South Tower of the Duddeston Manor Estate, Nechells Green, Aston.
South Tower is a 36 metre tall tower block on Little Hall Road in the Duddeston Manor Estate. It is situated in Nechells Green, Aston, Birmingham, England. It is notable for being one of the Duddeston Four which were the first tower blocks built in the city. It has 12 floors.
South Tower was completed in 1954 and has an X shaped footprint meaning all flats receive sunlight. It is constructed of brick and construction was expensive.
The tower was received heating and hot water from a coal-fired (and later gas) boiler in the basement of Queens Tower, although flats now have their own boilers. The Garchey refuse disposal system was installed in the tower, and refuse was transferred to the basement of Queens Tower where it was spun in a giant dryer to remove excess water and burned in a gas furnace. There are seven staircases within the block - one public access stair case at the front, and another at the back, and then five emergency staircases, with one in each corner and one in the centre.
The Duddeston Manor Estate was one of four in the Nechells Green / Duddeston complex of 27 towers blocks and was part of the 67 council-owned tower blocks in Aston. It was refurbished along with Cromwell Street Estate in the mid-late-1990s, while the other 2 estates on the complex (Kellett Road Estate & Rupert Street Estate) were demolished to make way for modern low-rise housing. The only tower block to be demolished on the Duddeston Manor Estate was Churchfield House.
Duddeston Manor Estate tower blocks[]
- Humber Tower (16 storeys)
- Dovey Tower (16 storeys)
- Trent Tower (16 storeys)
- Churchfield House (12 storeys)... demolished late 1990s
- Willow House (9 storeys)
The Duddeston Four...
- Queens Tower (12 storeys)
- High Tower (12 storeys)
- Home Tower (12 storeys)
- South Tower (12 storeys)