St Mary's Church, Moseley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St. Mary's Church, Moseley
52°26′47″N 1°53′12″W / 52.4464°N 1.8866°W / 52.4464; -1.8866
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
History
Dedication	St. Mary
Administration
Parish	Moseley
Diocese	Diocese of Birmingham
Province	Province of Canterbury

St Mary's Church in Moseley, Birmingham, is a very old and important church. It is a Grade II listed building, which means it's protected because of its special history and architecture. This church belongs to the Church of England. Today, it works closely with St Anne's Church, Moseley. In the churchyard, there is a special War Memorial. It shows Christ on the cross, carved from stone. This memorial is also a Grade II listed building.

History of St. Mary's Church

A church dedicated to St Mary has stood in Moseley for over 600 years. The church officially began public worship on February 2, 1405. This was when Pope Innocent VII allowed the people of Moseley to have church services. Before this, the main church was in Bromsgrove. It was very far away, making it hard and dangerous for people to attend, especially the elderly or pregnant.

Some old stories said that Elizabeth of York, wife of King Henry VII, gave land for the church in 1494. However, this was a mistake. She did not own the land until 1495. The land given earlier by her grandmother, Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, was actually covered in water! This might be how a place called Ladypool got its name.

Around 1513–1514, during the time of King Henry VIII, a tower was built. Stones from the old Bromsgrove parsonage were used. The chapel was also repaired, and new bells were bought.

In 1548, King Edward VI's officials allowed a priest to continue serving at the chapel. This happened even when many other church buildings were being closed. The priest received a salary of £4 13s 4d a year. This payment continued for a long time, even into the 1800s.

In the 1600s, some non-conformist ministers served in the chapel. But they were removed in 1662 after King Charles II returned to the throne.

For many years, Moseley's church was a "Chapel of Ease." This meant it was a smaller church that helped people attend services more easily. It was connected first to Bromsgrove and then to King's Norton churches. In 1755, Moseley became its own church parish. This happened because of money given by Queen Anne's Bounty.

By 1780, the old chapel was in bad shape. The middle part was falling down, and other parts were ruined. It was also too small for all the people. So, it had to be taken down and rebuilt. People raised money, and George III approved the rebuilding. The new chapel was made wider and about 8 feet taller.

In 1823, Thomas Rickman was chosen as the architect. He used a style called Gothic Revival. However, the church was not built with real stone. The walls were brick, covered in plaster to look like stone. The ceiling had fake oak beams made of plaster. Even the font, used for baptisms, was a plaster bowl. The main goal was to add more seats, and 362 new seats were created. This church was about the size of the main part of today's church. It had an altar at the east end but no separate chancel. There was also a gallery at the west end with a small barrel organ and space for the choir.

This barrel organ could only play a few hymn tunes. Later, a music group was tried but was too costly. In 1838, Miss Sarah Taylor of Moseley Hall gave the church a new, better barrel organ. The gallery was made bigger to hold about 150 people. In 1856, a new organ with keys was installed. The old barrel organ was then moved to Yardley Wood Parish Church.

In 1853, St Mary's Chapel in Moseley got its own clear boundaries. It became a "District Chapelry." This meant the priest could perform weddings and receive fees. This change happened because of new laws from Queen Victoria's time. In 1866, the church became a "vicarage," and the priest became a vicar. A house for the vicar was built in 1856. It had rooms for servants, a system of bells, and even a place for pigs and chickens! But it did not have a bathroom.

Even after St Mary's got its own boundaries, parts of its area were used to create new churches. In 1863, a large southern part became All Saints, Kings Heath. In 1875, land to the north became St Anne's Church, Moseley.

Despite these changes, Moseley's population grew a lot. It went from a small village of 1,500 people to a busy suburb of nearly 17,000 between 1851 and 1911. More space and more churches were needed.

In 1872, the church was made longer towards the east by 21 feet. This created the first chancel, which is the area around the altar. The Bosward organ was also made larger and moved to a special room north of the new chancel. This added 50 more seats. This work was done by the architect J. A. Chatwin. He worked on the church for over thirty years.

Before more building, the church got new bells. St Mary's originally had three bells in 1552. These were later recast and bought by Miss Rebecca Anderton for the new St Anne's church in 1874. In the same year, St Mary's tower received eight steel bells from Sheffield. They were bought by Sir John Holder, a famous brewery owner. At that time, bell ringing was done from a room one floor up. During rebuilding in 1909, this ringing room was removed. Bell ringing then became difficult. Until 1991, bells were usually chimed using hammers. In 2012, the steel bells were replaced with ten new bells. Seven of these were newly made.

With the population growing fast, especially with new shops and homes near the church, more space was needed. People thought about building a new church in the east of the village. This became St Agnes' Church, Moseley, which opened in 1884. It became its own parish in 1914. But more space was needed right away. So, a temporary wooden church with a corrugated iron roof was built in 1879. It cost £635 and was sometimes called the 'Tin Tabernacle'. When it was no longer needed, it was sold in 1885 for £150. It was taken apart and rebuilt in Edgbaston. Today, it is still used as the church hall for the Church of SS Mary and Ambrose, Edgbaston.

Even with the temporary church and St Agnes being built, more space was still needed at St Mary's. J. A. Chatwin designed plans to expand the church on the north side. A new North aisle and an arcade of six columns were added. The work cost about £1700. Amazingly, no church services were missed during the building. This new section opened in May 1885. It added 326 more seats.

In 1887, a larger organ room was built, and a new organ was installed for £750. This organ was built by Henry Jones and Son of London. It has a beautiful carved oak case. The church organist, Frederick H Bell, suggested it to celebrate Queen Victoria's 50th Jubilee. This organ is still used today.

More additions were made by the Chatwin family, J. A. and his son P. B. In 1891, a Parish Vestry was added at the west end. In 1897, the Chancel was made larger, and a transept was built on the south side for more seating. This later became a side chapel, now called the Lady Chapel.

In 1904, a beautiful alabaster Reredos (a decorated screen behind the altar) was put up. It was in memory of Frederick H Bell, who died in 1903. Sadly, this was badly damaged by a bomb in December 1940. The bomb also destroyed much of the church's stained glass.

A major project by P. B. (Philip) Chatwin was the expansion of the church to the south in 1909–10. A new south aisle and a higher roof were added. New columns were built on the south side to match those on the north. Old wooden pews were cut down to their current size. New doors were also created. At this time, the West gallery was removed, showing the old medieval arch. The church could then seat 907 people.

During the 1920s and 1930s, much was done to make the church interior more beautiful. A Sacristy (a room for priests' robes and church items) was added in 1934. In the same year, beautiful wrought iron gates were installed. These gates were made by the Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts, famous for making the Buckingham Palace gates. They were given in memory of Cllr. F. D. Tippetts.

The churchyard was closed for new burials in 1981. Now, there is a special Garden of Remembrance for ashes.

The church is very old, dating back to medieval times.

Patterns of Worship at St. Mary's

Here are the regular church services at St. Mary's:

Sunday Services

• 8:00am Holy Communion
• 10:00am Sung Eucharist
• 6:30pm Evensong

Weekday Services

• 9:00am Morning Prayer

Patterns of Worship at St. Anne's

Here is the regular Sunday service at St. Anne's:

Sunday Service

• 11:00am Sung Eucharist

List of Vicars

• John Robert Davison (1852–1876)
• William H Colmore (1876–1907)
• Charles E Hopton (1907–1927)
• Arthur Nesham Bax (1928–1943)
• C. Theodore Cribb (1945–1962)
• Frederick C. Carpenter (1962–1968)
• Lorys Davies (1968–1981)
• Robin Howard (1981–1987)
• Hayward Osborne (1988–2001)
• Averyl Bradbrook (2002–2005)
• Jeremy Dussek (2007 – 2014)
• Duncan Strathie (2015–2023)

Music at St. Mary's

Music has always been a big part of services at St. Mary's. For over a hundred years, the church has had a strong tradition of choir singing.

There are currently two choirs:

• The St Mary's Choir: This is a traditional choir with about 18 young singers (boys and girls) and 12 adult singers. Many of the adults used to be young singers in the choir.
• The St Mary's Singers: This choir is made up of adult singers, including female sopranos.

The St Mary's Choir sings for church services. They also go on singing trips, filling in for famous Cathedral Choirs during their holidays. For many years, they have exchanged visits with the Eschersheim Youth Choir in Frankfurt, Germany. They have also toured in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. In August 2006, they were the Choir in Residence at Washington National Cathedral in the USA. They have also sung at Ripon Cathedral, Portsmouth Cathedral, St Asaph's Cathedral, Sherborne Abbey, Salisbury Cathedral, Romsey Abbey, St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, and St David's Cathedral in Wales. They also sing at other cathedrals like Birmingham, Hereford, Bath, Gloucester, and Derby.

The St Mary's Singers have joined the St Mary's Choir on tours to Atlanta and Frankfurt. They have also had their own trips to Frankfurt and Prague. In 2013, they started visiting the Anglican Chaplaincy in Spain. They also sang Mass at Malaga Cathedral. They have performed at Birmingham Cathedral and Tewkesbury Abbey.

There is also a small choir called St Mary’s Schola. It has eight singers from the main choir. They have performed concerts with Rich Batsford at the Moseley Festival. These concerts bring together musicians from different faiths to express spirituality through music. This project is called "Musituality." In 2009, they performed a concert at Birmingham Cathedral with Buddhist, Christian, and Muslim music. Another concert happened in 2010 at the Birmingham Buddhist Centre. They have also sung at Derby Cathedral and St Alban's Cathedral.

The Organ

The church has an organ from 1887 by Henry Jones. In 1966, it was updated and turned to face the main part of the church. A new control panel was added, but the original Jones control panel was kept for its historical value. In 1996, the organ's sound was improved to bring back its original English style. Some of the original Jones pipes that were removed in 1966 were put back. You can find details about the organ on the National Pipe Organ Register.

On May 7, 2016, a special event was held to raise money to fix up the organ. A famous organist, David Briggs, played a concert. David Briggs used to be a singer in St. Mary's choir. He is now a well-known concert artist and composer. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts. He performed at the BBC Proms in 2010. In 2012, he became an Artist in Residence at St James Cathedral in Toronto, Canada. He plays at services, composes music, and helps plan the music program there. More information is on the church's website.

List of Organists

• F H Bell (1871–1903)
• George H Mann (1903–1937)
• Frank Ford (1937–1955)
• Eric Read (1956–1957)
• John E Fryer (1957–1962)
• David Hart (1962–1964)
• Norman Dyson (1964–1971)
• Adrian Powers (1971–1977)
• David Whelton (1977–1978)
• Michael J Perrier (1978–present)

List of Assistant Organists

• George Howard Mann (1892–1903)
• Paul Hodgetts (1993–1995)
• Victoria Gravenor (1996–2001)
• Ian Biggs (2001–2011)

Bells of St. Mary's

The church tower used to have eight steel bells. They were first in St Marie's, Sheffield, but were replaced there because they made a "dreadful noise." These steel bells were sold to a local businessman in Moseley. He gave them to St Mary's in 1874. These bells were taken out in January 2012.

A new set of ten bells was put in. Seven of these were new, and three came from Greenock. They were rung for the first time in October 2012. This was to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Notable Burials

St. Mary's has the family tombs of the Holmes family, including Edward Holmes, a Birmingham architect. Inside the church, there are memorials for William Congreve Russell and Rebecca Anderton. The churchyard has the gravestones of Joseph Lucas and John Avins, among many others. There is also a war grave for a soldier from World War I.