_Lench"s Trust_, which dates from 1539, is one of the most important charities of the town, and has an income of over 3,000 a year at present. The original objects of the trust were repairing the streets of the town and relief to poor. From time to time other charities have been incorporated, and the funds administered with those of Lench"s Trust.
Among these are the "Bell Rope" fund for purchasing ropes for St.
Martin"s Belfry, the donor of which is not known; Colmore"s Charity, dating from 1585, for relieving the poor and repairing streets; Redhill"s and Shilton"s (about 1520), for like purposes; Kylcuppe"s 1610, for the poor, and a small sum towards repairing the church; Vesey"s 1583, known as the "Loveday Croft" gift; Ward"s 1573, and Wrexam"s, 1568, both for gifts to the poor on Good Friday; Ann Scott"s, 1808, providing small amounts to be given to the inmates of the Almshouses, &c. The Trust now maintains four sets of almshouses (Conybere Street, Hospital Street, Ravenhurst Street, and Ladywood), accommodating 184 inmates, all women, who receive 5s. a week each, with firing, medical advice and medicines when necessary, and sundry other small comforts beloved by old grannies. The solicitors to the Trust are Messrs. Horton and Lee, Newhall Street. The income of Lench"s Trust for the year 1883 amounted to 3,321 10s., of which 1,825 14s. went to the almswomen, 749 1s. 8d. for matrons, doctors, and expenses at the almshouses, 437 9s. 4d. for repairs, insurance, rates, and taxes, and 309 5s. for clerks, collectors, auditors, law and surveyor"s charges, printing, &c.
_Milward"s Charity_.--John Milward in 1654 left property then worth 26 per annum and the Red Lion public-house (worth another 26, but which could never be traced out), to be devided between the governors of the Free Grammar Schools of Birmingham and Haverfordwest and Brazennose College, for the support at the said college of one student from the above schools in rotation. The Red Lion having been swallowed up at a gulp; the other property would appear to have been kept as a nibbling-cake, for till the Charity Commissioners visited here in 1827 no scholar had ever been sent to college by its means. The railways and ca.n.a.ls have taken most of the property of this trust, the invested capital arising from the sales bringing in now about 650 per year, which is divided between the two schools and the college above named, the Birmingham portion being sufficient to pay for two scholarships yearly.
The _Nichol Charity_ provides for the distribution of bread and coals to about 100 people on New Year"s Day, by the vicar and churchwardens of St. David"s.
_Old Maids and Widows_.--About 40 per year are divided by the Rector and Churchwardens of St. Philip"s amongst ten old maids "or single women of virtuous character," and twelve poor widows attending divine service there, the invested money arising from Shelton"s Charity, 1826, and Wilkinson"s Charity, 1830.--Thomas Pargeter (of Foxcote) in 1867, left money in trust, to provide annuities of 20 each, to unmarried ladies of fifty-five or more, professing Unitarianism, and about 100 are now reaping the fruit of his charity. Messrs. Harding and Son, Waterloo Street, are the solicitors.
_Ridduck"s Trust_, for putting poor boys out apprentice, was devised in 1728, the property consisting of a farm at Winson Green. By direction of the Court of Chancery, the income is now divided, 70 to Gem Street Free Industrial School, and 20 to the British School, Severn Street. The Trustees include the Mayor, the Rectors of St. Martin"s, St. Philip"s, St. Thomas"s, St. George"s, several Nonconformist ministers, and the Registrar of the Society of Friends.
_Preaching Sermons_.--By Salusbury"s Charity, 1726, the Rectors of St.
Martin"s and St. Philip"s are ent.i.tled to the sum of 15s to preach sermons once a year for the benefit of the Blue Coat School--Ingram"s Charity, 1818, consisting of the yearly interest of 500 4 per cent.
India Stock, was intended to insure the preaching of an annual sermon on the subject of kindness to animals (especially to the horse) by a local clergyman of the Established Church, but the Governors of King Edward"s School, who are the trustees, have obtained the sanction of the Charity Commissioner to a scheme under which sermons on kindness to animals may take the form of one or more free lectures on the kind treatment of animals, and especially of the horse, to be delivered in any place of public worship, or other building or room approved by the trustees, and not necessarily, as heretofore, by a clergyman of the Established Church, and in a church.
_Scripture Reading_.--In 1858 Admiral Duff left a sum of money, which brings in about 45 per year, for the maintenance of a Scripture Reader for the town of Birmingham. The trustee of this land is the Mayor for the time being, and the Scripture Reader may be heard of at the Town Clerk"s office.
_The Whittingham Charity_, distributed at St. James"s, Ashted, in March, furnishes gifts to about eighty poor people (princ.i.p.ally widows), who receive blankets, sheets, quilts, flannel, &c., in addition to bread and coal.
~Philosophical Society.~--A society with this name was formed in 1794 for the promulgation of scientific principles among mechanics. Its meetings were held in an old warehouse in the Coach Yard, and from the fact that many workmen from the Eagle Foundry attended the lectures, delivered mainly by Mr. Thomas Clarke, the members acquired the name of "the cast-iron philosophers." Another society was formed in 1800, for the diffusion of scientific knowledge amongst the middle and higher cla.s.ses, and by the year 1814 it was possessed of a handsome Lecture Theatre, a large Museum, with good collections of fossils and minerals, a Library, Reading Room, &c., in Cannon Street. Like many other useful inst.i.tutions of former days, the philosophical has had to give way to the realistic, its library of dead men"s writings, and its fossils of the ancient world, vanishing in face of the reporters of to-day"s doings, the ubiquitous throbs of the "Walter" and "Hoe" steam presses resounding where erst the voice of Science in chronicling the past foreshadowed the future.
~Pillory.~--This ancient machine for the punishment of prigs formerly stood in High Street. The last time it was used was in 1813. We pillory people in print now, and pelt them with pen and ink. The Act for abolishing this method of punishment was not pa.s.sed until June 30, 1837.
What became of the pillory here is not known, but there is, or was lately, a renovated specimen of the article at Coleshill.
~Pinfold Street~ takes its name from the "pound" or "pinfold" that existed there prior to 1752. There used to be another of these receptacles for straying animals near to the Plough and Harrow in Hagley Road, and a small corner of Smithfield was railed off for the like purpose when the Cattle market was there established. The "Jacob Wilsons" of a previous date held a field under the Lords of the Manor wherein to graze their captured cattle, but one of the Town Criers mortgaged it, and his successors lost their right to the land which was somewhere about Caroline Street.
~Places of Worship.~--_Established Church_.--In 1620 there were 358 churches in Warwickshire, 130 in Staffordshire, and 150 in Worcestershire; but St. Martin"s, Edgbaston, Aston, Deritend, and Handsworth, churches were all that Birmingham could boast of at the beginning of last century, and the number had not been increased to a very large extent even by the year 1800. As will be seen from the dates given in following pages, however, there was a goodly number of churches erected in the first half of this century, about the end of which period a "Church extension" movement was set on foot. The success was so apparent that a society was formed (Jan., 1865), and in March, 1867, it was resolved to raise a fund of 50,000, for the purpose of at once erecting eight other new churches in the borough, Miss Ryland heading the list of donations with the munificent gift of 10,000. It is difficult to arrive at the amount expended on churches previous to 1840, but the annexed list of churches, built, enlarged, or repaired in this neighbourhood from 1840 to 1875, will give an approximate idea of the large sums thus invested, the whole of which was raised solely by voluntary contributions.
Ac.o.c.k"s Green ... ... 6,405 Aston Brook ... ... 5,000 Balsall Heath ... ... 8,500 Bishop Ryder"s ... ... 886 Christ Church ... ... 1,000 Christ Church, Sparkbrook 9,163 Edgbaston ... ... ... 2,200 Hay Mills ... ... ... 6,500 Immanuel ... ... ... 4,600 King"s Heath ... ... 3,900 King"s Norton ... ... 5,092 Moseley ... ... ... 2,491 Saltley ... ... ... 7,139 St. Alban"s ... ... 2,800 St. Andrew"s ... ... 4,500 St. Anne"s ... ... ... 2,700 St. Anne"s, Moseley ... 7,500 St. Asaph"s... ... ... 7,700 St. Augustine"s ... ... 7,800 St. Barnabas" ... ... 3,500 St. Bartholomew"s... ... 1,260 St. Clement"s ... ... 3,925 St. Cuthbert"s ... ... 5,000 St. David"s... ... ... 6,185 St. Gabriel"s ... ... 4,307 St. George"s Edgbaston ... 1,583 St. James"s Edgbaston ... 6,000 St. John"s, Ladywood ... 7,200 St. Lawrence"s ... ... 4,380 St. Luke"s ... ... ... 6,286 St. Martin"s ... ... 30,134 St. Matthew"s ... ... 4,850 St. Matthias"s ... ... 5,361 St. Mary"s ... ... ... 4,503 St. Mary"s, Selly Oak ... 5,400 St. Nicholas" ... ... 4,288 St. Paul"s ... ... ... 1,400 St. Philip"s ... ... 9,987 St. Saviour"s ... ... 5,273 St. Silas"s... ... ... 4,677 St. Stephen"s ... ... 3,200 St. Stephen"s, Selly Oak 3,771
To the above total of 228,336 expended on churches in or close to the borough, there should be added 57,640 expended in the erection, &c., of churches close at hand in the adjoining diocese of Lichfield; 25,000 laid out at Coleshill, Northfield, and Solihull (the princ.i.p.al residents being from Birmingham); and a still further sum of 150,000 spent on Church-school buildings. These figures even do not include the vast amounts invested for the endowments of the several churches and schools, nor is aught reckoned for the value of the land or building materials where given, nor for the ornamental decorations, fonts, pulpits, windows, and furnishings so munificently lavished on our local churches.
Since the year 1875 it has been calculated that more than 100,000 has been devoted to similar local church-building purposes, so that in less than fifty years much more than half-a-million sterling has been voluntarily subscribed by the Churchmen of the neighbourhood for the religious welfare and benefit of their fellow men. Still there is room for more churches and for more preachers, and the Church Extension Society are hoping that others will follow the example of the "Landowner," who, in the early part of the year (1884) placed 10,000 in the hands of the Bishop towards meeting the urgent need of additional provision for the spiritual wants of the inhabitants.--Short notes of the several churches can alone be given.
_All Saints"_, in the street of that name, leading out of Lodge Road, is a brick erection of fifty years" date, being consecrated September 28, 1833. It was built to accommodate about 700 and cost 3,850, but in 1881 it was enlarged and otherwise improved at an outlay of over 1,500, and now finds sittings for 1,760, a thousand of the seats being free. The Rev. P.E. Wilson, M.A., is the Rector and Surrogate, and the living (value 400) is in the gift of the Birmingham Trust. The Nineveh schoolroom is used for services on Sunday and Thursday evenings in connection with All Saints.
_All Saints"_, King"s Heath, is built of stone in the perpendicular Gothic style, and cost 3,200, the consecration taking place on April 27th, 1860. There are sittings for 620, one half being free. The Rev. J.
Webster, M.A., is the Vicar; the living (value 220) being in the gift of the Vicar of Moseley, King"s Heath ecclesiastical parish being formed out of Moseley parish in 1863.
_All Saints"_, Small Heath.--Rev. G.F.B. Cross, M.A., Vicar. Soon after the death of the Rev. J. Oldknow, D.D., of Holy Trinity, in 1874, it was resolved to carry out his dying wishes by erecting a church in the fast-filling district of Small Heath. At first the iron building formerly used as a place of worship in Cannon Hill Park was put up, and the Vicar was inst.i.tuted in October, 1875. The foundation-stone of a permanent building was laid Sept. 8, 1882, which accommodates over 1,000 worshippers. That part of the future "Oldknow Memorial Church" at present finished, comprising the nave, north aisle, and north transept, with seating for nearly 700 (all free), was consecrated July 28, 1883.
The patronage is vested in trustees, the inc.u.mbent"s stipend being 150.
_All Saints"_, Stechford.--A temporary church of iron and wood, erected at a cost of 620, to accommodate 320 persons, all seats being free, was dedicated Dec. 18, 1877.
_Aston Church_.--It is impossible to fix the date of erection of the first church for the parish of Aston, but that it must have been at a very early period is shown by the entry in the Domesday Book relative to the manor. The parish itself formerly included Bordesley and Deritend, Nech.e.l.ls and Saltley, Erdington and Witton, Castle Bromwich, Ward End, and Water Orton, an area so extensive that the ecclesiastical income was very considerable. In Henry III."s reign the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield received twenty marks yearly out of the fruits of the rectory, the annual value of which was sufficient to furnish 26 13s. 4d. over and above the twenty marks. Records are in existence showing that the church (which was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul) was considerably enlarged about 300 years after the Conquest, and a renovation was carried out nearly a century back, but the alterations made during the last few years (1878-84) have been so extensive that practically it may be said the edifice has been rebuilt. The seating capacity of the old church was limited to about 500, but three times that number of persons will, in future, find accommodation, the cost of the extensions and alterations having been nearly 10,000. The ancient monuments, windows, and tablets have all been carefully replaced in positions corresponding to those they filled formerly, with many additions in the shape of coloured gla.s.s, heraldic emblazonments, and chaste carvings in wood and stone. The old church, for generations past, has been the centre-point of interest with local antiquarians, as it was, in the days far gone, the chosen last resting-place of so many connected with our ancient history--the Holtes, the Erdingtons, the Devereux, the Ardens, the Harcourts, the Bracebridgss, Clodshalls, Bagots, &c. Here still may be seen the stone and alabaster effigies of lords and ladies who lived in the time of the Wars of the Roses, two showing by their dress that while one was Lancasterian, the other followed the fortunes of York. The tablets of the Holte" family, _temp_. Elizabeth and Charles, and the Devereux monument of the Jacobean era, are well preserved, while all around the shields and arms of the ancient families, with their many quarterings, form the best heraldic collection anywhere near Birmingham.
The parish registers date from the 16th century, and the churchwardens accounts are preserved from the year 1652. Among the facts recorded in the former we may note the burial of the dozen or so Royalist soldiers who lost their lives while defending Aston Hall from the attacks made on it by the Birmingham men in December, 1643; while in both there are quaint entries innumerable, and full of curious interest to the student and historian. The Rev. W. Eliot, M.A., the present vicar, was inst.i.tuted in 1876 (commencing duty Feb. 25, 1877), the living (1,600 value) being in the presentation of trustees. In connection with the Church, there are Mission Rooms in Tower Road and in Alfred Street, with Sunday Schools, Bible cla.s.ses, Dorcas, and other societies. The first portion of the late additions to the Church was consecrated July 5, 1880; the new chancel on Sept. 8, 1883
_Bishop Rider"s_, a square-towered brick edifice in Gem Street, was built in 1837-38, the laying of the foundation stone (August 23, 1837) being characterised by the almost unheard-of conduct of the low denizens of the neighbourhood, who pelted the Bishop of Lichfield with mud on the occasion. The consecration took place Dec. 18, 1838, and the building cost 4,600. The living, valued at 300, is in the hands of trustees, the present vicar being the Rev. J.P. Gardiner. The vicarage, which was completed in 1862 at a cost of 2,240, is in Sutton Street, Aston Road-- too near a residence to the church not being deemed advisable even five-and-twenty years after the opening ceremony of 1837. In 1879 the galleries were removed, and the church re-pewed and otherwise renovated, the re-opening taking place July 28, there being now 860 free sittings.
_Christ Church_, New Street.--At first known as "The Free Church," this edifice was for no less than ten years in the hands of the builders. The cornerstone was laid July 22, 1805, by Lord Dartmouth, in the absence of George III., who had promised, but was too ill, to be present. His Majesty, however, sent 1,000 towards the building fund. It was consecrated July 13, 1813; finished in 1816; clock put in 1817. The patron is the Bishop of Worcester, and to the living (valued at 350), is attached a Prebendary in Lichfield Cathedral. The present Vicar, since 1881, is the Rev. E.R. Mason, M.A. There is accommodation for 1,500, all the seats being free, but at one time the worshippers were limited in their freedom of sitting by the males having to take their places on one side and the females on the other, a custom which gave rise to the following epigram:
"Our churches and chapels we generally find Are the places where men to the women are joined; But at Christ Church, it seems, they are more cruelhearted, For men and their wives go there and get parted."
Mission services in connection with Christ Church are held in the Pinfold Street and Fleet Street Schoolrooms.
_Christ Church_, Gillott Road, Summerfield. The foundation stone of a church to be erected to the memory of the late Rev. George Lea (for 43 years connected with Christ Church and St. George"s, Edgbaston) was laid Nov. 27, 1883. It is intended to accommodate 850 persons, and will cost about 8,000, exclusive of a tower 110ft. high which will be added afterwards at a further cost of 1,200.
_Christ Church_, Quinton, was erected in 1841, at a cost of 2,500, and will seat 600, two-thirds being free. The living is valued at 200, is in the gift of the Rector of Halesowen (in whose parish Quinton was formerly included), and is held by the Rev. C.H. Oldfield, B.A.
_Christ Church_, Sparkbrook, is a handsome Gothic erection, built on land given by Mr. S.S. Lloyd, the first stone being laid April 5, 1866, and the opening ceremony on October 1, 1867. The living, a perpetual curacy, is in the gift of trustees, and is valued at 350 per annum, and has been held hitherto by the Rev. G. Tonge, M.A. The building of the church cost nearly 10,000, the accommodation being sufficient for 900 persons, one-half the seats being free. The stained window in chancel to the memory of Mrs. S.S. Lloyd, is said by some to be the most beautiful in Birmingham, the subject being the Resurrection. There are Mission Rooms and Sunday Schools in Dolobran Road, Montpellier Street, Long Street, and Stratford Road, several thousands having been spent in their erection.
_Christ Church_, Yardley Wood, was built and endowed by the late John Taylor, Esq., in 1848, the consecration taking place April 4, 1849.
Vicarage, value 185; patrons, trustees; Vicar, Rev. C.E. Beeby, B.A.
Seats 260, the 60 being free.
_Edgbaston Old Church_.--It is not known when the first church was built on this site, some writers having gone so far back as to fix the year 777 as the probable date. The present edifice, though it incorporates some few remains of former erections, and will always be known as the "old" church, really dates but from 1809-10, when it was re-built (opened Sept 10, 1810) but, as the Edgbastonians began to increase and multiply rapidly after that time, it was found necessary to add a nave and aisle in 1857. There is now only accommodation for 670, and but a hundred or so of the seats are free, so that possibly in a few more years the renovators and restorers will be busy providing another new old church for us. The patron is Lord Calthorpe, and the living is valued at 542, but the power of presenting has only been exercised three times during the last 124 years, the Rev. John Prynne Parkes Pixell, who was appointed vicar in 1760, being succeeded by his son in 1794, who held the living fifty-four years. At his death, in 1848, the Rev. Isaac Spooner, who had for the eleven previous years been the first inc.u.mbent of St. George"s, Edgbaston, was inducted, and remained vicar till his death, July, 1884. In the Church there are several monuments to members of the Calthorpe family, and one in memory of Mr. Joshua Scholefield, the first M.P. for Birmingham, and also some richly-coloured windows and ancient-dated tablets connected with the oldest families of the Middlemores and others.
_Hall Green Church_ was built in Queen Anne"s reign, and has seats for 475, half free. It is a vicarage (value 175), in the gift of trustees, and now held by the Rev. R. Jones, B.A.
_Handsworth Church_.--St. Mary"s, the mother church of the parish, was probably erected in the twelfth century, but has undergone time"s inevitable changes of enlargements, alterations, and rebuildings, until little, if any, of the original structure could possibly be shown. Great alterations were made during the 15th and 17th centuries, and again about 1759, and in 1820; the last of all being those of our own days.
During the course of the "restoration," now completed, an oval tablet was taken down from the pediment over the south porch, bearing the inscription of "John Hall and John Hopkins, churchwardens, 1759," whose economising notions had led them to cut the said tablet out of an old gravestone, the side built into the wall having inscribed on its face, "The bodye of Thomas Lindon, who departed this life the 10 of April, 1675, and was yeares of age 88." The cost of the rebuilding has been nearly 11,000, the whole of which has been subscribed, the reopening taking place Sept. 28, 1878. There are several ancient monuments in fair preservation, and also Chantrey"s celebrated statue of Watts. The living is valued at 1,500, the Rector, the Rev. W. Randall, M.A., being his own patron. The sittings in the church are (with a few exceptions only) all free and number over 1,000, Sunday and other services being also held in a Mission Room at Hamstead.
_Holy Trinity_.--The first stone of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Camp Hill, was placed in position Sept. 29, 1820. The building was consecrated Jan. 23, 1823, and opened for services March 16 following.
The cost was 14,325, and the number of sittings provided 1,500, half to be free. The services have from the first been markedly of a Ritualistic character, and the ornate decorations of the church have been therefore most appropriate. The living (value 230) is a vicarage in the gift of trustees, and is at present held by the Rev. A.H. Watts, who succeeded the Rev. R.W. Enraght after the latter"s suspension and imprisonment.-- See "_Ritualism_."
_Holy Trinity_, Birchfields.--First stone placed May 26, 1863; consecrated May 17, 1864. Cost about 5,000. The living (value 320) is a vicarage in the gift of the Rector of Handsworth, and is now held by the Rev. P.T. Maitland, who "read himself in" May 16, 1875.
_Holy Trinity_, North Harborne, was built in 1838-39 at a cost of 3,750, and will seat 700, one half being free. The living (value 300) is in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield.
_Immanuel Church_, Broad Street.--The foundation stone was laid July 12, 1864; the consecration took place May 7, 1865; the cost of erection was a little over 4,000; there are seats for 800, of which 600 are free; and the living (valued at 300), has been held until now by the Rev.
C.H. Coleman, the presentation being in the hands of trustees. The "Magdalen" Chapel was formerly on the site.
_Iron Churches_.--May 22, 1874, an edifice built of iron was opened for religious purposes in Canon Hill Park, but the congregation that a.s.sembled were so scanty that in July, 1875, it was deemed expedient to remove it to Small Heath where it was used as a temporary "Oldknow Memorial" Church. Other iron churches have been utilised in the suburbs since then, and there is now no novelty in such erections, a score of which may be found within half the number of miles.
_St. Agnes"_, Moseley, off Wake Green Road.--The foundation stone was laid October 3, 1883, and its estimated cost is put at about 8,000. At present only a part sufficient to accommodate 400 persons is being proceeded with, but when completed the edifice will hold double that number, and will be 127 ft. long by 48 ft. wide, a tower and spire rising from the centre of the west end to a height of 137 ft.
_St. Alban"s_.--A Mission chapel, dedicated to St. Alban, was opened in Leopold Street in September, 1865. This now forms a school belonging to the adjoining church, which was opened March 7, 1872. The curacy is held by the Revds. J.S. and T.B. Pollock, but the friends of those gentlemen have since ejected a far handsomer edifice, the Church of St. Alban the Martyr, at the corner of Conybere Street and Ryland Street, at a cost estimated at 20,000--1,500 being paid for the site. The first stone of this magnificent building was laid January 31, 1880, the opening service taking place at 6.30 a.m., May 3, 1881. There is free seating for 1,000 in the new church, for 460 in St. Alban"s, Leopold Street, and for a further 400 in the Mission Room--the services being entirely dependent on the gifts to the offertory, &c. On the Saint"s day the special collections have for years been most remarkable, seldom less than 1,000 being given, while occasionally the amount has been more than four times that sum, The services are "High Church," with three daily celebrations and seven on Sunday.
_St. Andrew"s_, Bordesley.--The foundation-stone was laid July 23, 1844, and consecration took place, Sept. 30, 1846. The cost of the building was about 5,000, the site being given. The value of the living is 320, the Bishop and trustees having the right of preferment alternately.
There is accommodation for 800, one-fourth of the seats being free. The present Vicar is the Rev. J. Williamson, M.A. The iron-built church of S. Oswald, opposite Small Heath Park, Coventry-road, is attached to S.
Andrew"s.