Country England Groundbreaking 1860 Construction cost £10,000 Opened 1862 Width 20 m Architect John Jones Bateman | Denomination Unitarian Completed 1862 (1862) Height 46 m Length 32 m Demolished 1978 | |
Location Broad Street, Birmingham Similar Holliday Street Aqueduct, St Benedict's Church - B, Public Library and Baths - Ba, J Ashford & Son building, Chinese Pagoda | ||
The Church of the Messiah, Birmingham was a Unitarian church on Broad Street, Birmingham.
Contents
History
The foundation of the congregation goes back to 1692 when the first meeting house was built, afterwards known as the Lower Meeting House, Deritend. When the congregation outgrew this in 1732, they moved into a new chapel in Moor Street. By the 1860s this was also too small so a new church was commissioned. The Moor Street chapel was sold to a Roman Catholic congregation, and became St Michael's Church.
The new Church of the Messiah was built to designs by the architect John Jones Bateman, the contractors being George Branson and Edwin Gwyther. The foundation stone was laid on 11 August 1860 and the church opened on 1 January 1862, at a cost of £10,000. The site was unusual in that it straddled the Birmingham Canal, forming part of the Broad Street canal tunnel.
Early members of the congregation included members of the Martineau family who would produce many Birmingham Lord Mayors throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Joseph Chamberlain, and his son Neville Chamberlain, prime minister (1937–1940), attended services in this church.
The church was demolished in 1978. The congregation moved to a new building at Five Ways, which opened on 1 September 1973.
Organ
An organ was provided by Nicholson of Worcester in 1862, but by 1882 the congregation had commissioned a new one from William Hill and Son at a cost of £1571. This was rebuilt by Nicholson of Worcester in 1923. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.