St Mary's Church, Selly Oak

Parish

The parish of St. Mary was from part of the parish of St. Laurence, Northfield in 1862. The parish of St Stephen, Selly Park was formed from part of St. Mary's parish in 1871. The parishes were in the Anglican Diocese of Worcester until 1905, when they became part of the newly created Anglican Diocese of Birmingham.

Building

The church is set back from the main Bristol Road (A38 road) and is approached from the south by a drive, ending at a lychgate at the entrance to the churchyard. There is also an entrance from the north in Lodge Hill Road.

St Mary's foundation stone was laid on 12 July 1860, and the Bishop of Worcester, the Right Reverend Henry Philpott, consecrated the church on 12 September 1861. The church was funded by the manufacturer George Richards Elkington (1801–65) and by Joseph Frederick Ledsam (1791–1862). Ledsam was Chairman of the London and North Western Railway and in 1848 had been High Sheriff of Worcestershire.

The architect Edward Holmes designed the building in a Gothic Revival interpretation of Decorated Gothic. It is built of coursed sandstone, enlivened both inside and out by being laid in courses of two different shades. The stone is from a quarry (now closed) at Weoley Castle. Limestone was used for quoins, window facings and internal columns. The north-west tower has a broach spire 150 feet (46 m) high, topped by a weathercock.

The church is cruciform, and the nave has a clerestory and north and south aisles with four-bay arcades. The clerestory windows are slightly unusual, being quatrefoils set in groups of three. Internally the walls are plastered, and the plastering is punctuated by horizontal bands of sandstone. In the transepts and nave the roof timbers are exposed and in the chancel they are gilded and painted in heraldic colours of red, blue, green, white and gold.

In 1893 a mission church was established and in 1906 a new church of St Wulstan's Church, Selly Oak was built. A parish was formed out of St Mary's for this new church in 1911.

For St Mary's centenary in 1961 the interior was reordered and redecorated under the direction of the architect Stephen Dykes Bower. At the same time painted, sculpted rood was removed from the chancel arch and transferred to Holy Trinity parish church, Hadley, Shropshire.

Since 1982 the building has been Grade II listed In the 1980s a set of olive wood Stations of the Cross was installed.

Windows

There are nine stained glass windows by Hardman & Co..

Bells

At the church's consecration on 12 September 1861 the tower had only one bell. Five more were added in 1864, creating a ring of six that was first rung on 29 September 1864. In 1887 the parish commemorated the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria by adding two more bells, increasing them to a ring to eight that was first rung on 20 June 1887.

In 1922 the bells were found to be unsafe to ring, and they were silent for a decade until enough money was raised for rectification work. In 1932 Gillett & Johnston of Croydon re-founded all eight bells and they were re-hung. The tenor (the largest bell) now weighs 12 long cwt 1 qr 17 lb (1,389 lb or 630 kg) in and is tuned to the musical note G.

The Master of the Ringers for many years from the 1930s was William B. Cartwright, a local solicitor.

Inscriptions

Two of the bells are inscribed.

Organ

An organ was installed in 1862 for the opening of the church. In the 1870s it was moved to the south side of the chancel. In 1902 Nicholson and Company of Worcester rebuilt it, retaining much of the original pipework. Between 1925 and 1930 it was restored by Bird of Selly Park. In 1958 it was restored again, this time by Nicholson & Co, and the console was moved to the north side of the chancel. It was dedicated by the Right Reverend John Leonard Wilson, the fourth Bishop of Birmingham on 4 June 1958 at a recital by Sir George Thalben-Ball, the Birmingham City Organist. Sheffield Organs made further tonal improvements in 1996 and 1999.

Organists

In 2015 the organist is still John stormont

The Organist is also choirmaster and a robed choir leads the worship at the principal Sunday services. Other choral occasions include the Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols, and a passion cantata, such as Stainer's Crucifixion, in Holy Week. There are also occasional organ recitals and concerts.

Tower clock

St Mary's has a tower clock that chimes the hours and quarter hours. It was installed in 1887, the year of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. JB Joyce & Co of Whitchurch, Shropshire made the clock under the supervision of the Rev. Canon Cattley. It is made on the same principle as the clock designed by Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe for the great clock at Westminster and the large clock at Worcester Cathedral. The cost was about £331 (equivalent to £30,000 in 2015), and was the gift of the widow and family of the late Benjamin Walters.

The frame is cast iron, horizontal and planed. It is 6 feet (1.8 m) long, 1 foot 9 inches (0.5 m) wide and 1 foot (0.3 m) deep, and is supported by beams that are built into the tower wall to preclude vibration. The wheels are of gunmetal and the pendulum beats every 1¼ seconds.

Popular culture

St Mary's acoustics are fine and the church has been used as a concert venue, rehearsal space and recording space. The church has frequently featured in the BBC soap opera Doctors.