St Martin in the Bull Ring
Encyclopedia
The church of St Martin in the Bull Ring in Birmingham
5, England
is a parish church
in the Church of England
.
It is the original parish church of Birmingham. It stands between the Bull Ring shopping centre and the markets. The church is a Grade II* listed building. The current Rector
is the Revd. Canon Stewart W. Jones.
church was built on the site of a 13th century predecessor, which was documented in 1263. The church was enlarged in medieval times and the resulting structure consisted of a lofty nave and chancel, north and south aisles and a northwest tower with spire.
In 1547, although no record is kept to indicate when the first clock appears in Birmingham, during this year the King's Commissioners report that the Guild of the Holy Cross
are responsible "ffor keeping the Clocke and the Chyme" at a cost of four shillings and four pence a year at St Martin's Church. The next recorded mention of a clock is in 1613. The earliest known clock makers in the town arrived in 1667 from London.
In 1690, the churchwardens "dressed the church in brick". All was cased in brick with the exception of the spire.
John Cheshire rebuilt 40 feet of the spire in 1781, which was strengthened by an iron spindle running up its centre for a length of 105 feet. It was secured to the sidewalls at every ten feet by braces. In 1801, several metres from the top of the spire were replaced after 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.
In 1853, the brick casing was removed from the tower by Philip Charles Hardwick
, who added the open-air pulpit. The church also contained an organ, the reedwork of which had been done by John Snetzler
. However, the pipes were found to be ineffective due to their proximity to the church roof and walls.
The roof shows the influence of the great hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall. The beams are decorated with fine tracery and end in large carvings of angels. The roof weights 93 tons (94.5 tonnes), spans 22 ft (6.7m) over the 100 ft (30.4m) long nave and is 60 ft (18.2m) high.
The floor tiles are Victorian Minton and display the quartered arms of the de Bermingham family.
window, made by William Morris
in 1875. This window was taken down for safe keeping the day before a World War II
bomb dropped beside the church on April 10, 1941, destroying all remaining windows. The West window is a 1954 copy of the Henry Hardman 1875 window destroyed in the Blitz
.
St Martin in the Bull Ring is open to visitors from 10:00 to 17:00 every day. The Church Shop is open from 10:30 to 15:30 except Sunday. The Tea Lounge is open for refreshments from 10:00 to 16:30 except Sunday and Monday.
preached in the Bull Ring the bells were rung in an attempt to drown his voice.
In July 1758 the eight bells were replaced by a new peal of ten, tenor weight 35 cwt (1778 kg), cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
. These were subsequently augmented to twelve in 1772.
The first broadcast of church bells change ringing was of St Martin's. This was broadcast before a Sunday evening service in May 1924. The bells were recast in 1928 and an additional semitone bell was added in 1953. The frame in which the bells were rehung dated from 1869 and trouble with the frame led to a scheme of total renovation in 1991. A new peal of sixteen bells
hung for ringing
was installed, being the first time more than twelve bells had been installed as a change ringing instrument. Sixteen is an unusual number, five, six, eight, ten or at the most twelve would be typical: in 2008 only three rings of sixteen exist in the world.
.
The church was presumably without an organ from the English Civil War
as the churchwardens accounts read:
We the Minister, Churchwardens and inhabitants within the Parish of St. Martin's Birmingham being desirous to put up an organ in the said Parish Church have at a vestry called for this purpose unanimously agreed to raise the sum of 300l and upwards for competing the same, and for our selves, and in behalf of the rest of the Parishioneres have hereunto sett our hands this 17th day of May Anno Dom 1725.
An organ was duly erected by 1725 and the case was by Thomas Swabrick. This organ was removed or replaced between 1800 and 1829. The case was then transferred to St. Alphege's Church, Solihull
by Rev Charles Curtis who was Rector of St. Martin's and Rector of St. Alphege, Solihull.
The current pipe organ is by Harrison & Harrison
and dates from 1906. Originally it was a three manual instrument on the north side of the chancel but in 1955 it was re-built as a four manual organ and moved to the north transept by John Compton. The opening recital was given by George Thalben-Ball
on 30 March 1955. The specification of the organ can be found at the National Pipe Organ Register.
Since around 2004, St Martin's has abandoned the use of the organ for most services.
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
5, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
is a parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
.
Background
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
is the Revd. Canon Stewart W. Jones.
Original church
The present VictorianVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
church was built on the site of a 13th century predecessor, which was documented in 1263. The church was enlarged in medieval times and the resulting structure consisted of a lofty nave and chancel, north and south aisles and a northwest tower with spire.
In 1547, although no record is kept to indicate when the first clock appears in Birmingham, during this year the King's Commissioners report that the Guild of the Holy Cross
Guild of the Holy Cross
The Guild or Gild of the Holy Cross was a medieval religious guild in Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1392 by three burgesses of the town - John Coleshill, John Goldsmith and William atte Slowe - in place of an attempt to found a chantry in the parish church of St Martin in the Bull Ring,...
are responsible "ffor keeping the Clocke and the Chyme" at a cost of four shillings and four pence a year at St Martin's Church. The next recorded mention of a clock is in 1613. The earliest known clock makers in the town arrived in 1667 from London.
In 1690, the churchwardens "dressed the church in brick". All was cased in brick with the exception of the spire.
John Cheshire rebuilt 40 feet of the spire in 1781, which was strengthened by an iron spindle running up its centre for a length of 105 feet. It was secured to the sidewalls at every ten feet by braces. In 1801, several metres from the top of the spire were replaced after 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.
In 1853, the brick casing was removed from the tower by Philip Charles Hardwick
Philip Charles Hardwick
-Life:Philip Charles Hardwick was a notable English architect of the 19th century who was once described as "a careful and industrious student of mediaeval art"...
, who added the open-air pulpit. The church also contained an organ, the reedwork of which had been done by John Snetzler
John Snetzler
John Snetzler was an organ builder of Swiss origin who worked mostly in England.He was born in Schaffhausen, in 1710 and died in Schaffhausen, 28 September 1785...
. However, the pipes were found to be ineffective due to their proximity to the church roof and walls.
Current church
In 1873, the church was demolished and rebuilt by architect J.A. Chatwin in 1873, preserving an earlier tower and spire. During the demolition, medieval wall paintings and decorations were discovered in the chancel, including the charity of St Martin dividing his cloak with a beggar. Two painted beams were also found behind the plaster ceiling. The exterior is built of rockfaced grimshill stone. The interior is of sandstone and an open timber roof.The roof shows the influence of the great hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall. The beams are decorated with fine tracery and end in large carvings of angels. The roof weights 93 tons (94.5 tonnes), spans 22 ft (6.7m) over the 100 ft (30.4m) long nave and is 60 ft (18.2m) high.
The floor tiles are Victorian Minton and display the quartered arms of the de Bermingham family.
Dimensions
From east to west the length of the church is 155 ft., including the chancel, the arch of which rises to 60 ft.; the width, including nave (25 ft.) and north and south aisles, is 67 ft.; at the transepts the width is 104 ft.Windows
The South Transept has a Burne-JonesEdward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
window, made by William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
in 1875. This window was taken down for safe keeping the day before a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
bomb dropped beside the church on April 10, 1941, destroying all remaining windows. The West window is a 1954 copy of the Henry Hardman 1875 window destroyed in the Blitz
Birmingham Blitz
The Birmingham Blitz was the heavy bombing by the Nazi German Luftwaffe of the city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, beginning on 9 August 1940 and ending on 23 April 1943...
.
Recent developments
As part of the Bull Ring development in 2003, the church was cleaned and repaired.St Martin in the Bull Ring is open to visitors from 10:00 to 17:00 every day. The Church Shop is open from 10:30 to 15:30 except Sunday. The Tea Lounge is open for refreshments from 10:00 to 16:30 except Sunday and Monday.
List of clergy
| Name | Start date | End date |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas de Hinkley | 1300 | 1304 |
| Stephen de Segrave | 1304 | 1304 |
| John de Ayleston | 1304 | 1336 |
| Robert de Shuteford | 1336 | 1349 |
| William de Seggeley | 1349 | 1354 |
| Thomas de Dumbleton | 1354 | 1369 |
| Hugh de Wolvesey | 1369 | 1396 |
| Thomas Darnall | 1396 | 1412 |
| William Thomas | 1412 | 1414 |
| John Waryn | 1428 | 1432 |
| William Hyde | 1432 | 1433 |
| John Armstrong | 1433 | 1433 |
| John Wardale | 1433 | 1436 |
| Henry Cymon | 1436 | 1444 |
| Humphrey Jurdan | 1444 | ???? |
| Richard Button | 1504 | 1536 |
| Richard Myddlemore | 1536 | 1544 |
| William Wrixam | 1544 | ???? |
| Luke (Lucas) Smith | 1578 | 1646 |
| Samuel Wills | 1646 | ???? |
| Samuel Slater | 1659 | 1663 |
| John Riland | 1663 | 1672 |
| Henry Grove | 1672 | ???? |
| William Daggett | ???? | ???? |
| William Green | ???? | ???? |
| Thomas Tyrer | ???? | ???? |
| Richard Dovey | 1732 | 1771 |
| Richard Chase | 1771 | 1772 |
| John Parsons | 1772 | 1779 |
| William Hinton | 1779 | 1781 |
| Charles Curtis | 1781 | 1829 |
| Thomas Moseley | 1829 | 1846 |
| John Miller | 1846 | 1866 |
| Canon William Wilkinson | ???? - 1872 | 1896 |
| ? | ???? | ???? |
| Arthur J. Robinson | ???? - 1899 | 1901 |
| James Denton Thompson | 1905 | 1912 |
| ? | ???? | ???? |
| Canon Guy Rogers | 1924 | 1948 |
| Canon Bryan Green | 1949 | 1968/9 |
| Canon Albert Peter Hall Albert Peter Hall Albert Peter Hall was the Bishop of Woolwich from 1984 until 1996.Hall was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn and St John's College, Cambridge... (afterwards Bishop of Woolwich Bishop of Woolwich The Bishop of Woolwich is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England.... ) |
1968/9 | 1984 |
| W. G. Wesson | 1985 | ???? |
| Canon Adrian Newman (afterwards Dean of Rochester) | 1996 | 2004 |
| Canon Stewart William Jones | 2004 | present |
Bells
There were four bells in 1552, together with a clock and chime. Six bells were put up in 1682. It is known that in 1745 when John WesleyJohn Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
preached in the Bull Ring the bells were rung in an attempt to drown his voice.
In July 1758 the eight bells were replaced by a new peal of ten, tenor weight 35 cwt (1778 kg), cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
. These were subsequently augmented to twelve in 1772.
The first broadcast of church bells change ringing was of St Martin's. This was broadcast before a Sunday evening service in May 1924. The bells were recast in 1928 and an additional semitone bell was added in 1953. The frame in which the bells were rehung dated from 1869 and trouble with the frame led to a scheme of total renovation in 1991. A new peal of sixteen bells
Church bell
A church bell is a bell which is rung in a church either to signify the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service...
hung for ringing
Change ringing
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody....
was installed, being the first time more than twelve bells had been installed as a change ringing instrument. Sixteen is an unusual number, five, six, eight, ten or at the most twelve would be typical: in 2008 only three rings of sixteen exist in the world.
Organ
The Guild of the Holy Cross at St. Martin's Church provided for an organist before the ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
.
The church was presumably without an organ from the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
as the churchwardens accounts read:
We the Minister, Churchwardens and inhabitants within the Parish of St. Martin's Birmingham being desirous to put up an organ in the said Parish Church have at a vestry called for this purpose unanimously agreed to raise the sum of 300l and upwards for competing the same, and for our selves, and in behalf of the rest of the Parishioneres have hereunto sett our hands this 17th day of May Anno Dom 1725.
An organ was duly erected by 1725 and the case was by Thomas Swabrick. This organ was removed or replaced between 1800 and 1829. The case was then transferred to St. Alphege's Church, Solihull
St. Alphege's Church, Solihull
St. Alphege's Church, Solihull is a parish church in the Church of England in Solihull, West Midlands.-History:The church is medieval. The previous spire was 59m and collapsed in 1757: the current spire is 57.34mThe Church, dedicated to St...
by Rev Charles Curtis who was Rector of St. Martin's and Rector of St. Alphege, Solihull.
The current pipe organ is by Harrison & Harrison
Harrison & Harrison
Harrison & Harrison Ltd are a British company that make and restore pipe organs, based in Durham and established in 1861. They are well known for their work on instruments such as King's College Cambridge, Westminster Abbey and the Royal Festival Hall....
and dates from 1906. Originally it was a three manual instrument on the north side of the chancel but in 1955 it was re-built as a four manual organ and moved to the north transept by John Compton. The opening recital was given by George Thalben-Ball
George Thalben-Ball
Sir George Thomas Thalben-Ball CBE was an organist and composer who, though originally from Australia, spent most of his life in Britain....
on 30 March 1955. The specification of the organ can be found at the National Pipe Organ Register.
Since around 2004, St Martin's has abandoned the use of the organ for most services.
Organists
- Barnabas GunnBarnabas GunnBarnabas Gunn was an English organist and composer.Gunn's date and place of birth are unknown, but he was appointed organist of the newly built St Philip's Church in Birmingham in 1715...
1740 - 1753 (jointly with St. Philip's) - John Ohio Eversman 1753 - ????
- Richard Hobbs
- Joseph Harris 1771 - 1802 (formerly organist of St Laurence Church, LudlowSt Laurence Church, LudlowSt Laurence's Church, Ludlow is a parish church in the Church of England in Ludlow.-Background:The parish church was established as a Norman place of worship in association with the founding of Ludlow in the 11th century AD. This parish church in Shropshire, England contains an extensive set of...
) - ?
- James StimpsonJames Stimpson-Early life:He was born in Lincoln on 29 February 1820, the son of a lay vicar of Lincoln Cathedral, who moved to Durham Cathedral in 1822, where James became a chorister in 1827.-Career:...
1852 - 1857 - Walter Brooks 1857 - 1900
- Williamson John Reynolds 1900 - 1920 (formerly organist of St Michael, CornhillSt Michael, CornhillSt Michael, Cornhill is a medieval parish church in the City of London with pre-Norman Conquest parochial foundation. The medieval structure was lost in the Great Fire of London and the current church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren between 1670-1677....
, afterwards organist of Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon) - Richard Wassell 1920 - 1942 (afterwards organist of St. Alphege's Church, SolihullSt. Alphege's Church, SolihullSt. Alphege's Church, Solihull is a parish church in the Church of England in Solihull, West Midlands.-History:The church is medieval. The previous spire was 59m and collapsed in 1757: the current spire is 57.34mThe Church, dedicated to St...
) - William Henry Stubbington 1942 - 1947
- Norman Blake 1947-1949 (also Director of Music, Handsworth Grammar School)
- Geoffrey Fletcher ARCO 1949 -1982 (also Director of Music, George Dixon Grammar School)
- David Griffiths 1982 - 1986
- Richard Wardell 1986 - 1997
- John Hawker 1997 - ????.