This pub is closed permanently. Your nearest Wetherspoon pub: The Royal Enfield, Redditch
The name of this Wetherspoon pub recalls an earlier pub of the same name on this site. The original Rising Sun stood at the junction of Alcester Street and Smith Street, but was swept away during the redevelopment of the town centre.
An illustration, prints and text about The Rising Sun.
The text reads: This J D Wetherspoon pub takes its name from an earlier pub on this site, which stood at the junction of Alcester Street and the now vanished Smith Street. The demolition was part of the redevelopment plan associated with the creation of Redditch New Town.
Redditch was designated a New Town in 1964, to accommodate overspill population from Birmingham and other West Midland areas.
Over the next 20 years, the Development Corporation oversaw the transformation of Redditch from a small market town into a leading commercial and industrial centre.
The Master Plan created a series of neighbourhoods grouped around a local centre, with industrial and community areas nearby. New industrial estates were created, and in 1976 the Kingfisher Shopping Centre was officially opened. The plan also included landscaping, as well as the planting of 2.5 million trees.
The town’s 1964 population of around 32,000 was designed to be doubled over the next fifteen years, with a view to an eventual optimum level of 90,000. By 1979, the corporation had built its 10,000th house. The following year, Redditch obtained Borough status, and in 1985 the Development Corporation was dissolved.
Above: Sol (the Sun) in his chariot – from classical mythology
Left: Alcester Street, The Rising Sun centre left
Right: Painting of Alcester Street, c1900.
A photograph of Alcester Street, Redditch, c1908.
A metal horse sculpture on display in the pub.
External photograph of the building – main entrance.
If you have information on the history of this pub, then we’d like you to share it with us. Please e-mail all information to: pubhistories@jdwetherspoon.co.uk