St Andrew's Church, Wolverhampton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| St Andrew’s Church, Wolverhampton | |
|---|---|
| Church of St Andrew | |
 | |
 | |
| 52°35′40.1″N 2°8′39.3″W / 52.594472°N 2.144250°W | |
| Location | Wolverhampton |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | Church website |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Andrew |
| Consecrated | 15th September 1967 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Parish church |
| Architect | Richard Twentyman |
| Architectural type | Modernist |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Lichfield |
| Archdeaconry | Walsall |
| Deanery | Wolverhampton |
| Parish | St Andrew Wolverhampton |
St Andrew's Church is a Church of England parish church in Whitmore Reans, an inner suburb of the city of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is dedicated to Andrew the Apostle.
As Wolverhampton expanded rapidly in the 19th century due to industrialisation, the once rural area of Whitmore Reans to the north west of the town began to be urbanised. To serve the religious needs of this new community, on 23 May 1865 the foundation stone of a new parish church dedicated to St Andrew was laid by the Rector of St Peter's Collegiate Church, John Hodgson Iles. The new building was designed by local architect Edward Banks in Early English Gothic Revival style. Construction was completed over the next five years ahead of consecration on 3 November 1870 by the Bishop of Lichfield, George Selwyn. Although Banks’s design called for a tower and spire, shortage of funds meant these elements were never realised. However the building was expanded to accommodate more parishioners between 1891 and 1892 by local architect F. T. Beck.[1][2]
Bank’s church would serve the community for almost 94 years. However, tragedy struck on 31 May 1964 when the building was ruinously damaged by fire. Such was the destruction that the decision was taken to completely demolish the church and rebuild on the same site.[3]
The commission for reconstructing the church was awarded to local architect Richard Twentyman in 1965. Without funds to rebuild on same grand scale, and in response to contemporary liturgical developments, Twentyman’s brick-built modernist design for the new church was radically different to what had preceded it. The foundation stone was laid on 17 September 1966 by the Bishop of Stafford, Richard Clitherow, although construction had actually begun sometime before. Reconsecration took place almost exactly one year later, on 15 September 1967 at a ceremony presided over by the Bishop of Lichfield, Stretton Reeve.[3]
