Description:
The eight episodes of the Pageant were as follows: the Prologue, showing prehistoric Birmingham to 1066 and William the Conqueror; The Granting of the Market Charter of Birmingham in 1156; The Battle of Crecy; The Visit of Charles I to Aston Hall and the Siege of Aston Hall; The Restoration; The Priestley Riots; The Visit of Queen Victoria to Aston Park; and, finally, Modern and Industrial Birmingham.
It seems that the theme of each episode was determined at an early stage by Kaines Smith, Keeper of the Museum and Art Gallery. A journalist for the Evening Despatch wrote in February, ‘what I cannot understand is why in a Birmingham pageant the battle of Crecy should be included and the great Reform Bill battles of last century omitted’. On being asked why this was so, Kaines Smith replied that it ‘was very much a Birmingham battle’ because of the large number of knights from Birmingham and the surrounding areas who took part. Kaines Smith was described by Lally as ‘the greatest expert on heraldry in the country’ and had curated an exhibition at the Museum in 1936 titled ‘Heraldic Art’, which explains his eagerness to include the battle in the Pageant, indeed, he described the episode as ‘his baby’ (reported in the Birmingham Gazette, 18th May).
The whole production required the construction of 12,000 properties, utilising 80,000 feet of timber, 5 tons of floor boarding and plywood, 3 tons of paint and 30,000 square feet of canvas. 9,000 buttons were ordered and 16,000 brass eyelets were used on costumes for one 5 minute scene alone.