Consecrated in 1854 St. John’s Church in Ladywood central Birmingham is in many regards quintessential of the new Anglican churches that were erected in Britain’s inner-cities in the mid to late Victorian period.
Solid in appearance and neo-gothic in style, St. John’s harks back to romantic conceptions of the middle ages whilst also bearing the more rounded hallmarks of the machine age. Today it is centrally located in Birmingham’s poorest ward (also one of the poorest in the country), although when it was built its setting was far more rural in character. The church was commissioned from the architect Samuel Sander Teulon in 1852 by the Diocese of Worcester as part of a general drive to expand the number of Anglican churches to meet the spiritual needs of region’s rapidly growing population. The land was given by the King Edward’s Foundation Schools and-reputedly-had been partially used as a plague pit during an outbreak of the Black Death in the early 17th Century.
Today though, St. John’s primary interest lies in the way that it has been adapted to meet the needs of inner-city Birmingham’s Church of England community today. Merged with the near by St. Peter’s, Spring Hill in 2001; St. John’s has been extensively “modernised” inside.
The church retains much of its grand, original Victorian decoration and fittings, the eagle lectern (reminding worshipers not to look away from the word of God), the ornate crucifixes, the large stone font. Yet, they have been augmented by newer additions and changes. The mid-Victorian windows designed to inspire awe and serve a didactic purpose have been joined by newer ones that tell the story of the local community and reflect it back to itself. Similarly, the heavy wooden pews so characteristic of 19th Century religious buildings have vanished, being replaced with easily movable wooden chairs allowing the space to be adapted to serve different functions and the needs of the community within which it stands.
How St. John’s has been adapted also serves to tell a story of how Anglican worship changed in pattern during the 20th Century. The church today is less imposing in character, focusing on accessibility rather than grandeur, something that is also reflected in the modern and contemporary nature of some of the building’s devotional items and decorations.
St. John’s Exterior
The solid and imposing tower of and back wall of St. John’s Church, Ladywood; are typical in style of the urban parish churches built in large numbers during the second half of the 19th Century. Its design harks back the middle ages, but it comparative regularity and sense of symmetry shows it to be a product of the industrial age. Birmingham is not built on sandstone, so the churches’ builders must have had to transport the rock from which it is built some distance.
The, large, solid, rather imposing; main door of St. John’s Church, Ladywood. It is flanked by carvings on either side.
St. John’s Stone Carvings
The carved-and now quite weathered-face of a young woman (possibly Mary), decorates the exterior of St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
The carved-and now quite weathered-face of the church’s namesake, St. John, decorates the exterior of St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
The carved-and now quite weathered-face of the church’s namesake, St. John, decorates the exterior of St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
The carved-and now quite weathered-face of a youth decorates the exterior of St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
The carved-and now quite weathered-face of a king decorates the exterior of St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
The carved-and now quite weathered-face of a learned man decorates the exterior of St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
The carved-and now quite weathered-face of a learned man decorates the exterior of St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
Interior of St. John’s Church
This display in the church was put together by the parishioners of St. John’s Church, Ladywood, to illustrate the process through which their church was modernised.
Panorama of the chancel at St. John’s Church, Ladywood, created using a fisheyed lens.
The altar area at St. John’s Church, Ladywood. This area is very traditional and retains all of its mid-Victorian, Gothic style, features which date back to when the church was constructed.
Side chapel altar, with traditional pews facing it at St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
Eagle lectern standing in St. John’s Church, Ladywood. Anglican churches often have eagle lecterns. Eagles as a species are able to look directly into the sun for extended periods of time. The idea of the eagle lectern is that it signifies, and serves as a reminder, that Christians should look unblinkingly at the word of God.
An old stone font used in baptisms at St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
Panorama of the chancel at St. John’s Church, Ladywood, created using a fisheyed lens.
Panorama of the chancel at St. John’s Church, Ladywood, created using a fisheyed lens.
Panorama of the chancel at St. John’s Church, Ladywood, created using a fisheyed lens.
An ornate cross sits on the altar at St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
The ornate cross on the altar at St. John’s Church, Ladywood, contains a small icon signifying the city of God.
The ornate cross on the altar at St. John’s Church, Ladywood, contains a small icon signifying the lamb of god.
The ornate cross on the altar at St. John’s Church, Ladywood, contains a small icon of an eagle signifying that Christians should look unblinkingly at the word of God.
This frosted glass crucifix is an example of the kind of contemporary religious art that can be found in churches like St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
A traditional in style, Victorian era, stained glass window at St. John’s Church, Ladywood. The image is of an angel bearing the crown of heaven.
A contemporary stained glass window at St. John’s Church, Ladywood. It presents a stylised vision of the Holy Land
A contemporary stained glass window at St. John’s Church, Ladywood. With the high-rises in the background, trees and shrubs in the foreground at the church itself in the middle, it symbolises that St. John’s stands at the heart of the inner-city community that it serves.
Close up of a contemporary stained glass window at St. John’s Church, Ladywood. With the high-rises in the background, trees and shrubs in the foreground at the church itself in the middle, it symbolises that St. John’s stands at the heart of the inner-city community that it serves.
The seating chancel in the chancel and the timbered roof at St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
The ornately carved and finished ceiling above the altar at St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
Plain stained glass windows, with light streaming through them, in an alcove of St. John’s Church, Ladywood.
Looking down the chancel from the pulpit of St. John’s Church, Ladywood. Note how the seating has been modernised to allow the seating to be arranged flexibly to suite the needs to the congregation and open up the possibility of the church being used for things other than worship.
This small Greek Orthodox style icon sits near the altar at St. John’s Church, Ladywood. In addition to inspiring devotion and reflection upon Jesus his mother Mary it also signifies a relationship and interplay with another Christian denomination, largely located in a different part of the world.
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