Five Ways, Birmingham

Five Ways is an area of Central Birmingham, England. It takes its name from a major road junction, now a busy roundabout (with pedestrian subways through a traffic island) to the south-west of the city centre which lies at the outward end of Broad Street, where the Birmingham Middle ring road crosses the start of the A456 (Hagley Road).

The name of Five Ways dates back to 1565 when roads leading to Harborne and Halesowen were recorded as being located there.Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, who lived at Five Ways up until 1785, describes the origins of its name as a result of the location being the junction of five roadways.

Five Ways was disturnpiked in 1841 after disputes over the repair of the roadways in the area. It was the former home of King Edward VI Five Ways School, before it relocated to its present site in Bartley Green. Five Ways railway station is located on the Cross-City Line. It opened in 1884 to replace the Granville Street station and closed in 1944, reopening in 1979. The old station building survives as offices on Islington Row. There are plans to extend the Midland Metro light rail system from the city centre along Broad Street, through the Five Ways underpass and into Hagley Road.

On 4 June 1862, a memorial to Joseph Sturge (which originally incorporated drinking fountains) was unveiled in front of a crowd of 12,000. The sculptor was John Thomas, who Sir Charles Barry had employed as stone and wood carver on the former King Edward's Grammar School at Five Ways. In 2006/7 the partnership of The Birmingham Civic Society, Birmingham City Council and the Sturge family saw the statue restored in time for the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act of 1807. On 24 March 2007, there was a civic ceremony that formally rededicated the statue, and an interpretation board, giving details of his life, was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. The statue is grade II listed.

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