Heritage

Heritage Church

St Margaret’s Church is a well loved local building with a Grade 2 listing due to some great items of heritage value.

Built on the site of a 1516 church, the existing building was built in 1834 in the reign of William IVth- one of the few buildings in Birmingham in that period with a unique Coat of Arms in relief.

There are strong connections to William Hutton, the first Historian of Birmingham who bought the neighbouring Ward End Hall and there is a striking memorial to William Hutton inside.

There are two fine examples of Burne Jones stained glass windows entitled Charity & Good Shepherd.

Sadly the building has fallen into disrepair and in need of restoration. Heritage Lottery funds are being sought to:

* Remove the pews and place all items of interest (such as the font) in a heritage hall with interpretation panels. The hall will be available for hire for community groups and activities sympathetic to the heritage as a church building.

* Move the Burne Jones windows so that as you enter through the main Porch you will see Heritage in front of you.

* A glass atrium will be built between the Church & New Youth and Children’s Wing to protect the windows.  A new Prayer area will be available for private Prayer in the glass atrium with Burne Jones windows as a focal point.

A heritage learning Consultant, Eliza Botham has been employed to research the history of the church and its connections with local area.  Contact Darrell Brighton about guided guided tours.

In the future we hope to be the starting point for a new Blue plaque trail in Hodge Hill.

The Church will look exactly the same from St Margaret’s road with the grave-yard restored and a new purpose built memorial garden for people to inter ashes of loved ones.

Heritage Neighbourhood

St Margaret's Community Trust helps to facilitate the Overpool Neighbourhood Forum as part of it's commitment to community development in Ward End.  The Forum successfully applied for funding to get the publication of 'Ward End - From Ancient Times to the Present Day', a limited edition book written by a local resident documenting the rich heritage of the changing nature of our local neighbourhood.

Heritage Community

St Margaret's Community Trust in partnership with Crossover and Cloverlea Play Centre ran a very successful project called 'Hodge Hill Feet Speak' to capture and celebrate the diverse cultural heritage of the many different communities that live in the Constituency of Hodge Hill. 

We booked 13 coaches taking over 600 people of different ages, ethnicities and faith backgrounds on a seaside trip to Porthcawl in Wales.

The idea behind the project was to let our feet tell their story recording - ‘what do your feet say about you’? ‘where they have travelled’?,  ‘where do they take you’?, ‘How do they feel about different journeys that they've been on’?, ‘What country were your feet born in’? and so forth. 

We captured the feet's stories visually and in sound bites (if English was a second language, people were encouraged to give their sound bites in their mother tongue).

We evidenced different size feet, shades of feet, footprints in the sand, painted feet, splashing feet, happy feet, different cultural shoes.  Take a look.

All the information we collected was drawn together with the help of Birmingham Museums and Art Galleries to make up an exhibition in the city centre.  Many of the families who came live in deprived neighbourhoods in East Birmingham and don't access city centre provisions.  Some families were invited to visit the exhibition and for those who weren't able to, the exhibition would then tour more locally in our Constituency around local libraries and community centres.

Heritage History

The parish of Ward End is approximately three miles north east of the centre of Birmingham and is the north-eastern part of the district of Washwood Heath which in turn is now part of the municipal district of Hodge Hill, Birmingham.

In the Middle Ages Ward End's open fields were south of Ward End Hall. They lay between the Wash Brook, which flows alongside Ward End Park, east as far as Bromford Lane and south to Alum Rock Road. The district was centred on the home of the Ward family, Ward End Old Hall, originally a medieval moated manor house whose site was between Overpool Road, Washbrook Road and Northleigh Road.

In 1512 the manor house at Ward End became the property of John Bond a merchant from Coventry who enclosed a park of thirty acres, stocking it with deer. “In 1516 an agreement was made between Bond and the Vicar of Aston, in whose parish Ward End lay, that because of the distance to the parish church and the frequency of floods the inhabitants of Ward End should have their own chapel and a chaplain who should receive all the oblations of the chapel and the tithes arising from Ward End Park and Irish Meadow, in return for which Bond would pay 6s. 8d. a year to the Vicar of Aston.”  

It is unclear how long the original chapel stood but it is recorded that by 1730 the chapel was in ruins and had been for a long time and was being repaired by a Mr Blackman an ironmonger from Birmingham.  Unfortunately by the early 19^th century the chapel was again in ruins and was being used as a barn.

The number of inhabitants in the area having increased in 1833 an appeal was launched for the rebuilding of the chapel; it was said that the inhabitants wished it rebuilt, and that most of them did not attend any place of worship. The appeal was successful and the new church was dedicated in 1834 and consecrated in 1841 to the Holy Trinity, St. Mary the Virgin and St. Margaret. In 1870 the parish of St. Margaret, Ward End, was created out of St. Peter and St. Paul's, Aston, and the benefice became a titular vicarage, the patronage of which was transferred to the Aston Trustees in 1877.

The present late-Georgian building which is grade II listed stands in a graveyard at the junction of St. Margaret's Road and Church Walk. The graveyard in need of renovation contains a number of Victorian headstones but none of special note. It is a small building by Rickman in the Gothic style, of brick with stone dressings, painted on the inside and rendered on the outside to simulate ashlar. It comprises chancel, nave and western tower, once apparently embattled and with pinnacles but now having only a simple parapet. The church was restored externally and refitted internally in 1929. It contains a memorial bust of William Hutton (d. 1815) by Peter Hollins. There are two bells, one of 1714 which came from the Royal Hospital, Greenwich, and may have been presented or bequeathed to the church by William Hutton, the other of 1834.

Copy of J Frith's Plan of 1834 taken from www.churchplansonline.org.uk

Heritage Future

Despite a very long and celebrated history, regular public worship ceased in 2005 since when the building and churchyard have suffered from regular vandalism and has slowly deteriorated.

Following Diocesan parish reorganisation on 01 May 2007, St Margaret's Church now lies within the parish of Christ Church, Ward End.  Rev Peter Smith is the Priest-in-Charge for this parish and that of its neighbor, St Paul's Bordesley Green.  Together, they have merged to belong to “The Benefice of Holy Trinity in Ward End with Bordesley Green”.

It is regretted that due to changes in the demography of the area there are no longer sufficient parishioners wanting to worship God at St Margaret’s each week to maintain its viability for the buildings sole use as a church. The building though still holds considerable affection within the surrounding community. It is worth noting that the neighbourhood is now among the top 5% of most deprived wards in the UK with all its attendant problems of low income, unemployment, child poverty, anti social behaviour and a degraded environment

Working on the basis that we are the custodians of a building that has historical and architectural merit but no longer fully serves the community in which it resides, we have sort to explore how the building might be retained as a “living building” and act as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of the community.

Seeking professional help at an early stage a Community Development consultancy was retained. Addressing local stakeholders, residents and interested groups, cross referenced with base-line research and reports community needs and wants were identified. A new charitable trust – the St Margaret’s Community Trust was formed and a sustainable business plan has been produced.

Development plans have been drawn up by an approved Architect for a multi-functional community space that includes the refurbishment of the existing Church building and the creation of a linked extension. This will provide:

• A retained sacred space dedicated for prayer and quiet reflection

• A communal space for the community to meet, share a cup of tea, chat and celebrate its cultures and history

• A 'community hub' where specialist organisations can offer their services (e.g. employment agencies, debt advice etc...) so residents can get independent, confidential information, advice and signposting

• A new extension to provide dedicated multi-use indoor space for all children and young people, including a creative, multi- media space for young people

• Outside we will develop quiet gardens, a remembrance garden and an enclosed informal outdoor recreation space for children over 5 years

The local community is very diverse and up to 50% Muslim. Consultation has continued with the local community and visits have been carried out to 9 similar projects in equally multicultural areas within Birmingham and beyond. Where possible, practical and sustainable, any modifications have been incorporated in our plans. 

Without modification and addition the church of St Margaret’s Ward End cannot create all these spaces. The existing building does not have the benefit of toilets or hot running water. However without destroying the historical integrity of the building there is no simple way that all the uses can be incorporated in the present building.

As noted in the Statement of Significance, the church building dates back to 1835 when it opened under licence by the Bishop of Worcester was extensively reordered and refurbished in 1929, much of the church furniture dates back to this time. Therefore to enable the development of some of the necessary spaces within then church, it is proposed that in addition to a full refurbishment of the fabric of the building, to remove the pews and level the floor and creating space for under floor heating.

Three distinct areas are then planned for the church itself:

-        A multi use heritage hall

-        An information advice and guidance office suite and refreshment area

-        Sacred space dedicated to prayer and worship

The sanctuary will be retained as the sacred space with a movable screen allowing it to be closed off for private prayer in the week and opened up as a focal point for worship in the heritage hall on a Sunday. We therefore propose to move the font to that area.

The organ will be removed and new management space created with viewing gallery in the organ loft.

Following consultation with our architects, the D.A.C., Birmingham City Planners and Conservation department, City of Birmingham Archaeologist, English Heritage, Georgian and Victorian Societies and other parties the preferred solution is for the building of an annexe on the northern side of the building to house toilet and kitchen facilities and a specialist space for children and young people’s work. This will necessitate the removal of 2 trees, the boundary wall and up to 20 graves. The preferred option is complete removal of graves and placing of stones elsewhere in the churchyard, although we are willing to explore the option of retaining the stones in situ.

To add to the value of the heritage hall and for additional security, protection from vandalism, it is also proposed to move the two Burne-Jones windows from their present position on the south wall to the north side.  The windows will become internal and be viewable from the heritage hall / church and the atrium between the church and the new annexe. This will provide a natural space that can be set aside as a quiet room that other faiths may use for prayer.

Heritage

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St Margaret’s Community Trust is a Registered Charity (No. 1129747)

 Company Limited by Guarantee (No. 6673803)

Contact Address: St Margaret's Church , St Margaret’s Road, Ward End, Birmingham B8 2BA