St Agatha's Church, Sparkbrook

St Agatha’s Church, Sparkbrook
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Traditional Catholic
Website	http://www.saintagathas.org.uk
Administration
Parish	St. Agatha, Sparkbrook and St. Barnabas, Balsall Heath
Deanery	Central Birmingham
Archdeaconry	Birmingham
Diocese	Birmingham
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Priest(s)	Fr John Luff
Laity
Organist(s)	David Lane

The Church of St Agatha (grid reference SP086847) is a parish church in the Church of England in Sparkbrook in Birmingham, England.

Background

It was designed by W. H. Bidlake and is now a Grade I listed building.^[1]

Made of brick and decorated with stone, building started in October 1899. It was funded by the sale of the site of Christ Church, New Street which was demolished the same year to make way for shops and offices - Christchurch Buildings. That site later became Victoria Square after Christchurch Buildings were demolished in 1970. St Agatha was consecrated in 1901 by the Bishop of Worcester (Charles Gore) as Birmingham was in the diocese of Worcester until 1905 at which time Gore was made the first Bishop of Birmingham. A parish was assigned to the church in 1902 from Christ Church, Sparkbrook, and St Paul's Church, Balsall Heath. The font and only bell came from Christ Church, along with its foundation stone dated 1805. In 1959, the church hall received a licence for public worship.

The building has had an eventful history; the sanctuary end was completely destroyed by a German bomb in 1940 and the entire roof was lost in a fire in 1957. From 1940 to 1960 parts of the building were bricked off and the sense of lightness that the interior now has was temporarily lost.

The church was slightly damaged by the Birmingham Tornado on 28 July 2005. However the adjoining Ladypool Primary School was extensively damaged and lost its distinctive Martin & Chamberlain tower.

Major restoration work took place from 2002–2005, mostly funded by the National Heritage Lottery Board. This included the stabilisation of the tower. The restoration work was designed by Apec Architects.^[2] The restored church was officially reopened in January 2005 by HRH Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex.

Vicars and priests-in-charge

St Agatha's as a church

From its beginning St Agatha's was strongly part of the Anglo-Catholic movement. Although situated in the Diocese of Birmingham the church is under the oversight of the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Provincial episcopal visitor and is a part of Forward in Faith. Until the 1950s there was a ring of similar churches around inner-city Birmingham - the so-called 'Biretta Belt'. Many of those churches have closed but St Agatha's itself remains open despite being in an almost entirely Muslim ward of the city. The church's priest is shared with St Barnabas' Church, Balsall Heath.

Music

The church is noted for its music - supplemented by a recently restored three-manual Nicholson organ -its liturgy and diverse congregation, and is well known beyond the parish and the city.

Special services

Celebrants have included the Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend David Hope at the centenary Mass in May 2001.

Facilities

The church hall is used by the Birmingham City Boxing Club, providing one of the very few facilities for all ethnicities of youth in the area.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Agatha's Church, Sparkbrook.

• All About Victoria Square, Joe Holyoak, The Victorian Society Birmingham Group, ISBN 0-901657-14-X
• St Agatha website
• British History Online: Churches built since 1800 - St Agatha, Sparkbrook, A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 7, 1964.

Buildings and structures in Birmingham, England
Highrise (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 Five Ways Tower Hyatt Centre City Tower Two Snowhill One Snow Hill Plaza Quayside Tower Colmore Gate McLaren Building Metropolitan House Edgbaston House Colmore Plaza Jury's Inn
Civic	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 Other baths Municipal Bank Town Hall Town Hall (Sutton Coldfield) Union Workhouse
Main railway stations	Moor Street New Street Snow Hill Curzon Street Other stations
Universities	Aston University Birmingham City University Birmingham School of Art Newman University University College Birmingham University of Birmingham Barber Institute
Hospitals	Current Children's City Good Hope Orthopaedic Queen Elizabeth Women's Defunct Accident General Old Queen Elizabeth Selly Oak Witton Isolation
Religious	Christian Ascension, Hall Green St Agatha, Sparkbrook St Agnes, Moseley St Alban, Highgate St Andrew, Handsworth St Anne, Moseley St Anne, Digbeth St Augustine, Edgbaston St Barnabas, Erdington St Bartholomew, Edgbaston St Benedict's, Bordesley Bishop Latimer, Winson Green St Catherine, Bristol Street St Chad's Cathedral St Cyprian, Hay Mills St David, Shenley Green St Edburgha, Yardley St Edward, Selly Park Erdington Abbey SS Faith & Laurence, Harborne St Francis, Bournville St Francis, Handsworth St Gabriel, Weoley Castle St George, Edgbaston Handsworth Cemetery Chapel Holy Trinity, Birchfield Holy Trinity & St Luke Holy Trinity, Sutton Coldfield St James, Handsworth St John, Ladywood St John, Perry Barr St John, Sparkhill St Laurence, Northfield St Lazar, Bournville St Martin, Bull Ring St Mark, Washwood Heath St Mary, Acocks Green St Mary, Handsworth St Mary, Moseley St Mary, Selly Oak St Mary's Convent Methodist Central Hall St Michael & All Angels, Bartley Green St Michael, Handsworth St Michael, Moor Street St Nicolas, Kings Norton Oratory St Paul, Birmingham St Paul, Lozells St Peter, Harborne SS Peter & Paul, Aston St Philip's Cathedral St Silas, Lozells Stechford Baptist Islamic Central Mosque Darul Barakaat Ghamkol Shariff Green Lane Jami Jewish Central Synagogue Singers Hill Sikh Guru Nanak, Handsworth Hindu Shree Geeta Bhawan
Houses	Anchorage, The Christopher Wray Lighting works Edgbaston Hall The Endwood Hay Hall Highbury Moat House Moor Hall Moseley Hall New Hall Manor Northfield Manor House Peddimore Hall Penns Hall Pype Hayes Hall Sheldon Hall Stratford House Winterbourne
Hotels	Grand Hotel Hyatt Regency Hotel Indigo Jurys Inn Radisson Blu Resorts World Birmingham Other hotels
Pubs	Adam & Eve Anchor Inn Antelope Bartons Arms Black Horse Brookhill Tavern Crown Lad in the Lane Old Crown Queen's Arms Red Lion (Handsworth; closed) Woodman
Complexes	Brindleyplace Bull Ring Friends' Institute International Convention Centre Mailbox Grand Central Longbridge plant Paradise Circus Swan Shopping Centre
Art and theatres	Alexandra Barber Institute Crescent Drum Hippodrome mac Rep Odeon, Kingstanding Old Rep Piccadilly Symphony Hall
Museums	Aston Hall Back to Backs Blakesley Hall Newman Bros Coffin Factory Sarehole Mill Selly Manor/ Minworth Greaves Soho House Weoley Castle
Sports venues	Alexander Stadium Edgbaston (cricket) Edgbaston Priory Club St Andrew's Villa Park
Other	1–7 Constitution Hill 17 & 19 Newhall Street Ashford & Son Assay Office Barclaycard Arena 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 Perrott's Folly Perry Bridge Prison Proof House Ringway Centre Saracen's Head Selfridges St James's House Victoria Square House Victoria Law Courts Victoria Works
Demolished	Aston Hippodrome Bishop's House Bishop Ryder Church Bordesley Hall Central Goods railway station Central Library Christ Church Church of the Messiah The Crescent Fox Hollies Hall Heathfield Hall Highfield Island House Langley Hall St Mary's, Whittall St. Metchley Fort Pebble Mill Studios Post & Mail Building
Architecture Tallest Board schools Listed Scheduled Category

Coordinates: 52°27′39″N 1°52′26″W / 52.4609°N 1.8738°W / 52.4609; -1.8738