St Alban the Martyr, Birmingham
St Alban the Martyr, Birmingham | |
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Church of St Alban and St Patrick, Highgate, Birmingham | |
52°27′57″N 1°53′18″W / 52.46583°N 1.88833°WCoordinates: 52°27′57″N 1°53′18″W / 52.46583°N 1.88833°W | |
Location | Conybere Street, Highgate, Birmingham |
Country | England |
Denomination | Church of England |
Churchmanship | Anglo-Catholic |
Website | www |
History | |
Dedication | Saint Alban |
Consecrated | 4 December 1899 |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | Grade II* listed |
Designated | 25 April 1952 |
Architect(s) | John Loughborough Pearson |
Architectural type | Gothic revival architecture |
Groundbreaking | before 1865 |
Completed | 1881 |
Construction cost | £20,000 |
Specifications | |
Length | 130 feet (40 m) |
Width | 76 feet (23 m) |
Nave width | 26.5 feet (8.1 m) |
Height | 170 feet (52 m) |
Administration | |
Parish | Highgate |
Deanery | Central Birmingham |
Archdeaconry | Birmingham |
Diocese | Anglican Diocese of Birmingham |
St Alban the Martyr, Birmingham is a Grade II* listed Church of England parish church in the Anglican Diocese of Birmingham.[1] It is dedicated to Saint Alban, the first British Christian martyr.[2]
In 2018, the church was on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register due to its poor condition, particularly the roof.[3]
History[]
A temporary church was established as a mission of Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley in 1865, and a temporary church was opened on 13 September 1866.[4]
The permanent church was designed by John Loughborough Pearson and built by the contractor Shillitoe of Doncaster.[5] Work started in 1880 and the church was opened in 1881. The formal consecration took place on 4 December 1899.[6] The construction cost was in the region of £20,000 (equivalent to £2,200,324 in 2019).[7]
The patron is Keble College, Oxford.
St Alban's Church took over the parish of St Patrick's Church, Bordesley when St Patrick's was demolished in the early 1970s.
Present day[]
St Alban's Church stands in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England. The parish had passed Resolutions A and B of the Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993, meaning they rejected the ordination of women, but these expired in 2016.[8] They also voted on Alternative Episcopal Oversight, but this was rejected. In 2017, they voted on the replacement of Resolutions A and B, the Resolution under the House of Bishops' Declaration: "This was not carried, with equal votes for and against."[9] This means that the parish would now accept a woman priest.
Architecture[]
The cruciform building is in red brick, with dressings in ashlar. The tower and spire were added in 1938 by Edwin Francis Reynolds. The interior features a stained glass east window by Henry Payne and, in the south chapel, a copper Arts and Crafts triptych with painted panels, by local artists Kate and Myra Bunce[10] and donated by them in 1919 in memory of their sisters and parents.[6]
A Birmingham Civic Society blue plaque honouring the Bunce sisters was unveiled at St Alban's in September 2015, by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham.
Vicars[]
- 1865James Samuel Pollock – 1894 :
- 1895Thomas Benson Pollock – 1896 :
- 1897George Philip Trevelyan – 1900 :
- 1900Canon Alfred Cecil Scott – 1910 :
- 1910Mark Napier Trollope – 1911 :
- 1911Francis Underhill – 1923 :
- 1923Dudley Clark – 1953 :
- 1953Canon Lawrence Goodrich Harding – 1981 :
- 1982David Handley Hutt – 1986 :
- 1987Michael Hedley Bryant – 1993 :
- 1995Canon James G. Pendorf – 2004 :
- 2005Canon John Hervé – 2010 :
- 2011Dr Pervaiz Sultan – 2013 :
- 2013Dr Nicholas lo Polito – 2016 :
Organ[]
The organ dates was installed second-hand in 1870 and was by Bryceson Son & Ellis. It was overhauled in 1940 by Rushworth and Dreaper of Liverpool who extended the compass to C and added electro-pneumatic action. The Pedal Trombone, Great Tuba and Swell 5-rank mixture were added at this date. A new oak organ case was created by Birmingham Sculptors Ltd and Craftinwood Ltd.[11] A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.[12]
Organists[]
- Mr.Price. ca 1868
- Hugh Brooksbank 1881 (afterwards organist of Llandaff Cathedral)
- Douglas Redman 1881 - ca. 1884 (afterwards organist of St Matthew's Church, Brixton)
- Mr. Woodall ca. 1886
- J. Granville Smith 1889[13] - ca. 1891 - ???? (formerly organist of St Ambrose’s Church, Edgbaston)
- W.E. Abraham ???? - 1901
- W.T. Jenkins 1901 - ????
- Samuel Royle Shore 1908 - 1911 (formerly assistant organist of Birmingham Cathedral)
- Thomas J. Richards 1911[14] - ???? (formerly organist of St Agnes Church, Moseley)
- Ernest Edward Madeley ca. 1923 - 1953[15]
- Roy Massey 1953 - 1960 (afterwards organist of St Augustine's Church, Edgbaston)
- Raymond Isaacson 1961 - 1967 (formerly organist of St Nicolas Church, Kings Norton, afterwards organist of High Wycombe parish church)
See also[]
References[]
- ^ The buildings of England. Warwickshire, Nikolaus Pevsner
- ^ Thurston, Herbert. "St. Alban." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 19 February 2013
- ^ Heritage at Risk - West Midlands Register 2018 (Report). Historic England. p. 54. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "Dedication Services at St Alban's". Birmingham Journal. Birmingham. 15 September 1866. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
- ^ "The Church of St Alban, Birmingham". Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham. 29 April 1881. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b S. Alban and S. Patrick, Birmingham 12. St Alban's. Undated (circa 1984-1986). Check date values in:
|date=
(help) - ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ^ "About our community". St Alban the Martyr, Birmingham. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ^ "Parochial Church Council of Saint Alban and Saint Patrick Highgate, Birmingham: Parish Statement" (PDF). St Alban the Martyr, Birmingham. February 2017. pp. 3, 13. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1290539)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ "Reconstruction Work Completed". Birmingham Daily Post. England. 22 May 1940. Retrieved 26 December 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ St. Alban and St. Patrick, Conybere Street from The National Pipe Organ Register, retrieved 4 March 2015
- ^ "Presentation to a local organist". Birmingham Daily Post. England. 13 December 1889. Retrieved 16 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "New Organist for St Albans". Birmingham Daily Gazette. England. 31 July 1911. Retrieved 16 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Mr. E.E. Madeley". Birmingham Daily Post. England. 3 August 1963. Retrieved 16 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Alban's Church, Highgate. |
- Heritage at Risk Register: Church+of+St+Alban+the+Martyr+Conybere+Street+Highgate
- Official website
- Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1290539)". National Heritage List for England.
- Structures on the Heritage at Risk register
- Grade II* listed buildings in Birmingham
- Church of England church buildings in Birmingham, West Midlands
- Anglo-Catholic church buildings in the West Midlands (county)
- Churches completed in 1881
- 19th-century Church of England church buildings
- Gothic Revival church buildings in England
- Grade II* listed churches in the West Midlands (county)
- 1865 establishments in England