[Talk-gb-westmidlands] Church of St Mary, Birmingham

[Andy Mabbett]

It was good to catch up with several of you at The Bull tonight.

We discussed St.Mary's, church, Whittall Street, nearby. The picture I
showed you can be seen at:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St_Mary's_Church,_Gun_Quarter,_Birmingham.jpg

and here's the description from the British History Online site: "The
church of ST. MARY, Birmingham, was built in 1774, (fn. 53) under an Act of
1772, as a chapel of ease to St. Martin's. The site was given by Dorothy
Weaman, Mary Weaman (to whose forename the dedication alluded) and the
trustees of Lench's Trust. The cost of building was raised by subscription,
and Mary Weaman gave £1,000 towards it. (fn. 54) A perpetual curacy was
established, in the patronage of Mary Weaman and, after her death, of
trustees. (fn. 55) A parish, formed out of St. Martin's, was assigned to
St. Mary's in 1841. (fn. 56) The benefice became a vicarage in 1868. (fn.
57) The income of the incumbent was said to be worth £200 a year in 1781,
(fn. 58) and £360 in 1896. (fn. 59) Under an Act of 1925 the church was
closed pending demolition, and the benefice and parish were united to those
of Bishop Ryder's church. (fn. 60) The first incumbent was John Riland, who
was assisted by a curate, Edward Burn. In 1786 John Wesley attended at St.
Mary's and heard 'an admirable sermon' from the curate, (fn. 61) though it
is not certain whether this meant Riland or Burn. (fn. 62) Burn, who was
incumbent of St. Mary's from 1790 until 1837, was certainly in sympathy
with Wesley's views. (fn. 63) Burn was succeeded by J. C. Barrett, a
well-known evangelical preacher who drew large congregations to St. Mary's
until his death in 1881. (fn. 64) From the middle of the 19th century the
vicar was assisted by a curate. (fn. 65) St. Mary's was a small parish,
about a quarter of a mile square, in the gun-making quarter of the town.
(fn. 66) When the church was built it stood in open ground on the north
edge of the town, but was soon built around. A number of dwellings were
removed when the General Hospital was rebuilt (1894–7) (fn. 67) in
Steelhouse Lane in St. Mary's parish. A mission hall in Whittall Street was
licensed for public worship from 1888 to 1907, and the chapel of the
General Hospital from 1921 (it was licensed in the parish of Bishop Ryder
from 1925). (fn. 68) The church, in Whittall Street, was an octagonal brick
building with a small tower and spire, in the Classical style, standing in
a large churchyard. The octagonal form was considered ideal for preaching
and the church could accommodate nearly 1,700 people. (fn. 69) The design,
by Joseph Pickford, (fn. 70) was thought by Hutton to show 'too little
steeple and too much roof'. (fn. 71) The tower was of three stages, the
first round, the second octagonal with Doric columns at each angle, and the
third, from which rose a slender spire, octagonal with a clockface and
pediment on each alternate side. (fn. 72) The tower and spire were rebuilt
in 1866 to a very similar design, with pilasters instead of columns and a
balustrade on the second stage. (fn. 73) The first registers of baptisms
(1774–1812) and of burials (1779–1812) are kept at St. Martin's church. The
register of marriages begins in 1842. The 18thcentury silver communion
service is now at St. Mary's, Pype Hayes, except for the two flagons which
are at the Birmingham Assay Office. (fn. 74) " Burials were stopped in 1871
and eventually half the graves were moved to Witton Cemetery and the other
half to Warstone Lane.
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