Britain's gun capital

In the 19th century, the famous Birmingham Gun Quarter outstripped the makers of London. Rachel Draper charts a golden age for the city

- Rachel Draper

Think of the home of English gunmaking, where quality is king and the guns of your dreams are hand-built by skilled artisans. Have you thought of London? Renowned as the base for distinguished makers, London has the monopoly on today’s big names, but if we were to look back a mere 100 years or so, the British gun trade would look very different.

The Birmingham gun trade can trace its origins to around the 17th century, with large government contracts being taken on in the late 1600s, committing the gunmakers to produce 200 military firearms per month for a whole year. Birmingham has always been a city built on trade, hard labour and skilled craftsmen. The thriving metalwork industry offered the ideal habitat for the development of firearms.

Towards the end of the 18th century, the Birmingham gun quarter was growing at a rapid pace, with a total of 62 workshops involved in gunmaking, according to Sketchley’s Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Walsall Directory of 1767. There were 35 gun and pistol makers, eight barrel makers, five finishers, 11 actioners and HO three stockers. With the introduction of the percussion system, Birmingham took responsibility for more than two-thirds of England’s gun production between 1804 and 1815.

With this increase in the manufacturing of firearms, it was decided by Act of Parliament that a Proof House should be established in Birmingham. In 1813, it became the second official proofing body in the country. In the space of six years, between 1855 and 1861, six million arms were tested and proofed in the city.