There was a building called Christ Church based in central Birmingham, in the

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 Britain ...

Colmore Row Colmore Row is a street in Birmingham City Centre in the centre of Birmingham, England, running from Victoria Square to just beyond Snow Hill station. It is traditionally the city's most prestigious business address. Colmore Row and its envir ...

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 ...

from 1805 to 1899. In 2021 a new church without a fixed building called Christ Church Birmingham opened and now serves communities across the City and beyond.it meets in south Aston.

History

The church building was built by public subscription. The site was donated by William Phillips Ing. The foundation stone was laid on 22 July 1805 by

George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth KG, PC, FRS (3 October 1755 – 10 November 1810), styled Viscount Lewisham until 1801, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1778 to 1784. Background George Legge, known from birt ...

. The Earl of Dartmouth was representing

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, who had intended to lay the foundation stone personally, but was prevented from doing so by illness. The King gave £1,000 (equivalent to £ in ) towards the construction. The final cost was £26,000. The original architect was Birmingham-based

William Hollins William Hollins (1763–1843) was an 18th/19th century English architect and sculptor. His work is largely in the Greek Revival and Gothic styles. Life He was born in Shifnal in Shropshire on 18 March 1763 the son of John and Mary Hollins ...

. It was consecrated on 6 July 1813 by

James Cornwallis, 4th Earl Cornwallis James Cornwallis, 4th Earl Cornwallis (25 February 1743 – 20 January 1824) was a British clergyman, and peer. Life He was the third son of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the 2nd Viscount Townshen ...

, the

Bishop of Lichfield 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 Mi ...

. It was unusual in that all of the seating on the ground floor was free, and it came to be known as the 'Free Church'. It was built in stone in the Classical style with Doric columns dominating the west front. The square west tower, completed in 1814, supported an octagonal belfry and an octagonal spire. The original design had included a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

instead of a spire. The catacombs beneath the church were believed to contain the re-interred remains of

John Baskerville John Baskerville (baptised 28 January 1707 – 8 January 1775) was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and type designer. He was also responsible for inventing "wov ...

. The parish was assigned from

St Martin in the Bull Ring St Martin in the Bull Ring is a Church of England parish church in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is the original parish church of Birmingham and stands between the Bull Ring Shopping Centre and the markets. The church is ...

and St. Philips' Church in 1865. The building and site were sold in 1897; the proceeds were used to build

St Agatha's Church, Sparkbrook The Church of St Agatha () is a parish church in the Church of England in Sparkbrook in Birmingham, England. Background It was designed by W. H. Bidlake and is now a Grade I listed building. Made of brick and decorated with stone, building s ...

. The church was demolished in 1899. Part of the parish was given to St Barnabas' Church, Birmingham. In 2021 a new church without a fixed building called Christ Church Birmingham opened and now serves communities across the City and beyond.

Vicars

*John Hume Spry 1813 – 1824 * Archdeacon George Hodson 1824 – 1832 *John George Breay 1832 – 1840 *George Lea 1840 – 1864 (afterwards vicar of St George's Church, Edgbaston) *Charles Marson 1864 – 1871 (afterwards vicar of Clevedon, Somerset) *Albert Workman 1871 – 1881 *Rev Prebendary E.R. Mason 1881 – 1888 (afterwards vicar of Oxton, Nottinghamshire) *Rev Prebendary C.B. Willcox 1889 – 1897 (formerly vicar of St Jude's Church, Moorfield, Sheffield)

Organ

An organ was installed by Thomas Elliot, of London.

Organists

*Thomas Munden 1818 – 1856

Burials

Notable people buried at the church include: *

Joseph Frederick Ledsam Joseph Frederick Ledsam (16 April 1791 - 28 December 1862) was a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Warwick, High Sheriff of Worcestershire (1848-1849) and deputy chairman of the London and North Western Railway (1849-1862). Background He was born on 16 ...

(1791–1862), Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Warwick,

High Sheriff of Worcestershire This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of th ...

and deputy chairman of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham, Christ Church Churches completed in 1813 Church of England church buildings in Birmingham, West Midlands Buildings and structures demolished in 1899 Christ Church 1805 establishments in England