St Anne's Church, Birmingham
- Albert Vicars
- John O'Neill
St Anne's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church on Alcester Street in Digbeth, part of the city centre of Birmingham. It was founded by Saint John Henry Newman in 1849. It was moved to a new building in 1884 designed by London architects Albert Vicars and John O'Neill,[2] who also designed St Hugh's Church in Lincoln, and helped design St Peter's Cathedral in Belfast.
The building is Grade II listed.[3]
History
Foundation
In 1847, John Henry Newman came back from Rome to Birmingham after getting permission from Pope Pius IX to create an Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in England. In 1849, he had gathered a group of followers and they initially founded the church in an old gin distillery in Deritend. The area contained poor housing, with many back-to-back rows of houses, intermixed with industry and suffering the social conditions that the country sought to remove decades later. The nature of the housing meant that it was mainly occupied by migrants, in this case workers from Ireland.[2]
In 1852, Newman took his community to Edgbaston in Birmingham when construction of the Birmingham Oratory was completed. St Anne's Church continued, and was administered by the Archdiocese of Birmingham and is a part of it since then.[4]
Construction
The Irish community continued to increase in Birmingham and Catholic churches were built to accommodate the expanding congregations. St Catherine of Siena Church was built on the Horse Fair in 1874 and St Francis of Assisi church was built in Handsworth in 1894.[2]
In 1859, Fr John P. Dowling became the new parish priest. He provided the land upon which the church stands. In 1884, a new St Anne's church was built on Alcester Street, designed by the London architectural firm Vicars and O'Neill.[2] It was opened by Cardinal Manning. The former distillery that John Henry Newman turned into a church became a school.[5]
J. R. R. Tolkien worshipped at the church when he lived in Moseley and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1900.[2][6]
Administration
In 1903, Canon Villiers replaced Fr Dowling. When he died on 19 October 1938, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) took over administration of the church. They became involved after their provincial, Fr Michael Ryan OMI, met the Archbishop of Birmingham, Thomas Williams and said that the Oblates were interested in moving into the archdiocese if a parish was available for them to work in. After Canon Villiers died, a vacancy appeared and they served St Anne's Church.[5]
In 2010, the Oblates handed the church back to the Archdiocese of Birmingham who continue to serve the parish.[5]
Parish
In 1952, the first Birmingham St Patrick's Day Parade was held. It goes right through the centre of the parish, along Deritend High Street and up to Digbeth. It happens on the Sunday before 17 March and it is the world's largest St Patrick's Day Parade after New York City and Dublin. The crowds reach as high as 80,000 spectators and there are up to 40 floats, groups and bands in the parade.[2][7]
The church has a close relationship with the nearby St Anne's Primary School, whose mission statement says that, "At Saint Anne's we look to Jesus as our guide as we pray and learn, so that we can grow as friends together. Each one of us is special and we accept and respect one another as children of God.'[8]
The church has three Sunday Masses every week. There is a Vigil Mass at 1:00 pm on Saturday, and Masses at 11:00 am and 6:30 pm on Sunday.[9]
List of parish priests
The priests in charge of the parish were:[5]
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See also
- St Catherine of Siena Church, Birmingham
- St Francis of Assisi Church, Handsworth
- Birmingham Oratory
- John Henry Newman
- Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
References
- ^ Deaneries from Archdiocese of Birmingham retrieved 17 September 2013
- ^ a b c d e f The Irish Quarter from William Dargue: A History of Birmingham, Places and Placenames retrieved 16 September 2013
- ^ Historic England. "Roman Catholic Church of St Anne (1473053)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- ^ "St Anne's Catholic Church, Birmingham". St Anne's Catholic Church, Birmingham. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ a b c d Parish history from St Anne's Birmingham retrieved 22 June 2014
- ^ Tolkien and the Oratory from Birmingham Oratory retrieved 17 September 2013
- ^ St Patrick's Birmingham retrieved 17 September 2013
- ^ Our Faith from St Anne's Catholic Primary School, retrieved 17 September 2013
- ^ Liturgy times from St Anne's Birmingham retrieved 22 June 2014
External links
- St Anne's Church website
- St Anne's Diocesan website
- v
- t
- e
(in height order)
- Sutton Coldfield mast
- BT Tower
- 10 Holloway Circus
- Chamberlain Clock Tower
- Alpha Tower
- Orion Building
- Sentinels
- Rotunda
- 103 Colmore Row
- The Cube
- Hyatt
- Centre City Tower
- Two Snowhill
- One Snow Hill Plaza
- Quayside Tower
- Colmore Gate
- McLaren Building
- Metropolitan House
- Edgbaston House
- The Colmore Building
- Jury's Inn
- Lloyd House
- Aston Library
- Baskerville House
- Central Police Station
- Chamberlain Clock
- Chamberlain Memorial
- Council House
- Edgbaston Waterworks
- Energy from Waste Plant
- Hall of Memory
- Library of Birmingham
- Moseley Road Baths
- Municipal Bank
- Town Hall
- Town Hall (Sutton Coldfield)
- Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park
- Moor Street
- New Street
- Snow Hill
- Other stations
Current | |
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Defunct |
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- Adam & Eve
- Anchor Inn
- Antelope
- Bartons Arms
- Black Horse
- Brookhill Tavern
- Crown (closed)
- Crown Inn
- Fighting Cocks, Moseley
- Fox and Grapes (demolished)
- Golden Eagle (demolished)
- Lad in the Lane
- Old Crown
- Queen's Arms
- Red Lion (Handsworth; closed)
- Woodman
- 1–7 Constitution Hill
- 17 & 19 Newhall Street
- Arena Birmingham
- Ashford & Son
- Assay Office
- Birmingham Banking Company
- Birmingham Crematorium
- Bromford Viaduct
- Castle Bromwich Assembly
- Chinese Pagoda
- Fort Dunlop
- Gas Retort House
- Gas Street Studios
- Great Western Arcade
- Holliday Street Aqueduct
- ICC
- Millennium Point
- New Street Signal Box
- Perrott's Folly
- Perry Bridge
- Prison
- Proof House
- Ringway Centre
- Roundhouse
- Saracen's Head
- Selfridges
- St James's House
- Victoria Square House
- Victoria Law Courts
- Victoria Works
- Woodcock Street Baths
- Aston Hippodrome
- Birmingham Manor House
- Bishop's House
- Bishop Ryder Church
- Bordesley Hall
- Central Goods railway station
- Central Library
- Christ Church
- Church of the Messiah
- The Crescent
- The Exchange
- Five Ways Tower
- Fox Hollies Hall
- Heathfield Hall
- Highfield
- Island House
- St James the Less' Church
- Langley Hall
- Market Hall
- St Mary's, Whittall St.
- Metchley Fort
- Pebble Mill Studios
- Post & Mail Building
- Public Office
- Union Workhouse
- Architecture
- Tallest
- Board schools
- Listed
- Scheduled
- Category