St Edburgha's Church (also known as Old Yardley Church) is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the Yardley area of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. It is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and a part of the Old Yardley

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

History

Dating back to the 13th century, the church was constructed by Aston Church as part of the

Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

. It is dedicated to

King Alfred Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

's granddaughter, Edburgha of Winchester.''Images of England: Yardley'' (Introduction), Michael Byrne, 2002, Tempus Publishing () Edburgha (d. 960) was a nun who spent her whole life in

St Mary's Abbey, Winchester St. Mary's Abbey, also known as the ''Nunnaminster'', was a Benedictine nunnery in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded between 899 and 902 by Alfred the Great's widow Ealhswith, who was described as the 'builder' of the Nunnaminster in ...

. She was

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

in 972, when some of her remains were transferred to

Pershore Abbey Pershore Abbey, at Pershore in Worcestershire, was an Anglo-Saxon abbey and is now an Anglican parish church, the Church of the Holy Cross. History Foundation The foundation of the minster at Pershore is alluded to in a spurious charter of Ki ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, for its refounding as the Abbey of St Mary and St Edburgha. Yardley formed part of the original endowment of the Abbey, as mentioned in King

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

's Charter for Pershore of 972. The nave, north aisle, and Becket Chapel date from the 14th and 15th centuries. The church tower and spire date from 1461, though the central section of the spire dates from 1898 as a result of

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

work carried out in that year. It is believed that the church spire may have been built by the same master mason who built the church spires at

Sheldon Sheldon may refer to: * Sheldon (name), a given name and a surname, and a list of people with the name Places Australia * Sheldon, Queensland *Sheldon Forest, New South Wales United Kingdom *Sheldon, Derbyshire, England *Sheldon, Devon, England * ...

and

Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward within the Government of Birmingham, England. The district lies 6.5 miles south-southwes ...

. Inscriptions on the stonework at Sheldon give his name as Henry Ulm, it also records that the tower was built in 1461 fitting the time frame for the church spire at St Edburgha's Church.

Victor Skipp The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, ''The History of Greater Birmingham - down to 1830'', 1987, V. H. T. Skipp () The church is tall. St. Edburgha's remained the only church in Yardley until Marston Chapel was consecrated in 1704. The roof of the church above the nave was replaced between April and December 1926. Services were first held in the churchyard, however,

gnat A gnat () is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. They can be both biting and non-biting. Most often they fly in large num ...

s made this difficult so they were then moved to the parish hall.

Features

An unusual feature is the doorway on the north aisle which has the

Tudor rose The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic badge, heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor ...

and

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

carved above the archway in celebration of the marriage of Henry VIII's older brother, Prince Arthur, and

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

. Another feature are scraped incisions in the base of the tower. The cause of these is unknown but it is believed that they may be sharpening marks. The clock on the side of the church tower has been replaced many times due to weathering. It was originally made of wood but it fell into a state of decay often. It also blocked a whole window on the side of the tower. Now the clock is made of metal with the window visible behind it. On the interior wall of the church is an incised

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

slab of Thomas and Marion Est (d. 1462). It is heavily worn.

Bells

Within the church tower are eight bells, installed in 1950 following the recasting of the six original bells and the addition of two trebles. They are hung from a frame manufactured by

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

. Yardley owned two bells before 1638, as noted in the 1552 inventory. It is believed that the metal from these bells was used in the manufacture of the three 1638 bells. These were the oldest bells in the tower prior to the 1950 recasting work. The next oldest bell was produced by John Martin of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

in 1653. A fifth bell was added by 1691 by William Bagly and it remained as such for 200 years. In 1892, the bells were rehung by Henry Bisseker. The sixth bell was added in 1902 and had been produced by James Barwell of Birmingham, who also produced new bearings for the bells. At the same time, the oak frame within the spire was repaired. In 1949, it was discovered that the church tower had become infested with

death watch beetle The deathwatch beetle (''Xestobium rufovillosum'') is a species of woodboring beetle that sometimes infests the structural timbers of old buildings. The adult beetle is brown and measures on average long. Eggs are laid in dark crevices in old w ...

s resulting in problems with ringing the bells. On 1 May 1949, the bells stopped ringing to allow work to begin on repairing the frame and recast the bells. The new ring of bells was dedicated by Michael Parker, the

Archdeacon of Aston The Archdeacon of Aston is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Birmingham. The Archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the archdeaconry's three deaneries: Aston and Sutton Coldfield, Cole ...

on 9 September 1950.

Organ

The church previously contained an organ by the Aolian Company which was renovated by Kingsgate Davidson in 1955 and later by Leighton Organs. It comprised 3 manuals and pedals with 34 speaking stops. The current organ was installed in 1997 by Organ Tuning Services of Stratford-upon-Avon. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

References

St Edburgha's Church Bell Ringers: The Bells and Tower
*''Yardley including St. Edburgha's Church'', F. P. Corden *''Yardley Old Church (Saint Edburgha) Birmingham-year book'', St. Edburgha, Church : Yardley, 1951, Ramsgate, Graham Cumming Ltd *''The heraldry of St. Edburgha's Church, Yardley'', B. A. Juby, A. Bernard, 1988, Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry {{refend Yardley Yardley, St Edburgha's Church Grade I listed buildings in Birmingham

History

Features

Bells

Organ

See also

Other mediaeval churches in Birmingham

References