How Saint Mary’s Church in Handsworth has links with the Industrial Revolution … and the Comberford family

Saint Mary’s Church, Handsworth, also known as Handsworth Old Church, is sometimes described as the ‘Cathedral of the Industrial Revolution’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

When I was in Birmingham last week, after finding the tomb of William Holte in Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church in Aston, with its early depiction of a Comberford coat-of-arms, I decided to walk from Aston to Handsworth, where Saint Mary’s Church is associated with some members of the Comberford family through intermarriage with the Stanford family.

The Stanford and Comberford families were among the leading ‘conforming Catholic’ families in Staffordshire, and in the post-Reformation decades in the second half of the 16th century, the River Tame was like a Tudor motorway, providing easy access between the Comberford and Stanford manors in Wednesbury, Handsworth, Perry Barr, Kingsbury, the Moat House in Tamworth and Comberford Hall.

Saint Mary’s Church, Handsworth, also known as Handsworth Old Church, is a Grade II* listed building beside Handsworth Park, formerly Victoria Park, and is close to the Birmingham Outer Circle.

The church is sometimes described as the ‘Cathedral of the Industrial Revolution’, and Saint Mary’s is the burial place of key figures in the Industrial Revolution in Birmingham and the Midlands, including James Watt, Matthew Boulton and William Murdoch, members of the Lunar Society.

Handsworth was originally in the Diocese of Lichfield until it was transferred to the Diocese of Birmingham, and it was in Staffordshire until it was transferred to Warwickshire and became part of Birmingham in 1911.

The west end of Saint Mary’s Church, Handsworth … the church dates back to at least 1160 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Despite its strong connections with the Industrial Revolution, the earliest parish register for Saint Mary’s begins in 1558, and the church dates back to at least 1160. The Manor of Handsworth is even older and existed since Saxon times, so there may have been an earlier timber church in Handsworth.

The first stone church on the site of Saint Mary’s was built ca 1160, when a priest was recorded in Handsworth. It was a small and austere Norman structure, filling about half the site of the present south aisle. The few surviving Norman features of the church can be seen at the lower stages of the sandstone tower at the east end of the original church.

Saint Mary’s Church was enlarged in the 14th century. The tower, which has six bells, is in the decorated style of the reign of Edward III, like the other remaining parts of the ancient fabric. In the chancel are two effigies of members of the Wyrley family, and an ancient piscina.

William de Wirleia was Rector of Handsworth in 1228, and remained there until he died in 1247. He is the earliest recorded member of the Wyrley family in Handsworth.

The tower of Saint Mary’s Church, which was enlarged in the 14th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

All the manors in Handsworth were held by a single succession of overlords in the early Middle Ages. William FitzAnsculf held Birmingham, Edgbaston, Aston, Erdington, Witton, Handsworth, Perry Barr and Little Barr in 1086. His successors were lords of other manors in Aston parish – Bordesley, Little Bromwich, Duddeston, Saltley and Nechells – that were first named in the 12th or 13th century. The estates and Dudley Castle passed to the Paynel family, and from them to successive members of the Somery family until John de Somery died in 1322.

The Somery family shared their interests in Handsworth Manor with the Parles family, whose estates and wealth were eventually inherited by an heiress Anne Parles, who married John Comberford (ca 1440-1508), of Comberford Hall, who was a Justice of the Peace and MP for Staffordshire 1502-1508. John Comberford’s sister Margaret married William Holte (ca 1430-post 1498).

As for the Somery family, when John de Somery died in 1322, his co-heirs were his sisters: Dudley and the manors of Birmingham, Perry Barr and Little Barr went to Margaret, wife of John de Sutton, while Handsworth Manor, Edgbaston Manor and the manors in Aston parish went to Joan, widow of Thomas Botetourt.

Handsworth Manor then passed through the Botetourt and Beauchamp families to Joan Beauchamp’s son, James Butler (1420-1461), 5th Earl of Ormond, who was beheaded as a Lancastrian in 1461. Butler’s estates and interests were recovered eventually and in time passed to his youngest brother, Thomas Butler (1426-1515), 7th Earl of Ormond – grandfather of Anne Boylen – and from him to his daughter Lady Anne Butler (1455-1533) and her husband Sir James St Leger, and to their grandson John St Leger in 1519.

John St Leger sold Handsworth Manor in 1555 to Sir William Stanford (1509-1558), Justice of Common Pleas and MP for Stafford and Newcastle-under-Lyme. He consolidated his links with Staffordshire by buying the neighbouring Manor of Perry Barr and Manor of Handsworth, which he bought from Sir John St Leger, who had inherited the estate through his descent from James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond.

Sir Robert Stanford (1540-1607), succeeded to Handsworth Manor and Perry Barr, and built Perry Hall in 1576 (Image: Lost Heritage)

Stebbing Shaw in his History of Staffordshire (vol 2, p 108) says Sir William Stanford married Elizabeth Comberford, a daughter of Thomas Comberford (1530-1597) of Comberford Hall and Wednesbury and his wife Dorothy, daughter of William Wyrley of Hampstead in Handsworth. However, most authorities agree William’s wife was Alice Palmer, daughter of John Palmer of Kentish Town, Middlesex.

Shaw appears to have confused her with a much later Elizabeth Comberford who married William Stanford of Packington, a first cousin twice removed of the judge. This Elizabeth Comberford was a daughter of Thomas Comberford (1472-1532) and Dorothy Fitzherbert; she was a sister of Humphrey Comberford of Comberford Hall, Canon Henry Comberford, Precentor of Lichfield, and Richard Comberford, sometimes (confusingly) identified as the ancestor of the Comerford family of Co Kilkenny and Co Wexford.

Sir William Stanford of Handsworth and Handsworth and Anne Palmer were the parents of six sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Sir Robert Stanford (1540-1607), succeeded to Handsworth Manor and Perry Barr, and built Perry Hall in 1576.

Robert Stanford’s eldest son, Edward Stanford, who succeeded to Handsworth Manor and Perry Hall in 1607, was a witness to a Comberford family deed in 1599 signed by William Comberford of Tamworth and his brothers John Comberford and Thomas Comberford. Edward Stanford died in 1632 and was succeeded in turn by his son William Stanford.

One of Sir Robert Stanford’s daughters, Mary, married Humphrey Comberford, on 30 January 1591. Humphrey Comberford died at Comberford during his father’s lifetime, and he was buried in Saint Editha’s, Tamworth, on 6 August 1609.

William Comberford (1594-1653) was baptised in 1595 in Saint Mary’s Church, Handsworth, where his mother’s brother, the Revd Henry Stanford, was the Rector in 1604-1608 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Mary (Stanford) and Humphrey Comberford were the parents of five sons and four daughters. Their eldest son, William Comberford (ca 1593/1594-1653), was born ca 1593/1594, and was baptised on 8 February 1594/5 in Saint Mary’s Church, Handsworth, where later his mother’s brother, the Revd Henry Stanford, son of Sir William Stanford, was the Rector in 1604-1608.

William Comberford inherited Comberford Hall 1611, and his grandfather William Comberford died in 1625. At the Visitation of Warwickshire he was described as ‘de Cumberford et Kingsberrow’ or Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a reference to his interest in one-ninth of the manor of Mancetter within the Parish of Kingsbury.

When his grandfather died in 1625, William Comberford as his heir succeeded to the Comberford family estates. But he did not take possession of them as the bulk of the estates, including the Moat House in Lichfield Street, Tamworth, and the Manor of Wednesbury, had been leased in trust by his grandfather to his uncle William Comberford.

William Comberford died in 1653, perhaps at the Marshalsea in Southwark. Although he asked in his will to be buried in the Comberford family vault in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth, it appears he was buried at Saint George the Martyr, Southwark.

William Comberford’s next brother, the second son of Mary (Stanford) and Humphrey Comberford, was Robert Comberford (ca 1594-1671) of Comberford Hall, the last of the senior line of the family to live at Comberford Hall, although his widow Catherine (Bates) continued to live there until she died in 1718.

The fourth son of Mary (Stanford) and Humphrey Comberford, John Comberford (ca 1597-(ca 1666), lived in Handsworth, until he inherited Wednesbury after the death of his eldest brother, William Comberford, in 1653. After settling ‘all my lands in Wednesbury’ on trustees, he appears to have paid off the outstanding debts on the estate and sold it ca 1656 to a distant cousin, John Shelton of West Bromwich. John Comberford’s will is dated 1657, but he was still living in 1664, and died ca 1666.

A daughter of Mary (Stanford) and Humphrey Comberford, Elizabeth Comberford, also lived in Handsworth. She is named in the wills of her brothers William and Robert Comberford, and she died ca 1677.

Meanwhile, Sir Henry Gough bought Perry Hall in 1669, and it stayed with the Gough and Gough-Calthorpe family many generations.

The churchyard at Saint Mary’s Church, Handsworth, has many graves of local historical importance (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Until the Industrial Revolution, Handsworth was a large rural parish with a population widely dispersed in farms and cottages. As a Staffordshire country church placed at the convergence of several cross country tracks, Saint Mary’s became a significant place in the life of Birmingham as it developed into the largest industrial city in Britain.

James Watt (1736-1819), who lived in Handsworth, is remembered as the inventor of the steam engine. Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) applied his engineering talent in 1774 to Watt’s ideas, and Boulton and Watt became leading figures in the Industrial Revolution. William Murdoch (1754-1839), another engineer, became a partner of Boulton and Watt. He perfected gas lighting and the high-pressure steam engine. All three have monuments in the church.

James Watt was buried in the grounds of Saint Mary’s, but when the church was rebuilt and enlarged in 1820, his tomb was inside the church. A groined chapel was designed by Thomas Rickman and built over Watt’s tomb On the south side, and includes a white marble statue of Watt by Francis Legatt Chantrey.

More factories followed, and Handsworth continued to expand throughout the 19th century. This growth was further encouraged by the arrival of the railway, with stations opening at Handsworth in 1837 and Perry Barr in 1854.

From 1860 to 1873, the Revd Herbert Richard Peel, a nephew of Sir Robert Peel MP, was the Rector of Handsworth. To accommodate the growing population, Saint Mary’s was expanded in 1870, and several new churches were built in the parish, including: Saint John’s, Perry Barr (1833), Saint James’, Handsworth (1838-1840), Saint Michael’s, Handsworth (1855), Holy Trinity, Birchfield (1864), Saint Paul’s Hamstead (1892-1894), and Saint Andrew’s, Handsworth (1909).

The site of Handsworth Rectory is now the large pond in Handsworth Park (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Handsworth Rectory was sold in 1891, was demolished in the 1890s and the site later became the large pond in Victoria Park, now Handsworth Park.

As for Perry Hall, built in 1576 by Sir Robert Stanford, the father of Mary (Stanford) Comberford, it had been abandoned as a family residence by 1919. Birmingham Corporation was having financial troubles in the 1920s, and had to choose between saving Aston Hall and nearby Perry Hall. Aston Hall was saved, Perry Hall was demolished in 1931, and the stables and the last remaining lodge were demolished in 1935. The site of the house and estate is now Perry Playing Fields is and the boating pool is part of the former moat of Perry Hall.

Saint Mary’s churchyard includes the graves of two key figures in the story of football: William McGregor, a director of Aston Villa who called the founding meeting of the Football League in 1888, and George Ramsay, whose headstone reads ‘Founder of Aston Villa’. Harry Freeman, the popular music hall performer, was buried there in 1922. But the graveyard is overgrown and it is difficult to find the graves.

Webster Booth (1902-1984), largely remembered for his singing duets with Anne Ziegler, was a member of the choir of Saint Mary’s as a child. He was seen as one of the finest tenors of his day.

Inside Saint Mary’s Church, Handsworth (Image: HandsworthParish website)

Today, Saint Mary’s is part of the Handsworth Group and describes itself as a warm and welcoming Church with a diverse and growing congregation. The worship aims to be dignified but inclusive and is of a moderate catholic flavour, using incense on the Principal Feasts.

• Sunday services are: 8 am, Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer, 1662); 11 am, the Parish Eucharist (Common Worship, 2000), the principle service in the parish and a sung service. Morning Prayer is said every Friday at 8:30, and there is Daily Prayer following Common Worship in the Church Hall.

The churchyard lychgate on Hamstead Road in Handsworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Aston: older than than Birmingham and with an unusual Comberford link

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Aston, dates back to the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on Witton Lane in Aston, Birmingham, is the parish church of Aston. It is grade II* listed and is in the Aston Hall and Church Conservation Area, is close to Aston Hall and Park and to Villa Park, the home of Aston Villa Football Club, and near the Aston Expressway and Spaghetti Junction.

The church is a landmark building for Aston Villa fans making way from Aston station to Villa Park and the church spire is visible from the nearby M6 motorway.

There was a church on the site when the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086. The earlier history of the site is uncertain, although an archaeological excavation of the original village in 2013 suggests this was the site of a British Roman settlement.

Inside Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Aston, facing east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The Domesday Book gave Aston (Estone) five times the value of nearby Birmingham. The area was wealthy during the agricultural era, and it was overtaken in economic importance by Birmingham only with the advance of the industrial revolution.

Because of its antiquity and lengthy history, the church has links to many well-known names in the history of Aston, including the Holtes who built Aston Hall in 1618, the Arden family who were related to William Shakespeare, and the Ansell family of Ansell’s brewery.

When Anglo-Saxon England was divided into seven smaller kingdoms, Aston was part of the Kingdom of Mercia with its political capital in Tamworth and its ecclesiastical centre at Lichfield Cathedral. The church was probably founded in the ninth century, and the original church would have been wooden, as the Domesday Book records.

The area of the parish was extensive, with chapels of ease in Yardley, Water Orton and Castle Bromwich, and it is likely that Saint Peter and Saint Paul was a minster church.

The first masonry structure was completed in 1120. It was the second largest church in the West Midlands, the original Coventry Cathedral being larger. The church has many impressive monuments dating from the 14th century, including three chest tombs commemorating the Arden family. The oldest monument is the tomb of Ralph Arden, who died in 1360, a direct ancestor of William Shakespeare, and the church also has a Shakespeare window.

Two tombs are associated with the Wars of the Roses: the effigy of William Harcourt (died 1483) shows him in armour; Sir Thomas de Erdington (died 1449) took his name from the Erdington district of Birmingham, between Aston and Lichfield.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church seen from Aston Hall, built by the Holte family (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

There are memorials too to members of the Holte family of Aston Hall. The oldest remaining Holte family monument is to William Holte (ca 1460-1514), and it includes one of the earliest known heraldic depictions of the Comberford coat of arms.

William Holte was the son of William Holte (ca 1430-post 1498). The elder William Holte was a merchant of the staple, and he married Margaret Comberford, a daughter of William Comberford of Comberford Hall, halfway between Tamworth and Lichfield in Staffordshire. She was living in 1477, and he was still alive in 1498. William Holte’s father-in-law, William Comberford, was MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme (1442-1447) and Staffordshire (1449-1450).

Margaret (Comberford) Holt was a sister of John Comberford (ca 1440-1508), of Comberford Hall, who was a Justice of the Peace and MP for Staffordshire 1502-1508. John Comberford extended the family’s estates and land holding when he married his father’s ward, Johanna Parles, the only daughter and heir of John Parles of Watford Manor and of Shutlanger, near Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire.

Margaret (Comberford) Holt was still living in 1477, and her husband William probably died ca 1498.

The altar tomb and effigy in the north aisle to William Holte, who died in 1514 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Their eldest son, William Holte, inherited the Holte family estates, including Aston, and married Joanna Knight, daughter of Adam Knight of Shrewsbury. When this William Holte died in 1514, he was buried in the north aisle of Aston Church.

Sam Evans, the Parish Administrator, helped me to locate the altar tomb with its life-size effigy of William Holte. It is the oldest remaining monument of the Holte family and shows William Holte clad in a suit of mail armour, a surcoat covering the upper part of his body; his hands are joined prayer, his head rests on a helmet, and at his feet is a resting lion.

This tomb displays one of the early examples of an image of the Comberford coat-of-arms. The front of the tomb is divided by buttresses into four compartments, each with a cinquefoil panel. In each panel, crowned and robed winged angels hold heraldic shields charged with these arms: 1, Holte impaling Knight, for William’s wife Joan; 2, singly Delabere, for William’s grandmother, Margaret Delabere; 3, Holte impaling Comberford, for William’s parents; and 4, de Wolvey.

However, the depiction of the Comberford arms is an anachronism in heraldic terms. They are shown as: Gules, a cross engrailed or, charged with five roses of the first (a red shield, with a golden, engrailed or jagged cross that bears five red roses).

These arms were adopted by descendants of Margaret’s brother John Comberford; they are originally the arms of the Parles family, and were adopted partly because of the wealth inherited from the Parles family, and partly to display the Comberford family’s political allegiance to the House of Lancaster. The original Comberford arms used by Margaret’s immediate family are: Gules, a talbot passant argent (red, with a white, walking talbot hunting dog).

The impaled coats of arms of Holte and Comberford, held by the third angel on the tomb (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The inscription around the ledge of this tomb has long been obliterated, but was transcribed by Sir William Dugdale: ‘Of your charity, pray for the soule of William Holt, Esquire, sometime Lord of this towne, and Joane his wife. Which William dy’d the XVIII September, the yeare of howre Lord MCCCIII.’

The date 1303 is an obvious mistake, and should have read 1514. The error was made either at the time the monument was made or, more likely, in a later transcription.

The Priory of Tickford or Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire, had some property in Aston which seems to have constituted a rectorial manor. After the suppression of the priory in 1525, its possessions were said to have included ‘the manor of Tickford in the parish of Aston’, which was given to Cardinal Wolsey for his college at Oxford, now Christ Church Oxford.

The manor was granted to Christ Church Oxford in 1532. The estate included the advowson of the vicarage and a pension of 40 shillings from Aston church. The rectorial estate seems to have passed into the possession of the Holte family between 1535 and 1552, and was united with the manor of Aston.

The height of the spire in Aston made the church the tallest building in Birmingham from 1838 to 1855 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

During the English Civil War, six soldiers were killed in the siege of Aston Hall and were buried in unmarked graves in the churchyard.

Meanwhile, there was a major reordering of the church in 1480. The tower and spire remain from this time, although the spire was renovated in 1776-1777 by John Cheshire, who also rebuilt the spire of Saint Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham. Cheshire’s spire in Aston made the church the tallest building in Birmingham from 1838 to 1855.

A 19th-century bust commemorates John Rogers, who was born at Deritend, then in the parish of Aston, ca 1505 and was burnt at the stake in Smithfield in 1555. He was responsible for the Matthew Bible, the first translation of the complete Bible from Greek into English, published under the pseudonym Thomas Matthew.

The Aston area became residential and industrial in the 19th century, and to cope with the growth in population the church was again reordered in 1879. The architect Julius Alfred Chatwin (1830-1907) was a Birmingham architect who specialised in both neo-gothic and neo-classical styles.

The brass eagle lectern is a memorial to Joseph Ansell, founder of Ansell’s Brewery, who was churchwarden from 1867 to 1883.

The Victorian stained glass windows in the church include the renovated window in the south aisle in memory of Joseph and Francis Plevins, depicting four episodes in the nativity narrative.

The three manual pipe organ was built by Banfield in 1901 and rebuilt by Nicholson in 1967.

The lych gate at the entrance to the churchyard and Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Aston (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The monuments in the churchyard include 31 Commonwealth war grave memorials, the grave of Alfred Wilcox VC, the Ansell family vault, and the Aston War Memorial which is grade 2 listed. The churchyard was partly cleared in the 1950s as a memorial to a former vicar and Archdeacon of Aston, Henry McGowen (1891-1948), who was Bishop of Wakefield in 1945-1948.

The Aston area prospered until the slum clearances in Birmingham in the 1960s, the construction of the A38(M) motorway and the collapse of British industry in the last quarter of the 20th century.

A full immersion baptism pool was added in 2008. This pool in the shape of a cross was added as part of an extension of the front platform. When the pool is not in use, it is covered by a thick layer of glass but is still visible.

A mosaic monument installed in 2019 commemorates Charlene Ellis (18) and Letisha Shakespeare (17) who were killed in a drive-by shooting on 2 January 2003. The community was outraged and their mothers led a campaign against gun and knife crime.

The south porch of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Aston (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

There has been a Bishop of Aston as a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Birmingham since 1954. Previous bishops include the liturgist Colin Buchanan who died in 2023. Bishop Anne Hollinghurst is due to retire next month (September 2024) when she becomes Principal of the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham.

Today, Aston is one of the most deprived areas in the UK , the church is at the centre of a very diverse community, and the congregation is made up of people from many cultures – European, African and Asian. The church is also used by the Debre Selam Saint Mary’s Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

• The Revd Dr Fiona Gregson is the Vicar of Aston and Nechells. Sunday services at 10:30 include Service of the Word (first Sunday), Holy Communion (second and fourth Sundays), All-Age Worship (third Sunday), and Morning Worship (fifth Sunday).

Saint Peter and Saint Paul hurch, Aston, also serves Saint Mary’s Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 26, 3 June 2024

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was once the most important and controversial Anglo-Catholic church in Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The week began with the First Sunday after Trinity (2 June 2024) yesterday, the Feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated was celebrated in many parishes, including Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford.

In the week after Trinity Sunday, I illustrated my prayers and reflections with images and memories of six churches, chapels and monasteries in Greece I know that are dedicated to the Holy Trinity. I am continuing that theme this week with images from churches, chapels or cathedral in England that are dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

StonyLive, a celebration of the cultural talent in and around Stony Stratford, began on Saturday and continues until next Sunday (9 June). A variety of cultural activities continues in venues around Stony Stratford this week, with drama, music, comedy, art, dance and spoken word, and a lunchtime organ recital in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church today (3 June 2024).

The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers The Martyrs of Uganda (1885-1887 and 1977). But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

3, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, is lonely and forlorn on the top of Old Camp Hill, between Bordesley Circus and Camp Hill Circus (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Mark 12: 1-12 (NRSVUE):

1 Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went away. 2 When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5 Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?”

12 When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was designed by Francis Goodwin and modelled on King’s College Chapel, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, Birmingham:

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, is a Grade II listed former Church of England parish church, about 2 km south-east of Birmingham city centre. But the church is lonely and forlorn on the top of Old Camp Hill, isolated in a virtual traffic island between two roundabouts, Bordesley Circus and Camp Hill Circus, on the Middleway ring road.

Holy Trinity Church was consecrated and opened in 1823, and it was once at the centre of the most important Anglo-Catholic controversies in Birmingham that led to its Irish-born vicar, the Revd Richard Enraght, being jailed and dismissed.

Historically, Bordesley was part of the parish and union of Aston, on the edges of Birmingham. The hamlet was originally small, with only a few scattered dwelling-houses, such as Stratford Place, still standing at Camp Hill, and the Old Crown in Digbeth, which claims to be the oldest pub in Birmingham.

Holy Trinity Church is an example of a Commissioners’ church. It was built between 1820 and 1822 by the architect Francis Goodwin (1784-1835) in the decorated perpendicular gothic style. Goodwin’s later works include Lissadell House, Co Sligo, designed for Sir Robert Gore-Booth, and the gatehouse at Markree Castle, near Collooney, Co Sligo.

Goodwin is said to have modelled Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, on King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. The church was consecrated on 23 January 1823 by the Bishop of Lichfield, James Cornwallis. A parish was assigned out of the parish of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Aston. At first, the living was in the gift of the Vicar of Aston, and was called a vicarage from 1872. The patronage was transferred to the Aston Trustees in 1884.

The church was built on a conventional rectangular plan with shallow canted apse, faced in Bath stone that is enlivened by spirelet pinnacled buttresses diving the windows and with octagonal pinnacled turrets holding the corners. A larger pair flank the effectively recessed full height entrance bay under the parapeted gable.

The soffit has a pattern of ribs over the large decorated west window, and the tracery is of cast iron. The porch proper is shallow and contained within the recess, a tripartite composition with an ogee arch to the central doorway with an ornate finial.

The east end above the apse has a cast iron tracery rose. It is said the coved ceiling still partially remains, but the interior decoration, which was of a high standard for its time, has been stripped and a floor inserted.

Holy Trinity Church played an important in the history of the High Church or Anglo-Catholic movement in the Church of England in the 19th century.

The Revd Samuel Crane, who was the first vicar in 1823-1841, was succeeded by the Revd Dr Joseph Oldknow, who is often regarded as Birmingham’s first Anglo-Catholic or ‘ritualist’ priest.

Oldknow was succeeded in 1874 by the Revd Richard William Enraght, whose trials and tribulations came to a head in the ‘Bordesley Wafer Case’ were first brought to my attention in 2016 by a friend at Lichfield Cathedral, Stephen Wright.

The Revd Richard William Enraght (1837-1898) was an Irish-born Anglican priest and one of the Anglo-Catholic priests who were prosecuted and jailed in the 19th century for their ritualism. He was born on 23 February 1837 at Moneymore, Co Derry, where his father, the Revd Matthew Enraght (1805-1882), was the Curate of Saint John’s, Desertlynn.

Matthew Enraght was born in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, where I was the priest-in-charge for five years (2017-2022). When Matthew later moved to England, Richard remained in Ireland and in 1860, at the age of 23, he graduated BA from Trinity College Dublin. He then moved to England, and in 1861 he was ordained deacon in Gloucester Cathedral by the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol.

Richard Enraght became Vicar of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, in 1874. He introduced weekday celebrations of the Eucharist. His practices at Holy Trinity included the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, candles on the altar, wearing a chasuble and alb, using wafers at the Eucharist, mixing water with the wine, making the sign of the Cross, bowing during the Gloria, and allowing the choir to sing the Agnus Dei.

The ‘Bordesley Wafer Case’ resulted in Enraght’s conviction on 9 August 1879 on 16 counts. He spent that Christmas in prison and was released after 49 days. Bishop Philpott revoked Enraght’s licence in March 1883 and appointed the Revd Alan H Watts to the parish, against the wishes of the congregation.

The church was closed in 1968. There were plans to demolish the church in the 1970s and proposals to convert the building into an arts centre, but these never came to fruition. Instead, the church was used for some years as a shelter for homeless people until about 1999.

There were plans to retore the building for church and community use as the Birmingham Trinity Centre, a conference and wedding venue and the meeting place of All Nations’ Church, Birmingham. The church was marketed for a residential conversion in 2014, but it remains empty today.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was at the centre of the ‘Bordesley Wafer Case’ in 1879 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Monday 3 June 2024):

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 ‘Volunteers Week.’ This theme was introduced yesterday by Carol Miller, Church Engagement Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (3 June 2024) invites us to pray:

Lord, bring inspiration to those who take time to share your peace and mercy to others around them. Help them to use words of welcome and grace as they serve others through evangelism.

The Collect:

O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
through 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 Prayer:

Eternal Father,
we thank you for nourishing us
with these heavenly gifts:
may our communion strengthen us in faith,
build us up in hope,
and make us grow in love;
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God of truth,
help us to keep your law of love
and to walk in ways of wisdom,
that we may find true life
in Jesus Christ your Son.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was closed in 1968 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition copyright © 2021, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The world map in new edition of the USPG Prayer Diary ‘Pray With the World Church’ from 2 June 2024 to 30 November 2024

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (35) 2 July 2023

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was once the most important and controversial Anglo-Catholic church in Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and today is the Fourth Sunday after Trinity (3 July 2023). Later this morning, I hope to attend the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, and there is a Greek Festival in the Greek Orthodox Church in Stony Stratford later this afternoon, from 2 to 5 pm.

But, before this becomes a busy day, I am taking some time for prayer, reading and reflection.

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.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, is lonely and forlorn on the top of Old Camp Hill, between Bordesley Circus and Camp Hill Circus (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, Birmingham:

Last week, I described a recent visit to Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, a Grade II listed former Church of England parish church, about 2 km south-east of Birmingham city centre. The church appears lonely and forlorn on the top of Old Camp Hill, isolated in a virtual traffic island between two roundabouts, Bordesley Circus and Camp Hill Circus, on the Middleway ring road.

Holy Trinity Church was consecrated and opened 200 years ago in 1823, and it was once at the centre of the most important Anglo-Catholic controversies in Birmingham that led to its Irish-born vicar, the Revd Richard Enraght, being jailed and dismissed.

Historically, Bordesley was part of the parish and union of Aston, on the edges of Birmingham. The hamlet was originally small, with only a few scattered dwelling-houses, such as Stratford Place, still standing at Camp Hill, and the Old Crown in Digbeth, which I visited after visiting Holy Trinity Church last week. Both houses are of timber framework and plaster, with projecting upper stories.

Holy Trinity Church is an example of a Commissioners’ church. It was built between 1820 and 1822 by the architect Francis Goodwin (1784-1835) in the decorated perpendicular gothic style. Goodwin’s later works include Lissadell House, Co Sligo, designed for Sir Robert Gore-Booth, and the gatehouse at Markree Castle, near Collooney, Co Sligo.

Goodwin is said to have modelled Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, on King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. The church was consecrated 200 years ago on 23 January 1823 by the Bishop of Lichfield, James Cornwallis. A parish was assigned out of the parish of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Aston. At first, the living was in the gift of the Vicar of Aston, and was called a vicarage from 1872. The patronage was transferred to the Aston Trustees in 1884.

The church was built on a conventional rectangular plan with shallow canted apse, faced in Bath stone that is enlivened by spirelet pinnacled buttresses diving the windows and with octagonal pinnacled turrets holding the corners. A larger pair flank the effectively recessed full height entrance bay under the parapeted gable.

The soffit has a pattern of ribs over the large decorated west window, and the tracery is of cast iron. The porch proper is shallow and contained within the recess, a tripartite composition with an ogee arch to the central doorway with an ornate finial.

The east end above the apse has a cast iron tracery rose. It is said the coved ceiling still partially remains, but the interior decoration, which was of a high standard for its time, has been stripped and a floor inserted.

Holy Trinity Church played an important in the history of the High Church or Anglo-Catholic movement in the Church of England in the 19th century.

The Revd Samuel Crane, who was the first vicar in 1823-1841, was succeeded by the Revd Dr Joseph Oldknow, who is often regarded as Birmingham’s first Anglo-Catholic or ‘ritualist’ priest.

Oldknow was succeeded in 1874 by the Revd Richard William Enraght, whose trials and tribulations came to a head in the ‘Bordesley Wafer Case’ were first brought to my attention in 2016 by a friend at Lichfield Cathedral, Stephen Wright.

The Revd Richard William Enraght (1837-1898) was an Irish-born Anglican priest and one of the Anglo-Catholic priests who were prosecuted and jailed in the 19th century for their ritualism. He was born on 23 February 1837 at Moneymore, Co Derry, where his father, the Revd Matthew Enraght (1805-1882), was the Curate of Saint John’s, Desertlynn.

Matthew Enraght was born in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, where I was the priest-in-charge until last year (2017-2022). When he later moved to England, Richard remained in Ireland and in 1860, at the age of 23, he graduated BA from Trinity College Dublin. He then moved to England, and in 1861 he was ordained deacon in Gloucester Cathedral by the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol.

Richard Enraght became Vicar of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, in 1874. He introduced weekday celebrations of the Eucharist. His practices at Holy Trinity included the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, candles on the altar, wearing a chasuble and alb, using wafers at the Eucharist, mixing water with the wine, making the sign of the Cross, bowing during the Gloria, and allowing the choir to sing the Agnus Dei.

The ‘Bordesley Wafer Case’, which I described in a posting on Tuesday, resulted in Enraght’s conviction on 9 August 1879 on 16 counts. He spent that Christmas in prison and was released after 49 days.

Bishop Philpott revoked Enraght’s licence in March 1883 and appointed the Revd Alan H Watts to the parish, against the wishes of the congregation.

The church was closed in 1968. There were plans to demolish the church in the 1970s and proposals to convert the building into an arts centre, but these never came to fruition. Instead, the church was used for some years as a shelter for homeless people until about 1999.

There were plans to retore the building for church and community use as the Birmingham Trinity Centre, a conference and wedding venue and the meeting place of All Nations’ Church, Birmingham. The church was marketed for a residential conversion in 2014, but it remains empty today.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was designed by Francis Goodwin and modelled on King’s College Chapel, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Matthew 10: 40-42 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 40 ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was at the centre of the ‘Bordesley Wafer Case’ in 1879 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

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 ‘FeAST – Fellowship of Anglican Scholars of Theology.’ This theme is introduced today by the Revd Canon Dr Peniel Rajkumar of USPG:

‘USPG launched its new global forum of scholars engaged in theological research and education in February. This forms part of our continuing commitment to stimulate, support and strengthen theological engagement across the Anglican Communion.

‘FeAST, which represents ‘Open Table,’ is true to its name. It’s a place of sharing, challenge, and mutual conversations where a new community of Anglican scholars pursuing theology as a field of study will be formed. Its core goal is to launch a future of Anglican theological research that is truly international in scope and participation.

‘Global Anglicanism holds boundless theological wealth, much of which is often not sufficiently shared across (and beyond) the Anglican Communion. There are several reasons for this, some of which include a lack of networking opportunities, academic publishing opportunities, and engagement in international academic forums. These barriers have their roots in historical imbalances in global theological studies, which have long favoured and given normative authority to theologies and theological techniques with a Eurocentric bias.

‘Our aim is that this global forum will change what is being presented at these tables for the edification of the Communion and beyond.’

Find out more HERE.

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (2 July 2023, Fourth Sunday after Trinity) invites us to pray:

Healing God,
May we look to You in uncertain times.
Let us take the words of your Son to heart:
‘Do not fear, only believe’.

Collect:

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Eternal God,
comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken,
you have fed us at the table of life and hope:
teach us the ways of gentleness and peace,
that all the world may acknowledge
the kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was closed in 1968 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

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

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, remains empty, isolated on a virtual traffic island (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Three buildings, three sculptures, in the Bull Ring in Birmingham

‘The Trees Sculpture’ by Anuradha Patel outside New Street Station recalls the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

I have regularly passed through Birmingham throughout my life, usually by train, usually on my way to or from Lichfield or Birmingham Airport. I have taken part in workshops there with USPG, and visited the two cathedrals and many of the city’s churches. I have stayed there a few times too, as well taking part in seminars and conferences in colleges in Selly Oak.

Yet, in all those years, it seems I have not taken enough time to appreciate Birmingham’s history, architectural legacy and sculptures. I seem to have taken Birmingham for granted on too many occasions.

I was in Birmingham again last week, on my way to and from Wednesbury, and to see the now-closed Holy Trinity Church in Bordesley. So I took a little extra time last week to appreciate three buildings and three sculptures in the Bull Ring and close to New Street Station.

The Bull Ring is the major shopping area in central Birmingham and its market was first held there dates back to the Middle Ages.

Two shopping centres were built in the Bull Ring area, in the 1960s, and then in 2003. Today, the Bullring and the linked Grand Central form Britain’s largest city centre shopping centre, known as Bullring & Grand Central.

The three buildings I looked at with a fresh pair of eyes last week are Saint Martin’s Church in the Bull Ring, the Rotunda and the Selfridges Building.

Saint Martin in the Bull Ring is the original parish church in the centre of Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Saint Martin in the Bull Ring is the original parish church in the centre of Birmingham, and it stands between the Bull Ring Shopping Centre and the markets.

When the new town of Birmingham was developed at the time of the Market Charter of 1166, Peter de Birmingham may have moved his manor house to the Moat Lane site and built Saint Martin’s as a new church.

The present Victorian church was built on the site of a 13th century predecessor, which dated from 1263 or earlier. The church was enlarged in mediaeval times, with a lofty nave and chancel, north and south aisles and a north-west tower with a spire. By the mid-16th century, the church had a clock and chime maintained by the Guild of the Holy Cross at an annual cost of four shillings and four pence.

John Cheshire rebuilt 40 ft of the spire in 1781, which was strengthened by an iron spindle running up its centre for a length of 105 ft. It was secured to the sidewalls at every 10 ft by braces. Several metres from the top of the spire were replaced in 1801, when they were found to have decayed. The tops of the four pinnacles surrounding the main spire were also rebuilt. By 1808, the spire had been struck by lightning three times.

The brick casing was removed from the tower in 1853 by Philip Charles Hardwick, who added the open-air pulpit.

The church was demolished in 1873 and rebuilt by the Birmingham architect Julius Alfred Chatwin (1830-1907), who retained the earlier tower and spire. During the demolition, mediaeval wall paintings and decorations were found in the chancel, including one showing the charity of Saint Martin dividing his cloak with a beggar. Two painted beams were also found behind the plaster ceiling.

The exterior is built of rock-faced Grinshill stone. The interior is of sandstone with an open timber roof, which shows the influence of the great hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall, where Chatwin had worked under Charles Barry and AWN Pugin. Chatwin also enlarged Saint Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham, in 1884-1888.

The beams are decorated with fine tracery and end in large carvings of angels. The roof weights 93 tons (94.5 tonnes), spans 6.7 metres over the 30.4 metre long nave and is 18.2 metres high.

The Victorian floor tiles are by Minton and display the quartered arms of the de Bermingham family.

From east to west, the length of the church is 47 metres (155 ft), including the chancel, the arch of which rises to 18 metres (60 ft).

The Pre-Raphaelite window in the South Transept by Sir Edward Burne-Jones was made by William Morris in 1875. The West window is a copy made in 1954 of the window made by Henry Hardman in 1875 and destroyed in the Blitz.

The mediaeval-style stone statues on the north and west fronts were designed by Chatwin and sculpted by Robert Bridgeman’s of Lichfield. They depict King Richard I in commemoration of his visit to Birmingham ca 1189 confirming the market charter, and Saint Martin of Tours giving his cloak to a beggar.

The Rotunda is part of the first Bull Ring Shopping Centre in the 1960s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Rotunda is a circular office block that is part of the first Bull Ring Shopping Centre in the 1960s. When James A Roberts revised his design, it was increased to 25 storeys and plans for a revolving rooftop restaurant and a cinema were dropped.

However, due to problems during construction, the building never reached the intended height. Although it was never used, the revolving section remains in place due to the late decision to drop the restaurant from the plans.

The Rotunda has been converted into apartments by the developers Urban Splash. Although located close to the development and built at the same time as the 1960s centre, it is not part of the development despite being included in the design.

A poem is engraved into one of the stones in the wall of the Bullring dedicated to the Rotunda. The public space to the front of both malls facing the High Street and New Street is named Rotunda Square after the building.

The Selfridges Building is an award-winning and dramatic landmark building in Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Selfridges Building is an award-winning and dramatic landmark building, designed by the Future Systems architectural practice. The building is clad in 15,000 shiny aluminium discs and was inspired by a Paco Rabanne sequinned dress.

The designs for the Selfridges store were first unveiled in 1999, shortly before the demolition of the original shopping centre began. The Selfridges store covers an area of 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft) and cost £60 million to build. The contractor was Laing O’Rourke.

The Selfridges store has won eight awards including the RIBA Award for Architecture 2004 and Destination of the Year Retail Week Awards 2004.

The Bull’ by Laurence Broderick has become a popular photographic feature (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The three sculptures I had another look at last week are ‘The Bull’ in the Bullring, the statue of Nelson looking over Saint Martin’ s Square, and the ‘Trees Sculpture’ or Birmingham Pub Bombings Memorial by Anuradha Patel outside New Street Station and Grand Central.

‘The Bull’ in the Bullring is a 2.2 metres (7 ft 3 in) tall and 4.5 metres long bronze sculpture of a running, turning bull, erected in 2003 at the Bull Ring. It was created by the sculptor Laurence Broderick.

But the statue was vandalised in 2005, and was removed for repairs. It returned to its spot again later that year, but was vandalised again in 2006.

The sculptor gave support to calls for the statue to be renamed ‘Brummie the Bull.’ However, it is more widely known as simply ‘The Bull’ and has become a popular photographic feature for visitors to Birmingham.

The statue of Admiral Nelson was the first public monument in Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The bronze statue of Horatio Nelson looking over Saint Martin’s Square was the first public monument in Birmingham and the first figurative memorial to Lord Nelson in Britain – the first in the world was Montreal.The sculpture is by Sir Richard Westmacott, and was unveiled in 1809 as part of King George III’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.

The statue was originally located on the edge of the previous Bull Ring and stood on a marble base. But this was damaged when the statue was moved in 1958 and the present Portland stone plinth dates from 1960.

As part of the Bullring development, the developer agreed to restore the statue and railings, but when the Bullring opened in 2003, there was no sign of the railings. The Birmingham Civic Society campaigned to have the railings re-instated, but Bullring management argued they were a health and safety risk and would destroy the openness of the public space.

However, the railings were re-instated in September 2005 in time for the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

At first, a statue honouring Britain’s most famous admiral seemed out of place in Britain’s most inland city – and I made mental comparisons with the statue of Captain Smith, the captain of the Titanic, in Beacon Park, Lichfield. But Nelson visited Birmingham in 1802 and was fêted wherever he went. The £2,400 needed to pay for the monument was raised within six months, mainly in small donations from working-class people in Birmingham. The Trafalgar medal made by Matthew Boulton in Birmingham in 1805 at Boulton’s Soho Mint in Handsworth, was given to all sailors and marines who served in the Battle Trafalgar.

A reminder of the long-term damage done by terrorism and of the losses that changed people’s lives forever (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

‘The Trees Sculpture’ or the Birmingham Pub Bombings Memorial by Anuradha Patel is outside New Street Station and Grand Central and recalls the Birmingham pub bombings almost half a century ago on 21 November 1974, when 21 people were killed and another 200 people injured.

This sculpture is the culmination of a project of peace and reconciliation that has worked for decades. The damage of the Birmingham bombs in 1974 was deep: in addition to the deaths and injuries, a miscarriage of justice saw the Birmingham Six jailed for 16 years while the real perpetrators remain at large; the trauma of the bombings and their aftermath left a lasting impact on Birmingham; and the bombings damaged Birmingham’s Irish communities.

After the explosions, Irish people and property were attacked, and Irish confidence in the city was knocked. Even Birmingham’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade, one of the biggest among the Irish diaspora, disappeared from the city’s calendar and did not return until 1996.

A small memorial was placed belatedly in the grounds of Saint Philip’s Cathedral. But it was neither prominent nor close to the actual bomb sites. The Misneach Memorial Committee brought together a range of Irish organisations, Birmingham University, the city council and victims’ families to lobby for a prominent memorial in the city.

The project was funded by Network Rail and the concourse of New Street station was chosen because of it is central to life in the city and close to the bombsites.

The sculpture was unveiled on 21 November 2018, 44 years after the bombs. It offers an enduring testament to the lives of the victims, presenting the legacy of the bombings to thousands of people who walk by every day.

The sculpture was designed by the artist Anuradha Patel. It comprises three large metal trees with the names of the victims punched into their leaves, marking the city with the identities of those people who never came home that night.

On the base of the memorial, a sentence from the Book of Revelation stands out, ‘The Leaves of the Tree are for the Healing of the Nations.’

With this sculpture, Birmingham’s Irish leadership has put down a marker for peace that will stand for many generations and a reminder of the long-term damage done by terrorism and of the losses that changed people’s lives forever.

The Selfridges Building was inspired by a Paco Rabanne sequinned dress (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, a centre of ‘ritualist’ controversy in Birmingham, is now forlorn

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was once the most important and controversial Anglo-Catholic church in Birmingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, is a Grade II listed former Church of England parish church, about 2 km south-east of Birmingham city centre. As I looked at the church last week, it appeared lonely and forlorn on the top of Old Camp Hill, isolated in a virtual traffic island between the roundabouts known as Bordesley Circus and Camp Hill Circus on the Middleway ring road.

During the English Civil War this was the site of the Battle of Camp Hill, or the Battle of Birmingham, on Easter Monday, 3 April 1643, iwhen a company of Parliamentarians from the Lichfield garrison tried to stop a detachment of 1,400 Royalists commanded by Prince Rupert from passing through Birmingham.

Bordesley is the real life setting of the BBC series Peaky Blinders, and home to Birmingham City Football Club’s ground, Saint Andrew’s.

Holy Trinity Church was consecrated and opened 200 years ago in 1823, and it was once the most important Anglo-Catholic controversies in Birmingham that led to its Irish-born vicar, the Revd Richard Enraght, being jailed and dismissed.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, is lonely and forlorn on the top of Old Camp Hill, between Bordesley Circus and Camp Hill Circus (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Historically, Bordesley was part of the parish and union of Aston, on the edges of Birmingham. The hamlet was originally small, with only a few scattered dwelling-houses, such as Stratford Place, still standing at Camp Hill, and the Old Crown in Deritend, which I visited after visiting Holy Trinity Church last week. Both houses are of timber framework and plaster, with projecting upper stories.

Holy Trinity Church is an example of a Commissioners’ church. It was built between 1820 and 1822 by the architect Francis Goodwin (1784-1835) in the decorated perpendicular gothic style. Goodwin’s later works include Lissadell House, Co Sligo, designed for Sir Robert Gore-Booth, and the gatehouse at Markree Castle, near Collooney, Co Sligo.

Goodwin is said to have modelled Holy Trinity Church in Bordesley on King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. The church was consecrated 200 years ago on 23 January 1823 by the Bishop of Lichfield, James Cornwallis. A parish was assigned out of the parish of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Aston. At first, the living was in the gift of the Vicar of Aston, and was called a vicarage from 1872. The patronage was transferred to the Aston Trustees in 1884.

The church had an exceptionally good interior with all its fittings and galleries. It was built on a conventional rectangular plan with shallow canted apse, faced in Bath stone that is enlivened by spirelet pinnacled buttresses diving the windows and with octagonal pinnacled turrets holding the corners. A larger pair flank the effectively recessed full height entrance bay under the parapeted gable.

The soffit has a pattern of ribs over the large decorated west window, and the tracery is of cast iron. The porch proper is shallow and contained within the recess, a tripartite composition with an ogee arch to the central doorway with an ornate finial.

The east end above the apse has a cast iron tracery rose. It is said the coved ceiling still partially remains, but the interior decoration, which was of a high standard for its time, has been stripped and a floor inserted.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was designed by Francis Goodwin and modelled on King’s College Chapel, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Holy Trinity Church played an important in the history of the High Church or Anglo-Catholic movement in the Church of England in the 19th century.

The Revd Samuel Crane, who was the first vicar in 1823-1841, was succeeded by the Revd Dr Joseph Oldknow, who is often regarded as Birmingham’s first Anglo-Catholic or ‘ritualist’ priest.

Oldknow was buried in Bordesley and the Latin inscriptions on many gravestones offered a clue to the Anglo-Catholic traditions of the church.

Father Richard Enraght (By permission of the Principal & Chapter of Pusey House Oxford; Hall Collection 3/13, Pusey House Oxford)

Oldknow was succeeded in 1874 by the Revd Richard William Enraght, whose trials and tribulations came to a head in the ‘Bordesley Wafer Case’ were first brought to my attention in 2016 by a friend at Lichfield Cathedral, Stephen Wright.

The Revd Richard William Enraght (1837-1898) was an Irish-born Anglican priest and one of the Anglo-Catholic priests who were prosecuted and jailed in the 19th century for their ritualism. Enraght was prosecuted by the Church Association’s lawyers and jailed by Lord Penzance. He refused to attend his own trial on grounds of conscience, was found guilty under the Public Worship Regulation Act and received the maximum penalty: arrest, imprisonment and dismissal from his parish.

Enraght was born on 23 February 1837 at Moneymore, Co Derry, where his father, the Revd Matthew Enraght (1805-1882), was the Curate of Saint John’s, Desertlynn.

Matthew Enraght was born in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, where I was the priest-in-charge until last year (2017-2022); Richard’s mother Sarah was the daughter of Henry Thomas Houghton of Kilmanock House, Arthurstown, Co Wexford. Soon after Richard’s birth, Matthew Enraght moved from the Diocese of Armagh to Dublin, where he became the curate of Donnybrook and Booterstown. Richard’s mother died while he was still an infant, and his father married Maria Massey in 1843.

When Matthew Enraght later moved to England, to parishes in the dioceses of Canterbury and Chichester, Richard remained in Ireland and in 1860, at the age of 23, he graduated BA from Trinity College Dublin. He then moved to England, and in 1861 he was ordained deacon in Gloucester Cathedral by the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. He became a curate at Saint Bartholomew’s in Corsham, Wiltshire, and was ordained priest in 1862.

After three years, Enraght moved to Saint Luke the Evangelist in Sheffield in 1864. There he shared his Anglo-Catholic sympathies in a pamphlet, To The Poor The Gospel is Preached, in which he criticised the pew rent system for barring the poor from churches and criticised a ‘Bible-Ritualism’ that over-relied on scriptural authority for what is permissible in liturgical ceremonial.

He moved to a parish in Lincolnshire in 1866, and then in 1867 he moved to Brighton as curate to the Revd Arthur Wagner, the Tractarian vicar of Saint Paul’s and the ‘Father’ of the Catholic Revival in Brighton.

Wagner held Tractarian views since his student days at Cambridge. He built churches and schools in Brighton and also built 400 houses for the poor, all at his own expense. But he was criticised in the House of Commons for his liturgical practices and for appointing Anglo-Catholic priests as vicars in the five churches he had financed.

When the Brighton Gazette reported in 1873 that Father Wagner had refused to answer questions in court that would ‘involve him to breach the confessional,’ he was assaulted on the streets of Brighton. At another Brighton parish, Father John Purchas of Saint James’s was prosecuted for using vestments and the eastward position, but he refused to attend his trial or to pay the £2,096 costs awarded against him by the court.

At Brighton, Enraght shared his Anglo-Catholic views in two pamphlets, Who are True Churchmen and Who are Conspirators? and The Last Settlement of English Reformation in 1662.

In 1871, Enraght was appointed priest-in-charge of Saint Andrew’s Church, Portslade-by-Sea, with Saint Helen’s Church, Hangleton. Portslade was three miles from Brighton and Enraght continued his role in the Brighton branch of the Society of the Holy Cross, to publish pamphlets and to write letters to the Brighton Gazette. His pamphlets there included Catholic Worship and The Real Presence and Holy Scripture.

The Brighton Gazette accused Enraght of Puseyism and of trying to turn Saint Nicholas Church School in Portslade into a Puseyite school, and attacked his plans for a retreat at Lancing College. When the Disraeli Government passed the Public Worship Regulation Act in 1874, the Brighton Gazette called for his prosecution.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was at the centre of the ‘Bordesley Wafer Case’ in 1879 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Later that year, Enraght succeeded the Rev Dr Joseph Oldknow, Birmingham’s first Anglo-Catholic priest, as Vicar of Holy Trinity, Bordesley. There he found friends in two neighbouring Irish-born priests in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, the brothers James and Thomas Pollock, both graduates of TCD and both priests at Saint Alban the Martyr in Highgate.

While Enraght was the vicar, a group of cricketers from the church formed an association football team, Small Heath Alliance, in autumn 1875. This later became Birmingham City FC.

An indication of Enraght’s popularity was the attendance at the Sunday Eucharist, with a congregation of 400-500 people. Sunday Evensong with sermon regularly attracted 700-800 people. With his parish’s support, Enraght introduced weekday celebrations of the Eucharist. His practices at Holy Trinity included the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, candles on the altar, wearing a chasuble and alb, using wafers at the Eucharist, mixing water with the wine, making the sign of the Cross, bowing during the Gloria, and allowing the choir to sing the Agnus Dei.

One of Enraght’s churchwardens, John Perkins, came forward for Holy Communion on 9 February 1879, but took a Consecrated Wafer to use as an exhibit in court as evidence of the use of wafer-bread. The incident created intense horror and indignation as it became known.

Henry Philpott, Bishop of Worcester, had prohibited the actions, but Enraght refused to attend his own trial on 12 July 1879. He claimed Lord Penzance and the Court of Arches derived their authority not from ‘this Church and Realm’ but from an Act of Parliament, and so had no ‘spiritual jurisdiction over me …’

The Consecrated Wafer Perkins had taken deceptively was produced in court as evidence, marked with pen and ink and filed as an exhibit. The case became known nationally as the ‘Bordesley Wafer Case.’

In his absence, Enraght was convicted on 9 August 1879 on 16 counts. On 31 August 1879, he denounced Perkins from the altar. At the next vestry election, the indignant parishioners rejected Perkins when he was nominated as churchwarden.

A cartoon in the Birmingham ‘Daily Post’ on 26 November 1880 showing Richard Enraght entering Warwick Prison in chains

Eventually, Enraght was arrested at his vicarage on 27 November 1880 and he was taken to Warwick Prison to serve his sentence. Four other priests in England were jailed around the same time under this legislation: Arthur Tooth, Thomas Pelham Dale, Sidney Faithorn Green and James Bell Cox.

Meanwhile, thanks to the English Church Union, the Consecrated Wafer was recovered from the court and given into the care of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who reverently consumed the host in his private chapel at Addington on 12 December 1879.

During Enraght’s two months in prison, there were protests throughout England and in the US. The Revd Edward Bouverie Pusey wrote to The Times in defence of Enraght and others: ‘They have not been struggling for themselves but for their people. The Ritualists do not ask to interfere with devotion of others … only to be allowed, in their worship of God, to use a Ritual which a few years ago no one disputed.’

Enraght spent that Christmas in prison. He was released after 49 days when the Court of Appeal ruled on a technicality in the writ for committal. The prosecutor tried to have Enraght returned to jail, but the English Church Union forestalled this attempt with its own legal actions.

When an appeal to the House of Lords failed in May 1882, Enraght was liable to another term in prison, and the parish of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, was declared vacant three months later. Meanwhile, Enraght’s father, the Revd Matthew Enraght, died at Clifton in Bristol on 13 August 1882.

Bishop Philpott revoked Enraght’s licence in March 1883 and appointed another priest to the parish, against the wishes of the congregation. When Bishop Philpott preached in Holy Trinity Church two months later on 6 May 1883, the churchwardens handed him a formal protest, saying: ‘We, the truly aggrieved, have been left as sheep without a shepherd.’

However, a Royal Commission report that year marked a turning point, and the repression of ritualism in the Church of England was soon abandoned.

After Enraght was evicted from Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, he worked for the nine years in East London at Saint Michael’s, Bromley-by-Bow (1884-1888) and Saint Gabriel’s, Poplar (1888-1895). In this period of hardship, the Church Union’s Sustentation Fund supported the Enraght family.

He moved to Saint Swithun’s Church, Bintree, in 1895, and ended his ministry and life in that quiet country parish in Norfolk. He died on Saint Matthew’s Day, 21 September 1898, and was buried in Saint Swithun’s churchyard.

Richard and Dorothea Enright were the parents of seven children. Their second son, Canon Hawtrey Enraght, was ordained priest in Norfolk in 1896, and their son-in-law, the Revd Edgar Reeves, became the Vicar of Walsingham.

Brighton and Hove City Council erected a blue plaque at his former home in Station Road, Portslade, 15 years ago (February 2006) to honour Richard Enraght as a ‘Priest, fighter for religious freedom.’ Later that year, Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company named one of its new fleet buses, No 905, after Father Richard Enraght.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, was closed in 1968 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Meanwhile, Enraght was succeeded at Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, in 1883 by the Revd Alan H Watts, against the wishes of the congregation. When Watt was introduced in Holy Trinity Church on 10 March 1883, the church was crowded, and a large police forced was present. Before the service, the two churchwardens went to the vestry to loud applause, and handed him a formal protest. Watts entered the church to loud groans, followed by turmoil, and police efforts to restore order were futile. At the conclusion of the service, an angry mob followed Watts until he drove away.

The parishes of Christ Church, Sparkbrook (1867), Saint Alban, Bordesley (1871), and All Saints’, Small Heath (1875), were formed out of this parish, and part of it was transferred to the parish of Saint Basil, Deritend, in 1896. There were mission rooms in Leopold Street, Cooksey Road (1875-1907), Miles Street (1908-1939), Moseley Road and Highgate Place (1913-1921) and Warwick Street (1928-1936).

The burial ground was closed in 1873, although family graves continued to be used until 1925. Some remains were removed with the widening of Sandy Lane and Bordesley Middleway. Many gravestones were removed after the church was deconsecrated in the late 1960s.

The church was closed in 1968. There were plans to demolish the church in the 1970s and proposals to convert the building into an arts centre, but these never came to fruition. Instead, the church was used for some years as a shelter for homeless people until about 1999.

There were plans to retore the building for church and community use as the Birmingham Trinity Centre, a conference and wedding venue and the meeting place of All Nations’ Church, Birmingham.

The church was marketed for a residential conversion in 2014, but it remains empty today.

Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, remains empty, isolated on a virtual traffic island (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)