UPDATE: Please take the time to read our announcement. Ristorante Café Arena is open as normal.

Ladywood Light

A sculpture linking the past and present of illumination in Birmingham.

A commission created with MJM Bespoke.

This neon-lined sculpture is inspired by the lamplighters of Ladywood, who were based here at the Roundhouse (then known as Sheepcote Street Depot) in the late 1800s. They walked up to twelve miles per evening to light (and later extinguish) each gas street light on their route. They brought illumination to dark streets and courts; changing how people could access these spaces prior to the arrival of electric street lighting.

‘Ladywood Light’ makes a connection between past and present by combining the style of Victorian gas street lamps with the bold colours and lighting of contemporary Birmingham at night.

Commission supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Picture of the Roundhouse courtyard in the dark with the Ladywood Light lit and several other glass and metal art pieces
'Ladywood Light' in the Roundhouse courtyard.

Ladywood's Lamplighters

Better street lighting became part of a host of civic improvements in Birmingham in the late 1800s. It made previously dark streets and courts safer, and enabled businesses and factories running later into the night.

As the sun went down, lamplighters would walk around the city and light the streetlamps. Lamps were lit by the lamplighter with a flamed torch on the end of a pole.

Each lamplighter would light and extinguish around 110 lamps every day, carrying a ladder to clean 30 lamps a day.

Black and white photograph of the Ladywood’s lamplighters lined up for a photograph at the nearby Cambridge Street Depot, date unknown.
Ladywood’s lamplighters line up for a photograph at the nearby Cambridge Street Depot, date unknown.

The lamplighters were often respected within the community, and sometimes children would serenade them in gratitude for bringing light to often dangerous streets of Victorian Birmingham.

Although, if you got on the wrong side of a lamplighter, maybe they wouldn’t light your street!

Lamplighters were healthy and fit because they walked 12 miles a day with a ladder, and our research shows that a lot of them were boxers. They were mostly men, aside from during war time, when lighting the streets became one of a number of wartime jobs for women in various parts of the UK.

Who ran the operation?

Initially, the lamps were fuelled with oil, but this changed to gas in 1826.

Street lighting in Birmingham was run by two private gas companies until 1875, when the Corporation of Birmingham purchased the operation to improve what was then the town of Birmingham.

Black and white picture of Corporation workers carrying out street lamp repairs at Sheepcote Street Depot, 1940.
Corporation workers carrying out street lamp repairs at Sheepcote Street Depot, 1940.
The local night's sky in Ladywood
Views of the local nights sky in Ladywood. Inspiration for the sculpture.

Update

The ‘Roundhouse Birmingham’ charity was set up in 2016 to care for the historic Grade II* listed Roundhouse building. Nine years on and the restored building is now used as office space and is home to a much-loved Italian restaurant.

Since 2021, the Roundhouse has also been a base for guided walks, kayak tours, boat trips and other activities. Whilst these have been well received, rising external costs mean this element of Roundhouse Birmingham is no longer providing the sustainable income we need to fund the ongoing care of this historic building. For this reason, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the leisure activity offer and visitor centre.

The office spaces will remain open as usual. Visitors can still access the site (see www.arenaltd.co.uk for opening hours) and Ristorante Caffe Arena will continue to welcome visitors.

We’re hugely proud of what the Roundhouse Birmingham team has achieved, and we’d also like to thank all of our visitors for their support. The trustees of Roundhouse Birmingham remain fully committed to caring for this important part of Birmingham’s heritage.

If you’ve already booked a tour, you’ll be contacted via email and the cost of your booking will be refunded. We apologise for any inconvenience.