St Paul's Church, Hamstead is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England.

Location

The church sits west of the A34 Walsall Road, near its junction with Old Walsall Road, on a hilltop site overlooking the suburb of Hamstead, a former mining village, and not far from the border of Birmingham and

Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough ...

. At the time of the church's construction its site was part of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. In 1928 it was incorporated into Birmingham, and thus also

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, and, from 1974, the

West Midlands county West Midlands is a Metropolitan county, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the larger West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. A landlocked county, it is bordered by Staffordshire to the north ...

. The church's community hall sits a few yards further south along the A34.

History

The church originated as a mission church in 1865, closer to Hamstead village. Eventually funding was found for a permanent church and the foundation stone was laid on Friday 27 July 1891 by

Augustus Gough-Calthorpe, 6th Baron Calthorpe Augustus Cholmondeley Gough-Calthorpe, 6th Baron Calthorpe (8 November 1829 – 22 July 1910) was a British peer, agriculturist, and philanthropist. Early life and education Calthorpe was born at Elvetham Hall, Hampshire. He was the third son ...

. The church was built to the designs of the architect William Davis. It comprised nave, north and south transepts, north and south aisles and a chancel. It was built of red brick with Bathstone dressings. The contractors were Harley and Son of Smethwick. It was consecrated on 29 September 1892 by Augustus Legge, 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 M ...

. Pevsner and

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English China (material), fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons L ...

(1966) describe the building as "A pleasant country church in a Dec ratedstyle". In 1894 a parish was assigned with land taken from the parishes of

St Mary's Church, Handsworth St Mary's Church, Handsworth, also known as Handsworth Old Church, is a Grade II* listed Church of England, Anglican church in Handsworth, West Midlands, Handsworth, Birmingham, England. Its ten-acre (4 hectare) grounds are contiguous with ...

and

St John the Evangelist's Church, Perry Barr St John the Evangelist's Church, Perry Barr is a Grade II listed parish church in the Church of England in the Perry Barr area of Birmingham, England. History The building was designed by the stonemason Robert Studholme, from Sutton Coldfield, ...

. Hamstead War Memorial stands next to the church. Erected by public subscription in December 1920, it commemorates 22 men of the parish who died in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It has the shape of a Celtic wheel-cross and is also Grade II listed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamstead Church of England church buildings in Birmingham, West Midlands Churches completed in 1892 19th-century Church of England church buildings Grade II listed buildings in Birmingham Grade II listed churches in the West Midlands (county)