeological excavations have taken place: a minor excavation in 1902 by Micah Salt (which recovered pottery sherds and flint flakes, since lost); a trial excavation by Oxford University Archaeological Society in 1949 that confirmed two entrances and provided information about the original size of the bank and ditch; and a 1984 excavation outside the south entrance that found flint flakes, pottery, several pits, and stakeholes. Geophysical surveys in 2000 yielded no conclusive results.
Two barrows are located about 20 metres from the henge: an oval barrow (approximately 27 by 21 metres, dating to the early-to-mid Neolithic) and a later bowl barrow (late Neolithic to late Bronze Age) superimposed upon it. The oval barrow's summit was disturbed by a World War II slit trench.
Bull Ring, Birmingham
The Bull Ring is a major shopping area in central Birmingham, England, comprising open-air and indoor market stalls as well as a large indoor shopping centre (branded as "Bullring"). It has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages.
Toponym
The area was first known as Corn Cheaping, referring to the corn market. The name "Bull Ring" referred to the green within Corn Cheaping used for bull-baiting; the "ring" was a hoop of iron to which bulls were tied for baiting before slaughter. The joining of the two words in the 21st-century development to form "Bullring" caused controversy among some residents who objected to the change of what was described as a "historic spelling."
History
The market legally began in 1154 when Peter de Bermingham obtained a Charter of Marketing Rights from King Henry II. A cloth trade developed, and the area was first mentioned as "the Bulrynge" around 1529. By the 18th century, the grocery and meat trade had taken over from the cloth trade.
In 1839, the Bull Ring was the location of the Bull Ring Riots, when Chartist demonstrations led to widespread vandalism and the reading of the Riot Act. The area became a popular meeting place for political demonstrations and speeches during the 1830s and 1840s.
A Market Hall, designed by Charles Edge, opened in 1835 containing 600 market stalls. It was gutted by an incendiary attack on 25 August 1940 during the Birmingham Blitz.
The First Bull Ring Centre (1964)
The first indoor shopping centre on the site opened on 29 May 1964, opened by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was the first indoor city-centre shopping centre in the UK, covering 23 acres with 350,000 sq ft of retail space. It included a bus station, a multi-storey car park, and the Rotunda, a 25-storey circular office block. The centre was built by John Laing & Sons and designed by James A. Roberts. It became widely disliked over time as an example of 1960s Brutalist architecture.
Redevelopment (2003)
The current Bullring shopping centre opened on 4 September 2003, replacing the 1960s complex. It was masterplanned and designed mainly by Benoy, with the Selfridges department store designed by Future Systems, clad in 15,000 aluminium discs. The centre features a glass roof known as the SkyPlane covering 7,000 square metres. In 2004, it was the busiest shopping centre in the United Kingdom with 36.5 million visitors. The centre houses one of only four Selfridges department stores in the country and forms the UK's largest city-centre shopping centre when coupled with Grand Central.
Notable artworks include The Guardian, a bronze sculpture of a running bull by Laurence Broderick, and a statue of Horatio Nelson by Richard Westmacott, the first public monument in Birmingham and the first figurative memorial to Lord Nelson erected in Great Britain (unveiled 25 October 1809).
