Anglican Church Of St Anne, North Boundary Wall And Piers

The Anglican Church of St Anne is situated in Moseley, Birmingham, a prosperous middle-class suburb that developed from the 1860s onwards. This church was built in 1874 and designed by the recognised 19th-century architect Frederick Preedy (1820-1898) in a simplified Gothic style. The land was donated by W F Taylor of Moseley Hall, and funds were provided by local landowner Rebecca Anderton. The church was consecrated as a daughter church of the parish of St Mary, with a new parish formed shortly afterwards.

The building is constructed from cream and red rock-faced sandstone with plain clay tile roofs. The church is orientated north-west to south-east, though ritual compass points are used throughout the description. The plan comprises a north-west tower, nave with north and south aisles, a small chancel, south-east vestries, and a polygonal west baptistery.

The exterior is predominantly red sandstone with bands of cream stone and cream stone dressings. The six-bay building features a four-bay nave with aisles and clerestory, and a slightly lower two-bay chancel, all sitting on a low moulded stone plinth. A three-stage north-west tower with corner pinnacles and a broad spire dominates the composition; the spire has gabled and traceried louvres. The main entrance is a gabled doorway at the base of the tower, featuring a pointed arched opening with paired columns and moulded impost. The long elevations are divided by two-stage buttresses between which are traceried windows of three lights, topped by trefoils, quatrefoils or cinquefoils. The clerestory windows are similar but have only two main lights. The large east and west windows display more elaborate tracery.

The interior features nave arcades of pointed stone arches carried on alternating circular and octagonal stone piers with moulded caps, constructed from alternating bands of cream and red sandstone. The walls are whitewashed except for the stone window dressings. The nave roof has arch-braced trusses with collars springing from moulded corbels. The paired clerestory windows have arched surrounds with central colonettes reminiscent of Early English style. The chancel roof has arch-braced collar-rafter trusses with king struts, and chancel floors are tiled. The west baptistery contains a quatrefoil-plan stone font and has a polychrome tiled floor. The chancel features a stone and marble pulpit positioned at the foot of the chancel arch on its north side; the organ is housed on the south side of the chancel. Choir stalls, a timber altar and panelled altar back with cusped decoration are also present.

Most of the glass throughout the building is plain, but three windows of mid-20th-century date are of particular interest. A north aisle window from 1947 depicts Christ as The Good Shepherd and was designed by Camm and Co at the Smethwick Studios. The east window, installed in 1956, shows Christ in Majesty surrounded by vignettes illustrating the four seasons, designed by Christopher Webb (1886-1966). The west window, added in 1967 by Professor L C Evetts, includes a celebration of the Birmingham metalworking industries.

A choir vestry was added to the south-east of the chancel in 1898, and a polygonal baptistery was added at the west end in 1923. In the same year, a church hall was added to the south of the church. St Anne's was severely damaged during bombing in 1940, but was restored and reconsecrated in 1948. Nearly all the glass was lost as a result of the blast; the majority was replaced in plain glass, with the three stained glass windows currently in the building being added at various times in the mid-20th century.

The northern boundary of the site is marked by a low sandstone boundary wall with moulded copings, which steps down Park Hill in front of the church. It has square piers at either end, each carved with crosses, and similar piers to either side of a gateway fitted with timber gates. Towards the eastern end of the boundary wall stands the lych gate, a timber-framed structure set on a base of large sandstone blocks, gabled on four sides with a slate roof, and featuring stone benching to the interior. The entrance is carved with the inscription 'enter into his gates with thanksgiving'.