St Mary's Church

St Mary’s Church once stood on Whittall Street, a short walk north of Birmingham’s old town centre. Built in 1774 as a chapel of ease to St Martin in the Bull Ring, it was designed by Joseph Pickford in an octagonal shape. The church took its name from Mary Weaman, who gave the land and a large share of the £4,500 building cost. Its tower and spire were rebuilt in the 19th century after structural problems appeared. By 1925 the building was closed and later demolished for hospital expansion, leaving only a street name and a nearby office block. The church played a small but notable part in local religious and social history. John Wesley attended a service there in 1786 and heard Edward Burn, its first vicar, preach. In 1859 fifteen women killed in a factory explosion were buried together in a single vault beneath the floor. A tablet once inside commemorated William Thompson, the first president of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference. Today the site is covered by Waterfall House, an office building on Whittall Street. A narrow lane called St Mary’s Row still marks the northern edge of the old churchyard. The silver communion set was divided after the church closed, with most pieces kept at Pype Hayes and two flagons now held by Birmingham Assay Office.