Architecture of Birmingham Sparkbrook of 1899, whose inventive but restrained design had a national influence, maintaining the close relationship between function and decoration that was important to the Gothic revival, while moving away from the straightforwardly historicist imitation of medieval precedent. The most comprehensive expression of the Arts and Crafts spirit within Birmingham however was the suburb of Bournville, which was developed from 1894 by George Cadbury as a model village for workers from his nearby factory, and was largely designed by the architect William Alexander Harvey, a pupil of Bidlake appointed at the young age of 22. Harvey designed over 500 houses
Birmingham West Suburban Railway re-opened as part of this scheme and a new station was opened at University, near the site of the former Somerset Road station. The line was electrified in the early 1990s by British Rail. In 1861, John Cadbury's sons Richard and George had taken over 'Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham,' then based in central Birmingham at Bridge Street. Noticing the development of the BWSR, the Cadbury Brothers began a search for land on which to develop a factory. At the time, their milk was delivered on canal barges, mainly via the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, while their cocoa was delivered either