Anglican Church of St Germain

The Church of St Germain, an Anglican church built between 1915 and 1917, stands at the corner of Portland Road and City Road in Edgbaston. It was designed by the architect Edwin Francis Reynolds on land sold by the Gillott Trustees, local landowners who stipulated in their 1902 donation that a new church be erected within fifteen years.

The building is constructed from brick with Hollington stone dressings and decorative stone and tilework. The church follows a basilican plan, oriented south-east to north-west, with a long nave and chancel in continuous space flanked by aisles on both sides. Transepts flank the chancel: the north transept contains a small chapel at its east end and an external door, whilst the south transept houses the organ. Behind these lie a parish room and office connected by a corridor in the form of an ambulatory. Two entrance porches flank the west end of the nave.

The exterior features pitched gabled roofs with gables at the nave ends, transepts, and porches, whilst the aisles have lean-to roofs. The west façade displays three round-headed windows at its base with a larger window above, surrounded by decorative brickwork and diaper pattern ventilation. The apex of the gable contains a carved stone panel depicting a shepherd, probably St Germain. Twin porches with timber doors in Romanesque brick and stone surrounds with blank tympana and columns with cushion capitals flank the west façade. Above the west gable stands a bellcote in late Gothic style, possibly timber-built with lead covering. The nave comprises six bays, each marked by a clerestory window and divided by buttresses; each bay at aisle level contains two windows. Rows of brick dentilling with cogging appear above windows at both aisle and clerestory levels. The transepts are marked externally by a raised parapet with three round-headed windows separated by brick piers and decorative brickwork panels. The east end comprises single-storey office and parish room with mullioned windows in stone surrounds with round relieving arches above and a central doorway, surmounted by the exterior of an apse with a small round-headed window and decorative brickwork on each face.

The interior features an arcade of round-headed arches dividing the nave and chancel from the aisles. Nave columns have cushion capitals with convex discs; those in the chancel are Byzantine Ionic. The columns are constructed from Shap granite in the nave and green Swedish marble in the chancel, both with Portland stone capitals. The main altar, of decorative metalwork with marble panels, sits in a semicircular apse with three small windows and a plastered semi-dome. The southern transept contains an organ in a wooden case with memorial plaques to those who died in both world wars. The northern transept holds a small side chapel with altar and triptych, both with frames of beaten metal. Aisle windows and those at the west end of the nave contain stained glass; clerestory windows contain clear quarries. The timber roof of the nave and chancel has three ranks of purlins and simple trusses with king posts and queen struts; several beams are painted with Arts and Crafts motifs, whilst the lean-to roofs of the aisles are undecorated timber. The floor is largely hardwood with walkways of stone and green Westmorland slate laid in diamond patterns. Four original pews, originally serving as choir stalls, have been relocated to the western end of the nave with their reading desks and feature decorative marquetry inlay. Altar rails are of stone; those in the side chapel retain original marble panels. The pulpit and lectern are also of stone and marble. The parish room and church office have cast iron window frames and cupboard doors with Arts and Crafts style decoration.

The site was originally occupied by a Mission church built in 1895 and known as City Road Mission Church. Following the Gillott Trustees' donation of land in 1902, the new church was designed by Edwin Francis Reynolds, with its foundation stone laid in July 1915. The church was dedicated to St Germain in September 1917 and has remained in continuous use since that date. A vicarage was built adjacent to the church in 1924, also designed by Reynolds. The original 1895 building was replaced in the 1950s to enable its continued use as the church hall.