St George's Church

St George’s Church stands in Edgbaston, a leafy suburb of Birmingham. Built in 1836–38 as a chapel-of-ease to St Bartholomew’s, it was designed by Joseph John Scoles with a nave and two aisles plus galleries. In 1856 Charles Edge added a chancel, and in 1884–85 J. A. Chatwin enlarged the church again, turning the old nave into the north aisle and the old chancel into the Lady Chapel. Arthur Edwards oversaw further interior work in 1899 and also served as churchwarden. The church became a Grade II listed building in 1970. Inside, fine woodwork by Bridgeman of Lichfield includes clergy and choir stalls, a parclose screen, the organ case of 1890, the reredos of 1903 and the Lady Chapel screen of 1906. Late Victorian stained glass fills the windows, with work by Burlison and Grylls, Heaton Butler and Bayne, Hardman & Co. and a notable Jesse tree in the Lady Chapel by Charles Eamer Kempe. Visitors find a spacious nave and chancel shaped by Chatwin’s 1880s remodelling, with the Lady Chapel to the north. The interior woodwork and stained glass create a calm, richly decorated space. The church’s history is visible in the reused fabric of earlier phases and the careful restorations of 1899.