Dedication St. Barnabas Rector Revd Freda Evans Phone +44 121 306 4820 | Churchmanship Broad Church | |
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Website www.stbarnabaserdington.org.uk Similar St James' Church - Handsworth, St Mary the Virgin - Acocks G, Bishop Latimer Memorial, St Michael's Church, St Silas' Church - Lozells | ||
St. Barnabas' Church is the parish church of Erdington, in the north of Birmingham, England.
Contents
Background
It is located on the High Street, in the main shopping centre area of Erdington, and is a Grade II listed building. The vicar is the Reverend Freda Evans, inducted on June 19, 2008.
History
The church was built as a chapel of ease between 1822-23 to a design by Thomas Rickman. The church was famous for its sixteen stained glass windows depicting scenes of the life of Jesus and stories from the scriptures, including the Raising of Lazarus, The Resurrection, The Good Samaritan and St Paul and St Barnabas, which were also designed by Thomas Rickman. It was consecrated on July 23, 1824. The church was built by the Commissioners at a cost of £5,000, (equivalent to £400,000 in 2015), £1,000 of which was collected through public donations. In 1858, a district chapelry was assigned to the church.
In 1908 the parish founded a Mission Room in Stockland Green which in 1920 was dedicated to St Mark. In a new church was built called St Mark's Church, Stockland Green and a parish assigned out of All Saints' Church, Gravelly Hill.
Fire
On the morning of 4 October 2007, the building was severely damaged by fire. West Midlands Fire Service were called to a fire at the church at 6am. Approximately 75 firefighters and 15 engines attended the fire. The roof and all but one of the stained glass windows were completely destroyed, though the clock and bell tower and walls remain intact. The Rt Revd. David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham, stated he was determined to rebuild the church. It is believed that the fire was caused by arsonists.
Tower Bells
St Barnabas has a ring of eight bells.
Rebuild
Rebuilding of the church started in January 2011 and completed in 2012. The building work was undertaken by Linfords who also performed the cleanup of the fire damage in late 2007 and early 2008.The building was re-dedicated in December 2012 by the Bishop of Birmingham.
Churchyard
The churchyard contains scattered war graves of 66 service personnel, 29 of World War I and 37 of World War II. A Screen Wall memorial lists those buried in graves in the old ground which could not be individually marked.