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Aston Villa Wesleyan Chapel

J

Jules65

master brummie
Does anyone have any information/photographs about this church.

My grandparents Charles Birbeck and Selina Heath married there in 1923.

Thank you.
 
would the Aston Villa Wesleyan Chapel be the same as the one on Lichfield Road ???? Brenda
 
1901 census living richmond park rd.

charles s birbeck 39 auctioneer b. bham
emma e s birbeck 39 ironmonger shop keeper b. bucks
emma a j birbeck 11 looks to me like b. british guiana
ella d birbeck 7 b. bham
kathleen j e birbeck 4 b. aston
charles j l birbeck 3 b. olton bham

chris
 
Jules
When Aston Villa was founded, the site of the chapel that was recently demolished also housed a school on the corner of george st/lozells rd, as can be seen from the 1876 Kelly's. The building before demolition was in a (short of) L shape, and the arm leading on to Lozells Rd was aparently the school. There was an Aston Board School there up to the mid 1890s but it then ceased operation. By 1896 there is just a chapel on the site. There is a slight mystery. According to Thornton (Victorian buildings of Birmingham) the first schools were authorised by the aston board 19th Sept 1876. He lists a school in lozells rd, but says it was built in 1876. Possibly this means that the chapel was already providing a school on the site which the school board merely took over responsibility for. This would explain the relatively short lifetime of the school.


george_st1876.jpg
 
mikejee said:
Jules
When Aston Villa was founded, the site of the chapel that was recently demolished also housed a school on the corner of george st/lozells rd, as can be seen from the 1876 Kelly's. The building before demolition was in a (short of) L shape, and the arm leading on to Lozells Rd was aparently the school. There was an Aston Board School there up to the mid 1890s but it then ceased operation. By 1896 there is just a chapel on the site. There is a slight mystery. According to Thornton (Victorian buildings of Birmingham) the first schools were authorised by the aston board 19th Sept 1876. He lists a school in lozells rd, but says it was built in 1876. Possibly this means that the chapel was already providing a school on the site which the school board merely took over responsibility for. This would explain the relatively short lifetime of the school.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the information about this church. It does ring a bell about there being a school there, but when my nan talked about going to Sunday school there, I thought it was where the children went when the main service was being held. My nan was born in 1899 and I wonder if she attended school there maybe on a Sunday. I believe it is actually where she met my grandad at Sunday School yet she would not have been a child but early twenties I would think. As I said before they married there. I wish I had some photo's of their wedding but I have never seen any, even when my nan was alive so it makes me think that perhaps the didn't have any.

I am so sad that this church has gone. It is a crying shame that buildings such as these are demolished to make way for more modern buildings. In my opinion this church should have been preserved for future generations. As a child, we worshipped at St. Silas C of E or the Lozells St. Church which was methodist.

I heard a story that during WW2 my mother was at the pictures (Villa Cross) just over the road really from this church. The air raid sirens sounded and cinema goers went either to shelters in the cinema or across the road into the shelters in the cellar of the Villa Cross Church. My mom did neither and ran along Lozells Road ducking into shop doorways and made her way home to Burbury Street. The Church was bombed that night, or nearby to the church and a water main was burst. It flooded the cellars at the church and a lot of people lost their lives that night.
 
hi folks..would love to see any photos of this church....tried the links posted by jennyann but they dont seem to work for me...

many thanks

lyn
 
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