cuttings, additional platforms constructed,
and miles of new rails laid down, one whole street (Great Queen Street)
being taken bodily into the station for a carriage drive. The station
now covers nearly 12 acres, the length of platforms exceeding 1-1/2
miles. The cost of this enlargement was over half-a-million sterling.

As in the case of New Street Station, the introduction of the Great
Western Railway caused the removal of a very large number of old
buildings, but the monster wooden shed which did duty as the Snow Hill
Station for many years was as great a disgrace to the town as ever the
old tumbledown structures could have been that were removed to make way
for it. This, however, was remedied in 1871, by the erection of the
present building, which is extensive and convenient, the platforms
having a run of 720 feet, the span of the roof being 92 feet.

~Rateable Values.~--In 1815 the annual rateable value of property in the
borough was totaled at L311,954; in 1824 the amount stood at L389,273,
an increase of L77,319 in the ten years; in 1834 the return was
L483,774, the increase being L94,501; in 1814 it was L569,686, or an
increase of L85,912; in 1854 the returns showed L655,631, the increase,
L85,934, being little more than in the previous decennial period. The
next ten years were those of the highest prosperity the building trade
of this town has ever known, and the rateable values in 1864 went up to
L982,384, an increase of L326,763. In 1870 a new assessment was made,
which added over L112,000 to the rateable values, the returns for 1874
amounting to L1,254,911, an increase in the ten years of L272,527. In
1877 the returns gave a total of L1,352,554; in 1878 L1,411,060, an
increase in the one year of L58,506; but since 1878 the increase has not
been so rapid, the average for the next three years being L36,379; and,
as will be seen by the following table, the yearly increase of values
during the last three years is still less in each of the several parish
divisions of the borough:--

1881 1882 1883

Birmingham parish L985,081 L991,445 L1,001,541
Yearly increase 18,483 6,364 10,096

Edgbaston parish L179,328 L180,327 L181,552
Yearly increase 8,474 999 1,225

Aston, part of parish L355,788 L362,337 L365,875
Yearly increase 9,419 6,549