Anglican Church Of St Paul

The Anglican Church of St Paul at Hamstead was designed by the Birmingham architect William Davis in Gothic style and completed in 1892. It is built of red brick with stone dressings and a plain tile roof.

The building consists of a nave with north and south aisles, shallow north and south transepts, north and south porches, a chancel with a polygonal apse, an organ chamber to the north, and choir and clergy vestries to the south. The east elevation features a polygonal apse with windows of two cusped lights and quatrefoil above. The south elevation has an added brick narthex to the west end, with the transept and vestry to the west. The north elevation has a four-bay single-storey brick extension with tall shaft, and at the east end stands the north transept and organ chamber with a brick lean-to extension. Clerestory windows on the north and south elevations have three cusped lights with quatrefoil above and trefoils either side. A louvred gablet crowns the steeply pitched roof.

Internally, four-bay arcades with round piers support pointed arches with impost and hood mould. Above the aisle arcades are clerestory windows. Arch-braced collar-rafter roofs are supported on semi-circular stone corbels. Each transept has taller pointed arches supported on a half column to the west and a semi-circular stone corbel to the east. The moulded pointed chancel arch is supported on tall engaged round piers, with a similar arch-braced collar-rafter roof above.

The chancel retains an encaustic tiled floor and marble reredos given as a memorial in 1902, housing figure sculptures in two niches. It preserves its complete set of original furnishings: altar, choir stalls, chancel seating, handrails and altar rails. The contemporary organ remains in its original location. A wooden pulpit with steps was a gift from St Mary's Church, Handsworth. The nave's original wooden chairs were replaced with pews in 1992, though pews at the west end have since been removed and the octagonal stone font relocated there. A wooden screen in the east end of the south aisle contains carved figures of St Chad and St Martin. Memorial screens line the north aisle.

The aisles contain notable stained glass windows. The north aisle has two windows of 1932 by A. J. Davies of The Bromsgrove Guild, unusual for depicting men and women at work: one shows a carpenter, blacksmith, farm labourer, coalminer and chemist with the text "THERE IS NOTHING BETTER FOR A MAN THAN THAT HE SHOULD MAKE"; the other depicts workers in various roles including a woman with eggs, a bishop, painter, nurse, mother and child, and musician, inscribed "HIS SOUL ENJOY GOOD IN HIS LABOUR FOR IT IS HIS PORTION". Two further stained glass windows of 1928 by Walter Camm (executed by Florence, Robert and Walter Camm at The Studio, Smethwick) depict the story of the prophet Samuel. A further window by the Camm Studio lies to the west of the south aisle. The south aisle also contains two windows depicting farm labourers by George Cooper Abbs for J. Wippell & Co. and two windows by Swain Bourne & Son of Birmingham.

A temporary church for Hamstead was erected in 1865, intended to last eleven years. In 1890, a site was given for a permanent church. The original building estimate was £2,945, but the final cost was £6,570 18s 2d. The foundation stone was laid in July 1891 and the church was consecrated on 28 September 1892. St Paul's became a parish church in 1894. In 1969 the bell fleche became unsafe and was dismantled.

The church was closely linked with Hamstead Colliery (1878–1965), with miners and their families forming a significant part of the congregation. This connection is commemorated by a miner's lamp and associated plaque in the north aisle and a gift of a coal cross.