Congregational Church at Winson Green in Birmingham

Congregational Church on the corner of Villiers Street and Winson Green Road, Birmingham c.1909. Map extract from Sheet 131, Birmingham - 1:63 360 Ordnance Survey Map [Depicted 1950, Published 1953] © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

Congregational Church on the corner of Villiers Street and Winson Green Road c.1830

A photograph of the Congregational Church that stood on the corner of Winson Green Road and Villiers Street. The billboard poster states that there was an anniversary event on July 1st, the speakers being William Munton, Harold J. Banks and Florrie Painter. 1909 was the year in which the Congregational Church celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, though I believe that the main event was held in November. The building seen here dated from 1875 but the mission was commenced on a site at Black Patch. In 1859 the Rev. Robert Ann, who had settled as pastor of the Union Row Congregational Church at Handsworth, held a series of open-air services on a cinder bank adjoining the unoccupied Midlands Works. A Sunday School was commenced under a shed but, with winter approaching, the mission sought permission to use the vacant offices of the works. When the factory was re-opened the congregation found themselves without a home until a mission room was opened in Slough Lane in Smethwick. The School Board wished to establish a Board school on the site so the freehold of this corner plot was secured and the foundation stone of this structure was laid on September 13th, 1875.¹ The architect was George Ingall of Temple Row in Birmingham, the building being completed by Charles Henry Street.²

References
1. "Winson Green Congregational Church" : Birmingham Mail; November 16th, 1909. p.7.
2. "Winson Green Mission Room" : Birmingham Daily Gazette; September 15th, 1875. p.6.

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