Selly Oak: St Wulstan
Overview
Grid reference: SP 48 831
The Cutts Brothers specialised in large, straightforward churches with simple details and little decoration. This one is no exception. It is an essay in the lancet style, with triple trefoil-headed lancets in each bay of the nave aisles and two lancets and a circle in each bay of the clerestory above.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Nave of six bays with aisles and clerestory; west narthex and porches; chancel with north Lady Chapel and south organ chamber with vestries for clergy and choir beyond.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was designed by John Edward Knight Cutts and John Priston Cutts. The foundation stone was laid by Countess Beauchamp on 19 January 1906, and the church was consecrated in the same year. J.K. Cutts (1847-1939) was a pupil of Ewan Christian, and he and his brother J.P. Cutts (1854-1935) designed a number of large suburban churches, usually of brick ad usually rather uninteresting. This church replaced an iron mission church which had been opened on the site in 1893. The building was a chapel of ease to St. Mary, Selly Oak, until receiving a parish of its own in 1911.
Exterior Description
The Cutts Brothers specialised in large, straightforward churches with simple details and little decoration. This one is no exception. It is an essay in the lancet style, with triple trefoil-headed lancets in each bay of the nave aisles and two lancets and a circle in each bay of the clerestory above. Since there are six bays to the aisles and eight to the clerestory, the windows do not run in parallel rhythms. The aisle bays are divided by small buttresses. In the chancel there are paired lancets to the north chapel and single lancets in the clerestory. The west nave gable has four cinquefoil-headed lancets, the middle two with a sexfoil above to make a plate traceried window, and all four linked by a stone hoodmould. The west narthex has four lancets and there are square porches at each end of it which seem to have been added slightly later. These have doors to north and south and two small lancets in the west walls. The east gable of the chancel has a group of five graded lancets under one arch and small square stone pinnacles cap the buttresses at the four corners of the building. These are gabled parallel to the main roof, as is the small bell-cote with one cinquefoiled arch which stands on the west gable of the nave. On the south side of the chancel the organ chamber is treated as a tall transept with a cross-gable and the vestries, quite plain, lie beyond to the south.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
c.1910
Only the two-light east window of the Lady Chapel has stained glass, representing The Annunciation.
Interior
Interior Description
The nave arcades have brick arches with two chamfers carried on cylindrical pillars with round moulded bases and octagonal moulded capitals and the clerestory windows, as noted outside, run in a different rhythm above. Between these are stone corbels carrying the principals of a roof structure which has king posts and struts whose strong straight lines make it one of the more impressive parts of the building. The nave pillars and clerestory walls are painted cream and the walls are buff. At the west end three arches, of which the middle one is broader and almost semi- circular, open into the narthex which is furnished as a baptistery. The floor of the nave is of composition in the alleys with wood blocks under the chairs. The chancel is raised three steps above the level of the nave, and is plainly furnished. The walls are painted cream and greenish-blue. There are two further steps and a footpace upon which the altar stands and in the south wall of the sanctuary there are three sedilia under cinquefoiled arches with the piscina and credence shelf under separate arches. The floor is of red and black tiles. An arch on the north communicates with the Lady Chapel (from which an arch opens into the north aisle) and a similar arch on the south of rather larger proportions opens into the organ chamber (which also communicates with the aisle). The chancel arch is tall and wide, scarcely interrupting the design of the roof which continues in the chancel to the same pattern as that in the nave. The arch has an inner chamfered order carried by a pair of attached shafts set on corbels about eight feet from the floor. Throughout the church the oak doors are studded and provided with good simple door furniture.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
The altar is a plain oak table.
Reredos
c.1948
The reredos has plain oak panels withtraceried heads and cresting.
Pulpit
The pulpit is half an octagon on plan, of oak with ogee-headed pierced panels.
Lectern
The lectern is a small oak reading desk on a pedestal with bony tracery.
Font (object)
The font is octagonal, of stone, with egg-and-dart round the cornice which gives a classical appearance.
Organ (object)
The organ is a two-manual instrument by Norman and Beard.
Rail
c.1905
The communion rails are of oak, c.1905, with ogee brackets
Churchyard
Grid reference: SP 48 831
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Quinquennial Inspections
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