The Talbot Hotel stands on the corner of Trinity Street, King Street Lower and Paul Quay in Wexford, perhaps on the site of the mediaeval Holy Trinity Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and Sunday was the Third Sunday after Trinity. Today (29 June 2023), the Church Calendar celebrates the Festival of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles.
Over these weeks after Trinity Sunday, I have been reflecting each morning in these ways:
1, Looking at relevant images or stained glass window in a church, chapel or cathedral I know;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
A street scene behind Trinity Street in Wexford, looking towards the Main Street, with Bride Street Church in the background (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The (lost) Church of the Holy Trinity, Wexford:
The lost Norse-Irish and mediaeval Church of the Holy Trinity in Wexford once stood on Trinity Street, which runs from Paul Quay and the corner of King Street Lower to William Street by Maudlintown. It is part of the R730 regional road from Wexford Quay to Drinagh and the Rosslare Road roundabout.
Trinity Street was built in the 1800s and was named after the Church of the Holy Trinity, a Norse-Irish church that has long disappeared.
Norse Wexford contained the parishes of Saint Doologue’s, Saint Mary’s, and Saint Patrick’s, whilst just outside the town were the churches of the Holy Trinity, Saint Michael’s, Saint Brigid’s and Saint Peter’s. Similar church dedications are found in the other Norse towns, such as Dublin and Waterford. Following the 12th century arrival of the Anglo-Normans, more churches were built in Wexford: Saint Selskar’s, Saint Iberius’s, Saint John’s and the Franciscan friary.
Of these 11 church sites, the ruins of mediaeval churches or graveyards can be seen at Saint Patrick’s, Saint Mary’s, Saint John’s, Saint Michael’s of Feigh, and Selskar Abbey, while Saint Iberius’s Church and the present Franciscan Friary church are believed to stand on the sites of earlier buildings.
However, the precise location of either Holy Trinity Church or Saint Doologue’s Church is not known and there are no visible remains of Saint Peter’s Church or Saint Bridgid’s Church.
Although there are no remnants of Holy Trinity Church, it is said to have stood close to Wexford Castle and had a holy well nearby.
An account from 1644 describes a ceremony at the Church of the Holy Trinity, by then in ruins. A Mr Le Goiz, who visited Wexford that year, describes a ceremony held in the church ruins by the women of Wexford town: ‘They come there in solemn procession. The oldest march first and the others follow, then take three turns around the ruins, make a reverence to the remains, kneel and recommence this ceremony many times’.
Five years later, the ruins disappeared altogether after they were purloined to repair the damage done to Wexford Castle after Oliver Cromwell sacked the town in 1649. As a result, the exact site of the Church of the Holy Trinity remains unknown.
Trinity Street was built on land that was recovered during the 19th century land reclamation projects in Wexford. Maps and illustrations from the time show that a large dockyard at Trinity Street that was built by the Redmond family.
Trinity Street was also the location of the ‘South Station’ or Wexford South. The South Station was built in 1891, 17 years after the train station in Redmond Square was built in 1874. They were known to generations of people in Wexford as the North Station and the South Station, until the South Station closed in 1977.
Over the years, the site of the dockyard has been used by well-known businesses such as the Star Iron Works, Wexford Electronix and Clover Meats. Trinity Street has been home to a number of businesses, including Talbot Hotel, TK Max, ALDI and, in the past, C&D and Wexford Gas Works.
There are plans to convert Trinity Wharf into a high-quality business park with corporate office space. Work began on Phase 1 of the €110 million development on the 10-acre Trinity Wharf site earlier this year (March 2023).
The plans for Trinity Wharf include: A mix of modern office space with 200,000 sq ft commercial office space; hotel accommodation; restaurants and retail units; landmark cultural and events building with conference facilities; a 64-berth marina; a new boardwalk linking Trinity Wharf with Paul Quay and the Crescent; an urban greenway; high quality public realm; and residential apartments.
Trinity Street also leads into residential areas in Wexford such as the Seascape apartment building, Parnell Street, Emmet Place, Fisher’s Row and Seaview Avenue.
Wexford Quays seen from the site of the former South Station on Trinity Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Matthew 16: 13-19 (NRSVA):
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ 14 And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15 He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16 Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 17 And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’
The Kerlogue Memorial at the corner of Trinity Street and The Crescent (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Prayer:
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Freeing people from the Traps of Human Trafficking.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.
The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (29 June 2023, Saint Peter and Saint Paul) invites us to pray:
Almighty Father, let us remember the examples of St Peter and St Paul, two of your most loyal disciples. May we seek to emulate the conviction of their faith through our deeds and words.
Collect:
Almighty God,
whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul
glorified you in their death as in their life:
grant that your Church,
inspired by their teaching and example,
and made one by your Spirit,
may ever stand firm upon the one foundation,
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion:
Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
by the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul depicted in an early 18th century icon in the Museum of Christian Art, Iraklion … today is the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
45 seconds by the Quays in Wexford at the site of the old South Station (Patrick Comerford)
29 June 2023
The Old Crown in Digbeth
claims it is the oldest
pub in Birmingham
The Old Crown in Digbeth, which claims to be the oldest pub in Birmingham and Birmingham’s oldest secular building (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Patrick Comerford
After visiting Holy Trinity Church in Bordesley last week, as I walked back into the centre of Birmingham, I dropped into the Old Crown in Digbeth, which claims to be the oldest pub in Birmingham and Birmingham’s oldest secular building.
I visited the Old Crown on the recommendation of the Lichfield local historian and blogger Katie Cardigan of Lichfield Discovered, and was eager to explore the claims that this is the oldest pub in Birmingham.
These claims may not stand up to critical historical scrutiny, but the building at No 188 High Street, Deritend, at the corner with Heath Mill Lane, has existed since 1368, and the Old Crown is one of a few remaining examples of Birmingham’s mediaeval past.
The Old Crown is one of a few remaining examples of Birmingham’s mediaeval past (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
The Old Crown was probably built between 1450 and 1500, with some evidence dating to 1492, although most of the building dates from the early 16th century. It may have been built originally as the Guildhall and School of Saint John, Deritend, an area of the manor of Birmingham within the parish of Aston.
The mediaeval guild maintained the priest of Saint John’s Chapel, Deritend, as its chaplain, paying his stipend of £5 a year, and it supported a grammar school with its own schoolmaster. The guild owned other buildings in Warwickshire, including the guildhall in Henley in Arden.
The original building had a central hall, 12 metres (40 ft) long and 20 ft (6 metres (20 ft) wide, with a number of arched cellars below. The first floor is jettied and overhangs the front.
The well in the courtyard at the rear was 8 metres (26 ft) deep, surrounded by large stones. The well is thought to have been sunk over 1,000 years ago. It was excavated and deepened to produce a total depth of 12 metres (38 ft), and the new section of the well was lined with square bricks.
The well is thought to have been sunk over 1,000 years ago (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
The building was described in 1538 as a ‘mansion house of tymber’. The guild survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1545, but it was suppressed along with its chantry under Edward VI in 1547. All the guild’s properties were sold in 1549, apart for the chapel itself.
It is said Queen Elizabeth I stopped by at this building in 1575 on her way back from Kenilworth Castle.
The building was bought in 1589 by John Dyckson, alias Bayleys, who bought a number of properties and lands in Deritend and Bordesley in the 1580s. It was described as a tenement and garden, running alongside Heath Mill Lane, and remained in the Baylis and Dixon family for the next century.
However, the earliest documentary evidence of the building being used as an inn only dates from 1626.
The Old Crown was the last standing building in irmingham to hold out against Prince Rupert and his royalist army in 1643 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
During the English Civil War, the Old Crown was the last standing building in irmingham to hold out against Prince Rupert and his royalist army.
The Battle of Camp Hill, or the Battle of Birmingham, took place on Easter Monday, 3 April 1643, around Camp Hill. In the skirmish, a company of Parliamentarians from the Lichfield garrison with the support of local men, totalling about 300 men, attempted to stop 1,400 Royalists commanded by Prince Rupert passing through Birmingham.
The Parliamentarians put up a stout resistance and the Royalists were shot at from houses as the small Parliamentary force was driven out and back towards Lichfield. The Royalists torched the houses they said the shooting was coming from, and after the battle they spent the remainder of the day pillaging the town. They torched many more houses as they continued their retaliation the next day.
Prince Rupert left Birmingham on Tuesday 4 April and marched to Walsall; he reached Cannock on Wednesday. On Saturday 8 April, he marched on to Lichfield and laid siege to the city.
The Royalists’ conduct in Camp Hill later provided the Parliamentarians with a propaganda weapon. The Old Crown claims it was one of the few buildings in the area left standing after the battle.
Joshua Toulmin Smith saved the Old Crown from demolition (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
The building was ‘called by the sign of the Crowne’ from 1666. It was converted into two houses in 1684 and then converted into three houses in 1693. It remained three houses until the 19th century.
Joshua Toulmin Smith (1816-1869), a political theorist, lawyer and local historian of Birmingham, saved the Old Crown from demolition in 1851 when Birmingham City Corporation proposed demolishing the building to ‘improve the street.’
The corporation proposed demolishing the building again in 1856 and 1862, but Smith saved it each time.
Smith cleaned the well in 1863 and added an iron gate to the top of it to preserve it while keeping it accessible.
The Brennan family bought the Old Crown in 1991 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
A local pub company owned by the Brennan family bought the Old Crown in 1991. When Pat Brennan and his son Peter were repairing and clearing out the old sheds behind the property in 1994, they found the old well, which had been closed off for more than 100 years. It is now restored and can be seen at the rear entrance of the pub. The Brennan family invested £2 million in restoring the Old Crown, and it reopened in May 1998.
The Old Crown is a Grade II* listed building and it retains its ‘black and white’ timber frame appearance. The owners point out that it has seen off Civil War soldiers, Victorian town planners, German bombs and ‘a few centuries worth of drunk Brummies.’ Having stood those tests of time, it remains at the heart of Digbeth, Birmingham’s thriving creative quarter. The neighbouring landmarks include the former Bird's Custard Factory.
The Old Crown jokes that ‘every room has a tale to tell and it is said that the Old Crown is haunted by not one but two ghosts. Although, these sightings most often occur late at night after a few drinks!’ I had something to eat and soaked in the atmosphere on a late summer afternoon before heading back to New Street station.
I stayed for a glass of wine and a small meal (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Patrick Comerford
After visiting Holy Trinity Church in Bordesley last week, as I walked back into the centre of Birmingham, I dropped into the Old Crown in Digbeth, which claims to be the oldest pub in Birmingham and Birmingham’s oldest secular building.
I visited the Old Crown on the recommendation of the Lichfield local historian and blogger Katie Cardigan of Lichfield Discovered, and was eager to explore the claims that this is the oldest pub in Birmingham.
These claims may not stand up to critical historical scrutiny, but the building at No 188 High Street, Deritend, at the corner with Heath Mill Lane, has existed since 1368, and the Old Crown is one of a few remaining examples of Birmingham’s mediaeval past.
The Old Crown is one of a few remaining examples of Birmingham’s mediaeval past (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
The Old Crown was probably built between 1450 and 1500, with some evidence dating to 1492, although most of the building dates from the early 16th century. It may have been built originally as the Guildhall and School of Saint John, Deritend, an area of the manor of Birmingham within the parish of Aston.
The mediaeval guild maintained the priest of Saint John’s Chapel, Deritend, as its chaplain, paying his stipend of £5 a year, and it supported a grammar school with its own schoolmaster. The guild owned other buildings in Warwickshire, including the guildhall in Henley in Arden.
The original building had a central hall, 12 metres (40 ft) long and 20 ft (6 metres (20 ft) wide, with a number of arched cellars below. The first floor is jettied and overhangs the front.
The well in the courtyard at the rear was 8 metres (26 ft) deep, surrounded by large stones. The well is thought to have been sunk over 1,000 years ago. It was excavated and deepened to produce a total depth of 12 metres (38 ft), and the new section of the well was lined with square bricks.
The well is thought to have been sunk over 1,000 years ago (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
The building was described in 1538 as a ‘mansion house of tymber’. The guild survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1545, but it was suppressed along with its chantry under Edward VI in 1547. All the guild’s properties were sold in 1549, apart for the chapel itself.
It is said Queen Elizabeth I stopped by at this building in 1575 on her way back from Kenilworth Castle.
The building was bought in 1589 by John Dyckson, alias Bayleys, who bought a number of properties and lands in Deritend and Bordesley in the 1580s. It was described as a tenement and garden, running alongside Heath Mill Lane, and remained in the Baylis and Dixon family for the next century.
However, the earliest documentary evidence of the building being used as an inn only dates from 1626.
The Old Crown was the last standing building in irmingham to hold out against Prince Rupert and his royalist army in 1643 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
During the English Civil War, the Old Crown was the last standing building in irmingham to hold out against Prince Rupert and his royalist army.
The Battle of Camp Hill, or the Battle of Birmingham, took place on Easter Monday, 3 April 1643, around Camp Hill. In the skirmish, a company of Parliamentarians from the Lichfield garrison with the support of local men, totalling about 300 men, attempted to stop 1,400 Royalists commanded by Prince Rupert passing through Birmingham.
The Parliamentarians put up a stout resistance and the Royalists were shot at from houses as the small Parliamentary force was driven out and back towards Lichfield. The Royalists torched the houses they said the shooting was coming from, and after the battle they spent the remainder of the day pillaging the town. They torched many more houses as they continued their retaliation the next day.
Prince Rupert left Birmingham on Tuesday 4 April and marched to Walsall; he reached Cannock on Wednesday. On Saturday 8 April, he marched on to Lichfield and laid siege to the city.
The Royalists’ conduct in Camp Hill later provided the Parliamentarians with a propaganda weapon. The Old Crown claims it was one of the few buildings in the area left standing after the battle.
Joshua Toulmin Smith saved the Old Crown from demolition (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
The building was ‘called by the sign of the Crowne’ from 1666. It was converted into two houses in 1684 and then converted into three houses in 1693. It remained three houses until the 19th century.
Joshua Toulmin Smith (1816-1869), a political theorist, lawyer and local historian of Birmingham, saved the Old Crown from demolition in 1851 when Birmingham City Corporation proposed demolishing the building to ‘improve the street.’
The corporation proposed demolishing the building again in 1856 and 1862, but Smith saved it each time.
Smith cleaned the well in 1863 and added an iron gate to the top of it to preserve it while keeping it accessible.
The Brennan family bought the Old Crown in 1991 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
A local pub company owned by the Brennan family bought the Old Crown in 1991. When Pat Brennan and his son Peter were repairing and clearing out the old sheds behind the property in 1994, they found the old well, which had been closed off for more than 100 years. It is now restored and can be seen at the rear entrance of the pub. The Brennan family invested £2 million in restoring the Old Crown, and it reopened in May 1998.
The Old Crown is a Grade II* listed building and it retains its ‘black and white’ timber frame appearance. The owners point out that it has seen off Civil War soldiers, Victorian town planners, German bombs and ‘a few centuries worth of drunk Brummies.’ Having stood those tests of time, it remains at the heart of Digbeth, Birmingham’s thriving creative quarter. The neighbouring landmarks include the former Bird's Custard Factory.
The Old Crown jokes that ‘every room has a tale to tell and it is said that the Old Crown is haunted by not one but two ghosts. Although, these sightings most often occur late at night after a few drinks!’ I had something to eat and soaked in the atmosphere on a late summer afternoon before heading back to New Street station.
I stayed for a glass of wine and a small meal (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
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