Places of Interest
The Church of England parish churches are St Augustine's Church, St Germain's Church, St. George's Church and St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as Edgbaston Old Church. Birmingham Central Synagogue built in 1961 is also in Edgbaston. The Roman Catholic church of the Birmingham Oratory, on Hagley Road, was built in 1907 in the Baroque style as a memorial to John Henry Newman, who founded the English Oratory here. Its dome is a prominent landmark.
J. R. R. Tolkien lived in Edgbaston during his teenage years, and the two towers of Edgbaston, Perrott's Folly and the Waterworks Tower, both close to the Oratory, are said to have provided inspiration for part of his The Lord of the Rings novel. The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, which is located on the University of Birmingham campus, is a purpose built gallery which contains a wide range of art from the masters to Picasso.
Edgbaston Reservoir, formerly known as Rotton Park Reservoir, provides a header supply for the Birmingham Canal Navigations and is an important inner city leisure amenity. There are three public gardens located within Edgbaston; the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and the lesser known University of Birmingham Winterbourne Botanic Garden and Martineau Gardens Martineau Gardens. Adjoining the university gardens is Edgbaston Pool (not to be confused with the reservoir) which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest). Edgbaston contains the only Grade I listed domestic building in Birmingham, notably one of the Arts & Crafts houses number 21 Yateley Road, designed by Herbert Tudor Buckland, and built for his own use. Edgbaston Hall, a Grade II listed country hall, is located within the ward. It is currently the clubhouse for Edgbaston Golf Club.
The BBC opened television studios at Pebble Mill in 1971, which were in use for 33 years until closing in October 2004 and being demolished the following year. The site remains vacant, despite plans upon its closure for a science and technology park to be developed there.
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