The Austin Village

For much of the twentieth century, Birmingham was known for its car manufacturing, most notably the Austin Motor Company. Herbert Austin began manufacturing cars in 1905. After the outbreak of the First World War, the factory was greatly expanded and switched from civilian production to the manufacture of ammunition, tanks and aeroplanes.

This was naturally accompanied by a huge increase in the number of employees. In order to house them, Austin purchased 500 prefabricated cedar houses in the United States in 1917, which, together with 25 brick houses, were named “The Austin Village”.

Now, more than 100 years later, the houses still exist and the area is listed as “The Austin Village Conservation Area” on Historic Britain's list of endangered heritage sites.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Jo Baker Wishart