St Mary'S Church, Handsworth

St Mary's Church, Handsworth, also known as Handsworth Old Church, is a Grade II* listed Anglican church in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. Its ten-acre (4 hectare) grounds are contiguous with Handsworth Park and it is just off the Birmingham Outer Circle and south of a cutting housing the site of the former Handsworth Wood railway station. It is noteworthy as the resting place of famous progenitors of the industrial age, and has been described as "the cathedral of the Industrial Revolution". HistoryDespite the strong Industrial Revolution profile, St Mary's parish register deposited at the Library of Birmingham commences in 1558, and the first stone church building was erected on the site around 1160. It was a small and austere Norman structure, occupying about half of the present south aisle. The church's few surviving Norman features can be seen at the lower stages of the sandstone tower at the original church's east end. In its long history, St Mary's has undergone successive and opinionated reconstruction, especially in 1820 and 1870. As a Staffordshire country church placed at the convergence of several cross country tracks, St Mary's became a significant part of the largest industrial city in Britain. In his 1851 History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White records:

St Mary's Church, Handsworth, also known as Handsworth Old Church, is a Grade II* listed Anglican church in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. Its ten-acre (4 hectare) grounds are contiguous with Handsworth Park and it is just off the Birmingham Outer Circle and south of a cutting housing the site of the former Handsworth Wood railway station. It is noteworthy as the resting place of famous progenitors of the industrial age, and has been described as "the cathedral of the Industrial Revolution". HistoryDespite the strong Industrial Revolution profile, St Mary's parish register deposited at the Library of Birmingham commences in 1558, and the first stone church building was erected on the site around 1160. It was a small and austere Norman structure, occupying about half of the present south aisle. The church's few surviving Norman features can be seen at the lower stages of the sandstone tower at the original church's east end. In its long history, St Mary's has undergone successive and opinionated reconstruction, especially in 1820 and 1870. As a Staffordshire country church placed at the convergence of several cross country tracks, St Mary's became a significant part of the largest industrial city in Britain. In his 1851 History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White records: