Spaghetti Junction

Location
3.3 miles north of The Bullring, Birmingham.
52° 30’ 27.35” N


1° 51’ 39.27” W

elev. 77m




Field Report

 UNESCO World Heritage

Gravelly Hill Interchange

Date of Submission: 27/01/2022
Criteria: (i)(ii)(iv)(vi)
Category: Cultural 
Submitted by:
Department for Culture and Media 
State, Province or Region:
Mercia Federal Region, England
Coordinates: N52 30. 27 W1 57.3
Ref.: 5676
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Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party.

Description

The Gravelly Hill Interchange is an iconic example of civil engineering situated on the northern outskirts of Birmingham, England. Designed in the mid 1960s and opened in 1972 the monument was the centrepiece of the Midland Link project connecting the M1,. M5 and M6 motorways as well as the A38M designed to link the centre of Birmingham to the main motorway network. The complex design of the interchange was such that a the local newspaper, the Birmingham Post, dubbed it 'Spaghetti Junction'. This name was adopted worldwide to describe similarly structures.

Justification of Outstanding Universal Value

Gravelly Hill interchange is an outstanding example of twentieth century road engineering built in response to economic developments after World War II which saw road transport replace rail as the primary means of moving goods and materials on land. The structure also reflects societal changes relating to mass car ownership and increased use of the private car for leisure purposes. The structure is geographically and historically significant as its construction marks the centre of Britain's motorway network joining all parts of the country to a transport network which was deemed by eminent landscape historian W. G. Hoskins as the first large scale network of roads built in England since the Roman era. 

The structure is an outstanding example of the development of human land use taking into account traditional and pre-existing structures. To accommodate the new road within the confines of  Birmingham conurbation required it to be built on differing layers supported on pillars. The pillars were designed to harmonise with the existing canal network which, at ground level, has an early nineteenth example of a waterway 'interchange' where the Tame Valley Canal meets the Birmingham and Fazeley Navigation The junction covers over 30 acres which, as well as the canals, includes a river, two railway lines and Salford Park Reservoir. As well as the built environment the area is environmentally significant providing habitat for bird, insect and animals and a rich variety of flowering plants within an intensively developed urban area. 

 criteria met:

 (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

Statements of authenticity and/or integrity

Integrity:

 It is proposed to designate all road structures, signage, road 'furniture' and markings for world heritage status as well as the earlier canal and improved river developments at ground level. The 'green space' beneath the structure will be protected from development to maintain its diversity of fauna and flora.

Authenticity:

 Much of the authenticity of the structure comes from the fact that it remains in use as a key part of the national motorway network and is maintained to a high standard. However its interelationship with earlier transport infrastructure and use of the canal network for leisure purposes make Gravelly Hill uniquely important.

Comparison with other similar properties

 Gravelly Hill's relationship as an archetypal complex road interchange is shown by the fact that its 'nickname' has become synonymous with 360 other similar structures worldwide. However, in itself it has a unique position at the heart of the motorway UK network and is enhanced by the relationship it has with previous transport innovations such as the growth of the canal system. It is the combination of Gravelly Hill's world status in civil engineering, national importance geographically and historical connections with earlier monuments of the Industrial Revolution which demand that the structures are protected as a world heritage site.

voceti: The hunters of Gravelly Hill


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