St Paul's is a

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 ...

church in the

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St Paul's Square in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, England.

History

The Grade I listed church was designed by

Roger Eykyn Roger Eykyn (21 October 1830 – 14 November 1896) was an English Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons from 1866 to 1874. Early life Robert Eykyn was born on 21 Octo ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

. Building started in 1777, and the church was consecrated in 1779. It was built on land given by Charles Colmore from his Newhall estate. It was the church of Birmingham's early manufacturers and merchants -

Matthew Boulton Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engin ...

and James Watt had their own pews, which were bought and sold as commodities at that time. It is a rectangular church. The upper part of the tower and spire was added between 1822 and 1823, designed by Francis Goodwin and built by Standbridge and Company. In 1841 the church became a parish in its own right, with land taken from that of St Martin in the Bull Ring. In 1947, St Mark's Church, King Edward's Road was demolished, and the parish was joined with that of St Paul's. Bomb damage from the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

was repaired between 1949 and 1951 when much of the roof was replaced. The church undertook another restoration between 1985 and 1994. A peal of 10 bells was installed in 2005.

Stained glass

The east window has an important enamelled stained-glass window made in 1791 by

Francis Eginton Francis Eginton (1737–1805), sometimes spelled Egginton, was an English glass painter. He painted windows for cathedrals, churches, chapels and stately homes, etc., around the country, leaving 50 large works altogether; his work was also expo ...

and modelled an altarpiece painted c. 1786 by

Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...

, now in the

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...

. It shows the

Conversion of Paul Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

. In the south-east nave there is a window by

Ward and Hughes Ward and Hughes (formerly Ward and Nixon) was the name of an English company producing stained-glass windows. History Ward and Hughes was proceeded by the company Ward and Nixon, whose studio was at 67 Frith Street, Soho. They created large wind ...

of c. 1880. The remaining windows are by Pearce between 1900 and 1907, and a modern window by Rachel Thomas in the north aisle dating from 2000.

Organ

The first documented organ in St Paul's was built in 1830 by James Bishop. It was sited on the gallery at the west end of the church. Banfield enlarged the organ in 1838 including a new Swell division which was probably a replacement for Bishop's Swell rather than an addition. Bevington and Sons rebuilt and enlarged the organ in 1871 and again worked on it in 1897. The organ was moved to its present location in 1927 by Conacher Sheffield & Co. and was extensively rebuilt. However, the organ case could not be accommodated in its new position unaltered. The wings had to be removed and are now joined together to serve as the screen facing the north gallery, along with some recycled pew doors. The side towers could not fit between the mouldings on the north arcade bases, so the entire case-front was raised so that the corbels of the side towers cleared the mouldings. This caused the side-tower cornices to conflict with the arcade capitals, so the cornices were removed. Following war damage and the resulting weather-related damage, the organ was noted to be in a poor state by 1953, notably the Choir division was completely 'bombed out'. Hill, Norman & Beard remodelled the organ as a two manual and pedal instrument in 1964. This is the organ present today albeit with some additions to the piston system added in 1996. There are a mixture of mechanical and electro-pneumatic actions and soundboards of differing compasses. The pipework consists of some of the original Bishop ranks, some second hand pipework from Hill Norman & Beard's stock in 1964 and one partly new stop – the Great Stopped Diapason.

List of organists

*James Kempson c. 1780 *Jeremiah Clark c. 1800 *William Ward *Thomas Munden ???? - 1838 * George Hollins 1838 - 1841 *

James Stimpson James Stimpson (29 February 1820 – 4 October 1886) was a British cathedral organist and Birmingham City Organist. Early life He was born in Lincoln, England, on 29 February 1820, the son of William Stimpson and Rebecca Dannett. William was la ...

1842 - ???? *Mr. Evans c. 1852 *Frederick Barnby 1857–1859 (afterwards organist of Montreal Cathedral) *John Pearce ???? - 1870 (afterwards organist of St. Thomas' Church, Birmingham) *Frederick Harrod 1870 - ???? * Bernard Farebrother 1873 - ???? (afterwards organist of

Holy Trinity Church, Birchfield Holy Trinity Church is a Grade II* listed parish church in the Church of England in Birchfield, Birmingham. The church building was placed on a Heritage at Risk Register due to its poor condition in 2018, but repairs led to its removal from th ...

) *George John Halford *Cyril Raymond Mapstone 1961 - 1986 *Howard Chapman 1986 - 1988 *Andrew Hudson 1988 - 1991 *Andrew Burling 1991 - 1992 *John Pryer 1992 - 1995 * Dr. Stephen Lansberry 1995 *Gareth Perkins 1995 - 1997 *David Griffiths 1997 - 2001 *Kevin Gill 2001 - 2003
Paul Carr
2003 - 2016 *Joshua Roebuck 2016 - 2017 *Joshua Hughes 2018 - 2020
Dylan McCaig
2021 - Present

Bells

The first ring of bells was added in 2005. Prior to this the church had three bells used as a service bell and clock chimes. A new ring of ten bells was installed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the St.Martin's Guild of Church Bell Ringers and officially opened on 25 November 2005. The tenor weighs .St Pauls bells
St Paul Birmingham east window.jpg, The east window — ''The Conversion of Saint Paul'' St Pauls Church Birmingham inside west wall.jpg, inside view showing balcony and ceiling St Pauls Church Birmingham pews.jpg, The church pews St Paul Birmingham from south PP.jpg, Church from the south showing St Paul's Square

Notable burials

* William Hollins (1763-1843), architect and sculptor (monument in church)

References

External links

St Paul's Church Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Pauls Church, Birmingham Birmingham, Saint Paul's Square

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. ...

Churches completed in 1777 18th-century Church of England church buildings Grade I listed buildings in Birmingham