Building » Birmingham (Chelmsley Wood) – St Anne

Birmingham (Chelmsley Wood) – St Anne

Bosworth Drive, Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham B37

A late design of 1988 by Cyril Horsley, simple in character, but given some external presence by the octagonal top-lit sanctuary. 

A priest was appointed to serve the housing development of Chelmsley Wood in 1968. Mass was said at various locations, including a parish centre, designed by Desmond Williams & Associates, which opened in 1971. The present church was designed by Cyril Horsley of Stafford, erstwhile partner of Ernest Bower Norris. The foundation stone was laid by Archbishop Couve de Murville on 1 October 1987, and the church was opened on 19 April 1988. It was consecrated on 28 September 1994.

The church is fan-shaped on plan, the congregational space converging on an octagonal sanctuary, over which is a raised lantern. The walls are clad in red brick, the low pitched roofs with concrete tiles. A low entrance and link block connects the church with the contemporary presbytery. The interior has not been inspected; it is described by Scarisbrick (ed.) as ‘austere’. The coloured glass rectangular windows on either side of the sanctuary (on the theme of Pentecost) and horizontal panels in the lantern of the octagon (on the theme of Creation, Eden and the Fall, the Crucifixion, Pentecost and the English Martyrs) are by Catherine Pinnock.

Heritage Details

Architect: Cyril Horsley

Original Date: 1988

Conservation Area: No

Listed Grade: Not Listed