Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley is a
Grade II listed former
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
parish church at
Camp Hill,
Bordesley,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England.
History
An example of a
Commissioners' church
A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplie ...
the church was built between 1820 and 1822 by the architect
Francis Goodwin in the
decorated perpendicular gothic style at an expense of £14,235, raised by subscription of the inhabitants, aided by a grant from the Parliamentary Commissioners. The church, said to have been modelled on
King's College Chapel, Cambridge
King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bu ...
, was consecrated on 23 January 1823 by
James Cornwallis the
Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry
The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...
. A parish was assigned out of St. Peter and St. Paul, Aston, the living, being a perpetual curacy in the gift of the Vicar of Aston, was called a vicarage from 1872; the patronage of which was transferred to the Aston Trustees in 1884.
St Alban the Martyr, Birmingham Bordesley (Conybere St, originated as a building in Leopold Street, which was licensed as a mission of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, in 1865.
This former church has an exceptionally good interior with all its fittings and galleries. It has a conventional rectangular plan with shallow canted apse, faced in
Bath stone which is enlivened by spirelet pinnacled buttresses diving the windows and with octagonal pinnacled turrets holding the corners whilst a larger pair flank the effectively recessed full height entrance bay under the parapeted gable. The soffit has a lrerne pattern of ribs over the large decorated west window, the tracery of cast iron. The porch proper is shallow and contained within the recess, a tripartite composition with an ogee arch to the central doorway with an ornate finial. The east end above the apse and a cast iron tracery rose. The coved ceiling still partially remains but the decoration of a high standard for the period, has been stripped and a floor inserted.
Holy Trinity was also important in reflecting the High Church movement of the Anglican Church at the time. The first vicar was succeeded by Rev Dr Joseph Oldknow who was Birmingham's first
Ritualist
Ritualism, in the history of Christianity, refers to an emphasis on the rituals and liturgical ceremonies of the church. Specifically, the Christian ritual of Holy Communion.
In the Anglican church in the 19th century, the role of ritual became ...
priest. Oldknow was buried here and the Latin inscriptions which can be seen on the gravestones gives a clue to the church's Anglo-Catholic history.
He in turn was succeeded in 1874 by
Richard William Enraght
Richard William Enraght (23 February 1837 – 21 September 1898) was an Irish-born Church of England priest of the late nineteenth century. He was influenced by the Oxford Movement and was included amongst the priests commonly called "Secon ...
who was imprisoned in 1880 when the church became the centre of a battle over high church practices. Enraght was prosecuted in 1880 in a trial which was known nationally as the Bordesley Wafer Case.
Enraght was an Anglo-Catholic who burnt candles and incense, used wafers at the Eucharist, wore a
chasuble
The chasuble () is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian churches that use full vestments, primarily in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In the Eastern ...
and
alb and mixed water with the communion wine. In addition, he did such things as making the sign of the cross towards the congregation. These were not the normal practices of the Church of England at the time and he fell foul of the radical Protestant reaction against ‘ritualism’. He was put on trial in 1879: a trial he refused to attend. He was convicted under the
Public Worship Regulation Act 1874
The Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict c 85) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced as a Private Member's Bill by Archbishop of Canterbury Archibald Campbell Tait, to limit what he perceived as the growing rit ...
, a new law pushed through the Commons by influential Evangelicals in a bid to put an end to
‘Romish’ practices in the church, and finally imprisoned at Warwick. He was released after 49 days and a considerable national uproar, but his career never recovered.
[R.W. Enraght (1883) ''My Prosecution under the Public Worship Regulation Act''][''Showell’s Dictionary of Birmingham'' (1885)]
Enraght's licence was eventually revoked and he was replaced in 1883 by the Rev Alan H Watts, against the wishes of the congregation and an account of their displeasure was reported in London Evening News for 12 March 1883. ''"A scene of an extraordinary nature was witnessed at Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, Birmingham, yesterday morning, owing to the attempt of the Rev. A. H. Watts, who has been appointed vicar in place of the Rev. R. W. Enraght, to read himself in. The church was crowded, and there was a large number of police present. Just before the service the two churchwardens went to the vestry, being loudly applauded on their way thither. They were met by the vicar, who offered his hand, but it was declined, and the churchwardens handed him a formal protest to his assuming office. When Mr. Watts entered the church there were loud groans, and this was repeated on his reading the first lesson. When he commenced to read himself in there was great turmoil, and the efforts of the police to restore order were futile. The rev. gentleman, however, continued to the end, notwithstanding that his voice was almost inaudible. At the conclusion of the service an angry mob followed Mr. Watts until he entered a cab and drove away. In the evening the church was packed in every part, and the new vicar was slightly hissed as he entered the chancel from the vestry. He preached a sermon, but contrary to anticipation there was no disorder. When he left the church he was soon met by a large and noisy crowd, but no strong force, and the Rev. Gentleman was not molested."''
The burial ground was closed in 1873 although family graves continued to be used until 1925. Some remains were removed due to the widening of Sandy Lane/ Bordesley Middleway; and many gravestones were removed after the church was deconsecrated in the late 1960s.
In autumn 1875 a group of cricketers from the church formed an
Association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
team,
Small Heath Alliance, which became
Birmingham City F.C.
The church was closed in 1968. It was initially proposed to be converted to an arts centre. but this did not come to fruition and, instead, for some years it was used as a shelter for homeless people until c 1999. It currently remains empty.
[Birmingham Churches](_blank)
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Attribution 2.0 UK: England & Wales (CC BY 2.0 UK) Licence
In the late 1970s there were proposals for demolition. However, these were not implemented. In 2014 it was marketed for a residential conversion.
Vicars
* Samuel Crane, 1823–41
* Joseph Oldknow, 1841–74
*
Richard William Enraght
Richard William Enraght (23 February 1837 – 21 September 1898) was an Irish-born Church of England priest of the late nineteenth century. He was influenced by the Oxford Movement and was included amongst the priests commonly called "Secon ...
, 1874–83
* Alan Hunter Watts, 1883–87
* Henry Sutton, 1887-95
* G.C. Williamson, 1897-1902
* Frank Trevelyan Snow, 1904-10
*
Frank Hay Gillingham, 1910–14, Essex county cricketer
* Stephen Harold Wingfield-Digby, 1914-16
* Frederick Arthur Redwood ?-1926
* Norman Campbell Orr, 1926-36
* James France Hinett, 1936-41
* Edgar Francis Andrew Morgan, 1941-50
* Henry Raveley Guest
MC, 1951–61. Guest disappeared in 1961, abandoning his car on cliffs in Anglesey.
Organ
The organ in the church was built by Banfield in 1847. There were several modifications over the years. A specification of the organ from towards the end of its life can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. The Register states that the organ was removed, but does not give any more details.
Organist
*
Henry Simms 1825 – 1872
* Mr. A. Tricker, F.C.O. 1883
* Dr William Thomas Belcher 1884 – 1905
References
{{reflist
Churches completed in 1822
Bordesley
Gothic Revival church buildings in England
Gothic Revival architecture in the West Midlands (county)
Grade II listed buildings in Birmingham
Grade II listed churches in the West Midlands (county)
1822 establishments in England