An old pub that has been boarded over for much of the last decade will be added to Birmingham’s Local Heritage List.
The Old Windmill sits unoccupied opposite the old City Hospital on Dudley Road in Winson Green, one of the last remnants of what used to be Birmingham’s ‘Golden Mile’.
Dudley Road was the main route between Birmingham and the Black Country back in the 19th century and it was home to 30 boozers.
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The Old Windmill is the last historic pub on the stretch, but it has been closed since before the Covid pandemic of 2020.
Since then it remains standing, but surrounded by brand new build flats and developments.
Birmingham City Council’s Planning Committee agreed on August 13 that the former boozer and four other historic city sites will also be added to Birmingham’s Local Heritage List.
- Cherry Reds, John Bright Street
- The Gazette Buildings, Corporation Street
- The medieval moat and Yardley Ridge and Furrow Earthworks, Old Yardley Park
- The Electric Cinema
There are more than 400 sites on the city’s list and while this doesn’t offer the same kind of statutory protection as the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s National Heritage List for England, the council says it does ensure a site’s significance is a material consideration when it comes to planning decisions that may affect them.
Back in 2021, Historic England assessed The Old Windmill, noting that it was of local interest and was illustrative of the historic development of City Road, but that it did not meet the threshold for statutory listing.
The council says that the prominent landmark ‘possesses strong local, historic, communal and townscape value’.
The Old Windmill on Dudley Road in Winson Green
The pub was originally built as a farmhouse in the mid-to-late 18th century. A tithe map of 1847 shows a nearby windmill from which the boozer took its name.
While the listing offers no certainty for the future of the pub, it offers fresh hope that it might be preserved in the neighbourhood for years to come.
Councillor Deborah Harries, Cabinet Member for Culture, said: “It’s great to see such a variety of sites being added to Birmingham’s Local Heritage List, which reflect the city’s architectural, cultural, social and industrial history.
“I’m especially pleased to see The Electric cinema being added to that list as, until it closed in 2024, it was the oldest working cinema in the UK so played a vital role in our city’s cultural heritage.
“Today’s decision further underlines the council’s commitment to recognising the significance of our city’s heritage.”
