Erdington Abbey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Erdington Abbey
Erdington Abbey
Location	Birmingham
Country	England
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Dedication	Thomas of Canterbury and Edmund of Canterbury
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade II listed
Architect(s)	Charles Hansom
Groundbreaking	1848
Completed	1850
Administration
Archdiocese	Birmingham

Erdington Abbey Church on Sutton Road, Erdington, Birmingham, England, is the more usual name of the grade II listed church of Saints Thomas and Edmund of Canterbury. It is the church of a Roman Catholic parish in the Archdiocese of Birmingham served by the Redemptorists. The abbey itself was the adjacent building, now Highclare School.

Erdington Abbey church

In 1847 Father Heneage built a chapel in Erdington High Street, on the croft opposite the end of Station Lane.

Before this priests from Oscott College had said mass in a house on the High Street, but Catholics in Erdington are mainly indebted to the Rev. Daniel H. Haigh, founder of the Church of SS Thomas & Edmund of Canterbury. He laid the foundation stone of the new church on 26 May 1848. The church was opened and consecrated by Bishop Ullathorne on 11 June 1850. The church is an example of the Gothic revival.

The church was designed by Charles Hansom, who built the steeple of the church 117 ft (36 m) high, which is also the length of the building. The plate was designed by Augustus Pugin and made by Hardman.

Abbey

In 1876 Father Haigh handed over his church, parish and estate of 4 acres (16,000 m²) to the Benedictine monks from Beuron in Germany, exiled for their faith from their own country during the "Kulturkampf", the anti-Catholic and anti-clerical movement headed by Bismarck.

The abbey was built on this land next to the church. Its building is also grade II listed.

Roman Catholic Redemptorists

The Benedictine monks were later displaced a second time, as a result of problems experienced by the predominantly German Beuronese Congregation during World War I (1914–18). After World War I, during which the community suffered aggravation, it was possible for the community to return to their homeland. The parish came under the control of the Redemptorist order of priests in 1922, and is currently served by Fr. Elias Gweme CSsR - Rector and Parish Priest, Fr. Francis Dickinson CSsR, and Fr. Royston Price CSsR.

Cemetery

The attached cemetery contains war graves of three soldiers of World War I and two soldiers and four Royal Air Force personnel of World War II.