A BRIEF HISTORY OF PARK ROAD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
The Beginning
The Congregational Church in Birmingham was born with the establishment of Carrs Lane Church in 1748. Carr’s Lane United Reformed Church, as it is now known, is to this day, a very active force in the city.The Carrs Lane congregation was formed, mainly, by former Unitarians who had recognised the need for rapid growth in the evangelism of the town.This congregation was a catalyst for the building of many churches and chapels in and around Birmingham and one such chapel was built in about 1806. This was situated in Legge Street, which then joined Bagot Street with Gosta Green, on the border of Aston Manor. Another chapel which was derived from the same congregation was our sister church at Wheeler Street, LozellsVery little is known of the Legge* Street Chapel’s history but the decision to close it was taken in 1872. It was probably overshadowed by the building of the Ebenezer Congregational Chapel in nearby Steelhouse Lane, which opened in 1816 with accommodation for 1000 worshipers. In addition, the Congregational Church in Saltley Road was opened in 1838, which could serve the Eastern and Southern areas of Aston, Aston Brook and Duddeston cum Nechells.A temporary preaching room was set up in Park Lane, Aston under the supervision of Mr.John Thomas Horton, a former deacon of Legge Street. This was to remain until the opening of ‘Park Road Chapel’ in 1874.With the rapid development of Aston in the 1860s there was seen to be a need for a Congregational Church to be established. A site, at the corner of Portland Street and Park Road, was acquired by the Birmingham Chapel Building Society.
* Named after one of the last families to own nearby Aston Hall in the early 19th. century. A relative of the Earls of Dartmouth who had owned land and properties in Sandwell and later in West Bromwich since the early 18th century.
Aston Park Congregational Church Opens
Aston Park Congregational Church was opened in October 1874. The building provided for a congregation of 900 with 550 seats on the ground floor and a gallery on three sides of the building, which accommodated a further 350 people.The Birmingham Chapel Building Society invited Mr. John Henwood Toms of Spring Hill College to take over ministerial oversight for three years from January 3rd. 1875. The Congregation quickly grew and in June 1875 a Christian Society was formed for the purpose of holding Holy Communion Services. On October 4th. 1877 a church was constituted with Rev. Henwood Toms as minister and Mr James Rutherford as Secretary.There was a raised central pulpit behind the communion table, upon which there was placed a 3 branch candelabra to represent the trinity. The use of candles was virtually unknown in the Congregational Church in Victorian times and there are no records to suggest that the candelabra was ever used, although they and brass eagle lecterns were a familiar sight in Lady Huntingdon Connexion Churches most of which were absorbed into the Congregational union.In 1879 work was started on the School Room with a potential capacity for over 300 hundred pupils and this was completed in 1882. During 1883 the Nicholson and Lord three manual organ was installed. The instrument, although operating on 3.1/4 inch wind, was fitted with pneumatic action. Prior to the installation of the organ, which coast £735, the congregational singing had been lead by a precentor who was paid £16 per annum as a salary.The church was administered by the Minister and a deacons board numbering six, soon to be increased to twelve. All the deacons were men at that time and each one was supplied with a clay pie of tobacco for use at their gatherings.In 1884 Henwood Toms resigned on medical advice and subsequently served the Congregational Church in Australia. Thus, on 1st. June 1886 the Rev Frederick Moore became Aston Park’s minister having previously served the Park Congregational Church in Manchester.The church founded the Aston Lane Mission in 1891 and a Sunday School was opened in the Board School. This was quickly followed by a further Sunday School Mission at Vicarage Road Board School and shortly after by further Sunday Schools at Upper Thomas Street Junior and Infants’ Schools.The church grew quickly and by the early 1900s had over 200 members and four Sunday Schools numbering over 500 pupils. Frederick Moore was a fine administrator and a competent preacher and he quickly invited to become the secretary of the Birmingham District of the Congregational Union. He was instrumental in blocking the application; in 1894 by the proposed Bromford Bridge Racecourse; to sell alcohol.
From Strength to Strength
In March of 1904 the Church hosted the Annual General Assembly of the Warwickshire Congregational Union of which Rev. Frederick Moore was president for the year 1903/4. The following year the position was held be Rev. W. G. Percival the pastor of Lozells Congregational Church. Frederick Moore was to retire at the end of 1907, at the age of 53 finding himself to be totally exhausted.In September 1908 the church welcomed Rev E. Arthur Shand, formerly the Pastor at Victoria Congregational Church, St. Hellier, Jersey.At the outbreak of war in 1914, trading conditions were particularly bleak and in consequence so were the church finances. Arthur Shand agreed to a significant reduction in salary to enable the work to continue, although many members were also diverting their funds to support the war effort. The church was actively engaged with the Price of Wales Trust and was responsible for two Red Cross Units. By 1915 Aston Park Church had seen 48 of its members go to war and there are many records of youth in khaki attending church and youth organisations. Many, of course never returned home.By mid 1915 the church was supporting the St. John’s Ambulance Society and reports were beginning to arrive from members serving overseas. The church had set up hospital Sundays to raise funds for medical work and early in 1916 the use of the church was abandoned in favour of holding services in the school room to conserve fuel.In January 1917, the 18th. Birmingham Company of the Boys Brigade was formed the colours being formally dedicated on 28th. January. The 1st. Birmingham Company had been formed in 1902. By 1922 a Girls Life Brigade company had been formed at Park Road.In June of 1921 Arthur Shand fell ill and was away from duties for several months, eventually resigning the pastorate at Aston Park, but not before seeing a new building erected. This was a 30ft x 40ft edifice, constructed mainly of wood, had been purchased from the Y.M.C.A, and was infamously known as ‘the hut’. Shand was too ill to attend the opening and the ceremony was conducted by Walter Hunt with over 100 members present.Arthur Shand moved to Newent Gloucestershire for a quieter pastorate but not before agreeing to the re-decoration of the Church, repair of the organ and the installation of electric lighting.At a church meeting held in January 1922 it was agreed to invite Rev. Walter W.Cotton from Toronto be invited to take up the pastorate at |Aston Park for a period of 18 months. Walter Cotton, received a call from a Congregational Church in Newfoundland and decided to go back to Canada prematurely. He was, however, able to conduct the re-opening service before his departure when the electric lighting had been installed, decoration completed and an electric blower fitted to the organ. At the March Church Meeting in 1923 a letter was read from Prof. H. S. Sanders of Paton College, Nottingham, to say that he considered that one of his current students, Will(iam) Stanyon, would be eminently suited to the pastorate at Aston Park. As the result of the introduction, a call was given to Will Stanyon of Ketton, Stamford, Lincolnshire, which he accepted. He was ordained on 18th. September 1923 at Aston Park Church.
Will Stanyon was a very influential minister at Aston Park Congregational church. He was mentioned, with respect and even a little awe, in conversations held in the homes of church members for many years after he had moved on from Aston. because of that here is an insight into his background.
William Stanyon was one of six children born to Charles and Fanny Stanyon who owned premises on High Street, Ketton, Rutland. Charles was a carpenter but also owned a grocery shop and a drapery store, What was perhaps more significant was that he was Secretary of Ketton Congregational Church which had been founded in 1837. Will’s grandfather was also a carpenter who moved to Ketton in the 1860’s from Northamptonshire.
The emergence of South Aston URC
Park Road church survived two world wars but by the mid 1950s it was apparent that the maintenance of such a high roofed building was well outside the financial capabilities of the then congregation.The nearby church in Wheeler Street, Lozells was encountering similar difficulties and as the two churches were less than one mile apart it seemed sensible that the congregations should join together in a modern building. The two churches became a joint pastorate in 1960 under leadership of the Rev. Harold Stentiford who came to Birmingham from the Congregational Church in Marlborough. After an incredible fund-raising effort the new church was opened in 1976 in Upper Sutton Street, Aston between the sites of the two churches that it replaced - Aston Park and Lozells Congregational Churches. It was given the name South Aston United Reformed Church.*
*In 1972 the Congregational Church of England and Wales, which up until 1965 had been called the Congregational Union of England and Wales, joined together with the Presbyterian Church of England to form the United Reformed Church.
This article was originally written by John Purchase, with minor additions by Nick Maltby, in 2008, for publication on the South Aston URC website.
John started playing the Aston Park church organ as a teenager in the 1950's and still fulfils that role at the South Aston church in 2018.
The Beginning
The Congregational Church in Birmingham was born with the establishment of Carrs Lane Church in 1748. Carr’s Lane United Reformed Church, as it is now known, is to this day, a very active force in the city.The Carrs Lane congregation was formed, mainly, by former Unitarians who had recognised the need for rapid growth in the evangelism of the town.This congregation was a catalyst for the building of many churches and chapels in and around Birmingham and one such chapel was built in about 1806. This was situated in Legge Street, which then joined Bagot Street with Gosta Green, on the border of Aston Manor. Another chapel which was derived from the same congregation was our sister church at Wheeler Street, LozellsVery little is known of the Legge* Street Chapel’s history but the decision to close it was taken in 1872. It was probably overshadowed by the building of the Ebenezer Congregational Chapel in nearby Steelhouse Lane, which opened in 1816 with accommodation for 1000 worshipers. In addition, the Congregational Church in Saltley Road was opened in 1838, which could serve the Eastern and Southern areas of Aston, Aston Brook and Duddeston cum Nechells.A temporary preaching room was set up in Park Lane, Aston under the supervision of Mr.John Thomas Horton, a former deacon of Legge Street. This was to remain until the opening of ‘Park Road Chapel’ in 1874.With the rapid development of Aston in the 1860s there was seen to be a need for a Congregational Church to be established. A site, at the corner of Portland Street and Park Road, was acquired by the Birmingham Chapel Building Society.
* Named after one of the last families to own nearby Aston Hall in the early 19th. century. A relative of the Earls of Dartmouth who had owned land and properties in Sandwell and later in West Bromwich since the early 18th century.
Aston Park Congregational Church Opens
Aston Park Congregational Church was opened in October 1874. The building provided for a congregation of 900 with 550 seats on the ground floor and a gallery on three sides of the building, which accommodated a further 350 people.The Birmingham Chapel Building Society invited Mr. John Henwood Toms of Spring Hill College to take over ministerial oversight for three years from January 3rd. 1875. The Congregation quickly grew and in June 1875 a Christian Society was formed for the purpose of holding Holy Communion Services. On October 4th. 1877 a church was constituted with Rev. Henwood Toms as minister and Mr James Rutherford as Secretary.There was a raised central pulpit behind the communion table, upon which there was placed a 3 branch candelabra to represent the trinity. The use of candles was virtually unknown in the Congregational Church in Victorian times and there are no records to suggest that the candelabra was ever used, although they and brass eagle lecterns were a familiar sight in Lady Huntingdon Connexion Churches most of which were absorbed into the Congregational union.In 1879 work was started on the School Room with a potential capacity for over 300 hundred pupils and this was completed in 1882. During 1883 the Nicholson and Lord three manual organ was installed. The instrument, although operating on 3.1/4 inch wind, was fitted with pneumatic action. Prior to the installation of the organ, which coast £735, the congregational singing had been lead by a precentor who was paid £16 per annum as a salary.The church was administered by the Minister and a deacons board numbering six, soon to be increased to twelve. All the deacons were men at that time and each one was supplied with a clay pie of tobacco for use at their gatherings.In 1884 Henwood Toms resigned on medical advice and subsequently served the Congregational Church in Australia. Thus, on 1st. June 1886 the Rev Frederick Moore became Aston Park’s minister having previously served the Park Congregational Church in Manchester.The church founded the Aston Lane Mission in 1891 and a Sunday School was opened in the Board School. This was quickly followed by a further Sunday School Mission at Vicarage Road Board School and shortly after by further Sunday Schools at Upper Thomas Street Junior and Infants’ Schools.The church grew quickly and by the early 1900s had over 200 members and four Sunday Schools numbering over 500 pupils. Frederick Moore was a fine administrator and a competent preacher and he quickly invited to become the secretary of the Birmingham District of the Congregational Union. He was instrumental in blocking the application; in 1894 by the proposed Bromford Bridge Racecourse; to sell alcohol.
From Strength to Strength
In March of 1904 the Church hosted the Annual General Assembly of the Warwickshire Congregational Union of which Rev. Frederick Moore was president for the year 1903/4. The following year the position was held be Rev. W. G. Percival the pastor of Lozells Congregational Church. Frederick Moore was to retire at the end of 1907, at the age of 53 finding himself to be totally exhausted.In September 1908 the church welcomed Rev E. Arthur Shand, formerly the Pastor at Victoria Congregational Church, St. Hellier, Jersey.At the outbreak of war in 1914, trading conditions were particularly bleak and in consequence so were the church finances. Arthur Shand agreed to a significant reduction in salary to enable the work to continue, although many members were also diverting their funds to support the war effort. The church was actively engaged with the Price of Wales Trust and was responsible for two Red Cross Units. By 1915 Aston Park Church had seen 48 of its members go to war and there are many records of youth in khaki attending church and youth organisations. Many, of course never returned home.By mid 1915 the church was supporting the St. John’s Ambulance Society and reports were beginning to arrive from members serving overseas. The church had set up hospital Sundays to raise funds for medical work and early in 1916 the use of the church was abandoned in favour of holding services in the school room to conserve fuel.In January 1917, the 18th. Birmingham Company of the Boys Brigade was formed the colours being formally dedicated on 28th. January. The 1st. Birmingham Company had been formed in 1902. By 1922 a Girls Life Brigade company had been formed at Park Road.In June of 1921 Arthur Shand fell ill and was away from duties for several months, eventually resigning the pastorate at Aston Park, but not before seeing a new building erected. This was a 30ft x 40ft edifice, constructed mainly of wood, had been purchased from the Y.M.C.A, and was infamously known as ‘the hut’. Shand was too ill to attend the opening and the ceremony was conducted by Walter Hunt with over 100 members present.Arthur Shand moved to Newent Gloucestershire for a quieter pastorate but not before agreeing to the re-decoration of the Church, repair of the organ and the installation of electric lighting.At a church meeting held in January 1922 it was agreed to invite Rev. Walter W.Cotton from Toronto be invited to take up the pastorate at |Aston Park for a period of 18 months. Walter Cotton, received a call from a Congregational Church in Newfoundland and decided to go back to Canada prematurely. He was, however, able to conduct the re-opening service before his departure when the electric lighting had been installed, decoration completed and an electric blower fitted to the organ. At the March Church Meeting in 1923 a letter was read from Prof. H. S. Sanders of Paton College, Nottingham, to say that he considered that one of his current students, Will(iam) Stanyon, would be eminently suited to the pastorate at Aston Park. As the result of the introduction, a call was given to Will Stanyon of Ketton, Stamford, Lincolnshire, which he accepted. He was ordained on 18th. September 1923 at Aston Park Church.
Will Stanyon was a very influential minister at Aston Park Congregational church. He was mentioned, with respect and even a little awe, in conversations held in the homes of church members for many years after he had moved on from Aston. because of that here is an insight into his background.
William Stanyon was one of six children born to Charles and Fanny Stanyon who owned premises on High Street, Ketton, Rutland. Charles was a carpenter but also owned a grocery shop and a drapery store, What was perhaps more significant was that he was Secretary of Ketton Congregational Church which had been founded in 1837. Will’s grandfather was also a carpenter who moved to Ketton in the 1860’s from Northamptonshire.
The emergence of South Aston URC
Park Road church survived two world wars but by the mid 1950s it was apparent that the maintenance of such a high roofed building was well outside the financial capabilities of the then congregation.The nearby church in Wheeler Street, Lozells was encountering similar difficulties and as the two churches were less than one mile apart it seemed sensible that the congregations should join together in a modern building. The two churches became a joint pastorate in 1960 under leadership of the Rev. Harold Stentiford who came to Birmingham from the Congregational Church in Marlborough. After an incredible fund-raising effort the new church was opened in 1976 in Upper Sutton Street, Aston between the sites of the two churches that it replaced - Aston Park and Lozells Congregational Churches. It was given the name South Aston United Reformed Church.*
*In 1972 the Congregational Church of England and Wales, which up until 1965 had been called the Congregational Union of England and Wales, joined together with the Presbyterian Church of England to form the United Reformed Church.
This article was originally written by John Purchase, with minor additions by Nick Maltby, in 2008, for publication on the South Aston URC website.
John started playing the Aston Park church organ as a teenager in the 1950's and still fulfils that role at the South Aston church in 2018.
