St Mary and St Margaret's Church, Castle Bromwich

St Mary and St Margaret’s Church stands in Castle Bromwich, a village on the edge of Birmingham. It is a Grade I listed parish church built of brick in the early 18th century. The site once held a small wooden Norman chapel before 1175, later rebuilt in stone. In the 15th century a half-timbered structure and wooden tower were added to the west end. The present church was remodelled between 1726 and 1731 by Sir John Bridgeman II in English Renaissance style. Local clay bricks were fired nearby and the old timber church was encased in brick and plaster, creating a ‘church within a church’. The church is unusual because it preserves medieval oak timbers under a flat Georgian ceiling. The tower contains six bells and a clock face, and its corners once held stone urns with weathervanes. Inside are two side chapels, including the Lady Chapel, and traditional wooden pews. The Bridgeman family once occupied box pews at the front. A rare three-tiered pulpit with sounding board stands near a 1752 epitaph tablet to Sir John Bridgeman. Victorian bluish glass in the windows was replaced with clear panes in 1966 to let in more light. The churchyard is entered through double iron gates from the North Garden of Castle Bromwich Hall. The Hall’s Jacobean mansion overlooks the grounds, and its gardens surround the church. The churchyard contains the graves of local families and the architect John Jones Bateman. Various groups use the building, including the choir, bellringers and Sunday school. A proposal for a mobile phone mast on the church in 2006 met with opposition over visual impact.