St Paul's Church

St Paul’s is a Church of England church in the Georgian St Paul’s Square in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The Grade I-listed building stands on land once part of Charles Colmore’s Newhall estate. Construction began in 1777 and the church was consecrated two years later. It was designed by Roger Eykyn of Wolverhampton and served the city’s early manufacturers and merchants. Matthew Boulton and James Watt each held their own pews, which were traded like property at the time. The rectangular church received its upper tower and spire between 1822 and 1823, added by Francis Goodwin and Standbridge and Company. The church is recognised for its fine stained glass and historic organ. The east window contains an enamelled glass work of 1791 by Francis Eginton modelled on a painting by Benjamin West. A peal of ten bells was installed in 2005 to mark the 250th anniversary of the St Martin’s Guild of Church Bell Ringers. The organ has evolved through work by James Bishop, Banfield, Bevington and Sons, and Hill, Norman & Beard. A new clock made by Leeson and Sons in 1875 still shows time on three illuminated dials. William Hollins, architect and sculptor, is buried within the church. Inside, visitors find a rectangular nave with a gallery at the west end. The organ case was altered in 1927 when the instrument was moved to its present position. The east window’s stained glass depicts the Conversion of Paul and remains an important work of the period. The south-east nave holds a window by Ward and Hughes from about 1880, while other windows date from 1900 to 1907 and 2000. The tower houses a ring of ten bells installed in 2005, with the tenor bell weighing 641 kilograms.