St.Mary's Church in Handsworth, Birmingham (also known as Handsworth Old Church) is home to the memorial sculptures of James Watt, Matthew Boulton and William Murdoch. Given its history and the importance it played at the time, it is often referred to as "The Industrial Cathedral of Birmingham". Enjoy this great post from Elliott, a regular Birmingham Gems contributor.

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St Mary's Church, Handsworth - enjoy our visit shared with you!





St.Mary's Church in Handsworth, Birmingham (also known as Handsworth Old Church) is home to the memorial sculptures of James Watt, Matthew Boulton and William Murdoch. Given its history and the importance it played at the time, it is often referred to as "The Industrial Cathedral of Birmingham". Enjoy this great post from Elliott, a regular Birmingham Gems contributor.


During the Birmingham Heritage Week, Elliott went along to visit St Mary's Church in Handsworth, easy to get to on the no 16 bus that takes you to Hamstead Road.

It was quiet inside the Grade II listed Anglican church which is built on ten-acre of grounds, located adjacent to Handsworth Park.

The church is the resting place of famous progenitors of the industrial age, James Watt, William Murdoch and Matthew Boulton and has been described as “the Cathedral of the Industrial Revolution”.

Elliott's been waiting two years to get inside of this church, mainly for the memorials to James Watt, Matthew Boulton and William Murdoch.

The church has origins back to the 12th and 13th centuries, although what you see today is a complete rebuild from the 19th century. Architects who worked on the building in the 19th century included William Hollins in 1820, Thomas Rickman in 1826 (the South Chapel built in memory of James Watt), and later J A Chatwin from 1876 to 1880. More recently the roof was repaired during 2019 to 2020.

It is a Grade II* listed building.

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Tour of the interior of St Mary's Church, Handsworth

You enter the church from the side door from the churchyard.

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Below stained glass windows is information panels on James Watt and the Industrial Revolution (probably provided by the Birmingham Museums Trust).

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Down here you will find the monuments to Matthew Boulton, William Murdoch (spelt Murdock) and Joseph Grice. The South Chapel on the right leads to the statue of James Watt.

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The organ.

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Here are two examples of stained glass windows at St Mary's Church, Handsworth.

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Here's the pulpit.

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And a piano.

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There's somewhere to light candles under a colourful cross.

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The lecturn resembles golden eagles.

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Monuments

The marble statue of James Watt (1736 - 1819) is located in the South Chapel. It was sculpted by Francis Legatt Chantrey.

This is currently the only place to see a statue of James Watt in Birmingham (the 1866 statue of James Watt formerly at Chamberlain Square by Alexander Munro has been in storage since 2015).

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The Monument to Matthew Boulton (1728 - 1809) is by Flaxman.

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The Monument to William Murdoch (spelt here as Murdock) (1754 - 1839) was also by Flaxman.

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There is also a marble bust of William Murdoch in the cafe area (just behind a TV). A childrens book about James Watt was on the left.

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Other memorials here include this one to Joseph Grice Esquire.

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Also there is a memorial/monument to Sarah Russell, and later her husband John Russell.

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Also to be found here are these tombs.  A medieval armoured soldier and below him another one.

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There was also this tomb of a couple found close to the area with the monuments to Boulton, Watt & Murdoch.

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We hope you enjoyed this informative post and photography.  The full feature on St. Mary's Church can be found HERE.

More posts and features and a map of City Gems can be found at www.BirminghamGems.com

Photos taken by Elliott Brown can also be found on Twitter: ellrbrown