| St. Mary's Church, Selly Oak | |
St. Mary's Church, Selly Oak
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| Denomination | Church of England |
|---|---|
| Churchmanship | Broad Church |
| Website | www.stmarysellyoak.org.uk |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Mary |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Selly Oak |
| Deanery | Edgbaston |
| Archdeaconry | Birmingham |
| Diocese | Birmingham |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Vicar(s) | Revd Jim Cox |
| Honorary priest(s) | Revd Susannah Izzard |
| Laity | |
| Organist/Director of music | John Stormont |
St. Mary's Church, Selly Oak is a parish church in the Church of England located in Selly Oak, Birmingham.
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The parish of St. Mary's was formed out of the parish of St. Laurence's Church, Northfield in 1862. The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 12 July 1860 and the church was consecrated by the Bishop of Worcester, the Right Reverend Henry Philpott, on 12 September 1861. The architect was Edward Holmes. This Church was built through the munificence of Joseph Frederick Ledsam and George Richards Elkington.
The church, which is set back from the main Bristol Road (A38 road) up a drive, and through a lych gate, is built in the decorated Gothic Revival (14th-century) style using sandstone from a quarry (now closed) in Weoley Castle. There are limestone facings to the window openings, and the north west tower supports a broach spire 150 feet (46 m) high, surmounted by a weathercock. It is surrounded by a churchyard.
The building is Grade II listed. Internally, the wall plastering is interrupted by horizontal bands of sandstone. In the transepts and nave the roof timbers are exposed but those in the chancel are gilded and painted in heraldic colours or red, blue, green, white and gold. The columns of the four bay nave are of limestone. The interior of the church was reordered and redecorated at its centenary in 1961, supervised by the architect Stephen Dykes Bower. A painted, sculpted rood screen was removed at that time, and transferred to the Church at Hadley, in Telford. A set of olive wood Stations of the Cross were installed in the 1980s.
The church was originally within the Anglican Diocese of Worcester but transferred to the new Anglican Diocese of Birmingham when it was created in 1905, the Right Reverend Charles Gore being the Bishop at that time.
There are 9 stained glass windows by John Hardman.
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The Revd Jim Cox was collated and inducted as the Vicar of Selly Oak in a service conducted by David Andrew Urquhart the Bishop of Birmingham assisted by Archdeacon Hayward Osborne at St Mary's Church, Selly Oak, on Friday 4 September 2009.
At consecration on 12 September 1861 there was only one bell in the tower. Five more were added in 1864, bringing the ring to six and these were first rung on 29 September 1864.
In 1887, to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, two more bells were added, bringing the ring to eight with a tenor weight of 12 long cwt 1 qtr 17 lb (1,389 lb or 630 kg) in G.[1] The eight bells were first rung on 20 June 1887.
In 1922 it was discovered that the bells were unsafe to ring, and they remained silent for 10 years until money could be found to rectify the problem. The Master of the Ringers for many years from the 1930s was William B. Cartwright, a local solicitor.
The following inscriptions appear on the bells:—
IN MEMORIAM FILIÆ ET S. M. VICTORIÆ ANNUM QUINQUAGESIMA REGNANTIS D. D. JOEL MERRETT. (Translation: Given by Joel Merrett in memory of a daughter and the fiftieth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria.)
+ BEATUS POPULUS QUI SCIT JUBILATIONEM. (Translation: Happy are the people who know how to rejoice.)
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. The organ was completely re-built in 1902 by Nicholson & Co (Worcester) Ltd, retaining much of the original pipework. The organ was restored again between 1925 and 1930 by Bird of Selly Park.
The organ was restored again in 1958 by Nicholson and the console resited to the North side of the Chancel, and dedicated by the Right Reverend John Leonard Wilson, the fourth Bishop of Birmingham, at a recital by Sir George Thalben-Ball, the Birmingham City Organist, on 4 June 1958. Some further tonal improvements were carried out by Sheffield Organs in 1996 and 1999.
The specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.
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 & Carols, and a passion cantata, such as Stainer's Crucifixion, during Holy Week. There are also occasional organ recitals and concerts.
The Clock, which sounds the hour and quarter chimes, was made by Messrs. J. B. Joyce & Co. 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 (£30,000 as of 2012),[2] and was the gift of the widow and family of the late Mr. Benjamin Walters.
The frame is horizontal, of cast iron and planed. It is 6 ft (2 m). long, l ft. 9ins. wide, and l ft. in depth, and rests on beams which are built into the tower wall to ensure absence of vibration. The wheels are of gun-metal, and the pendulum beats every 1¼ secs.
The clock was fitted in 1887, the year of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.