Church Heritage Record id18503

6-bay aisled nave with clerestory and baptistery in south-west corner. 2-bay apsidal chancel with Lady Chapel to north (boiler room beneath) and vestries to south below south-east 4-stage square tower. Porches in north-west, north-east and south-east corners. A 2-storey south tower/transept contains a room above.

[Approximate] Nave 32m (105ft) long x 8m (26ft) wide, aisles 4m (13ft) wide, chancel 11m (36ft) long.

Winson Green had become part of Birmingham by 1838 and was developed for industrial purposes which in turn attracted residential development and public institutions. Bishop Latimer Memorial church was designed by the architect William Henry Bidlake, Birmingham's foremost architect of the Arts and Crafts movement. Bishop Latimer is one of six churches he built in the first decade of the 20th century.

A gift of £15,000 to build the church was given by an anonymous benefactress who stipulated that the church should include an immersion font. The parish was formed out of the parish of All Saints' which was closed in 1971. The foundation stone was laid in the exterior east wall in April 1903 and Bishop Latimer's was consecrated in July 1904. A Sunday school room was completed to the west later that year.

The archaeological potential of the site is expected to be low. There are no known designations relating to the ecology of this urban site.

Bishop Latimer is a vast building with a grand sense of scale. It is constructed in red brick, laid in English bond, with stone dressings and two lines of buff brick high on the aisle and clerestory walls. It is of high quality and shows attention to detail typical of Bidlake's work, for example a moulded brick cornice continues around the top of the clerestory level. The design is Gothic but displays his Arts and Crafts influence. He employs the perpendicular, as seen in the decoration on the tower as well as in the window tracery.

A four-storey tower with parapet in the south-east corner dominates the east end, though the three-sided chancel apse reaches further east and is emphasised by octagonal clasping buttresses and pinnacles. A 2-storey tower-like structure at the south-west corner recalls Bidlake's domestic work.

The single construction phase ensures a steady rhythm with one bay repeating the next. Each consists of a 3-light window in the aisle, recessed with small niches either side of the window ending the hood-moulds. Buttresses to either side of the windows rise the full height of the aisle and project above the parapet with tow further blind niches. Above, at clerestory level, paired windows have a single blind tracery niche separating them. In every other bay is a downpipe with original cast iron rain hopper baring the initials LCM (Latimer Memorial Church) and the date 1904.

The main entrance to the church is from the projecting south-east porch, though other points of access exist and are used, all involving steps. A vestry and office are located up some steps in the south-east corner. It has a separate external door and a WC. The north-west door was used for weddings.

The huge interior space is very impressive and the use of buff brick ensures a greater sense of space and light. The absence of any stained glass contributes to this. North and south aisles are separated from the nave by six high, pointed arch stone arcades on clustered piers. Above each bay are two canted clerestory windows with a free-standing column between them which contributes to the verticality and rhythm of the interior. Above the south-east nave arcade, the spandrels have been painted. This is believed to have been the only part of an uncompleted scheme commenced prior to WWII.

A wagon roof with alternate hammer-beam trusses and a timber panelled and boarded ceiling behind soars above the nave. The aisles have boarded ceilings with open rafters and primary truss rafters. The floors throughout are tiled in plain red clay tiles with iron grates either side of the aisles and level wood block pew platforms which at the west end have been sanded and re-varnished following the removal of four rows. Fixed pews with umbrella stands provide seating and additional wooden chairs are stored between the pews. The front row of pews and frontals have also been removed. Pendant lights illuminate the space.

In the south-east corner, down some stairs, is a drained marble-lined total immersion font. Close to it a spiral staircase provides access to the Ridley Room. A door off it provides access onto the south aisle roof.

At the east end of the north aisle is the Lady Chapel, a carpeted space with a boarded roof. Chairs are stacked to one side. It is separated from the north aisle and the chancel to its south by drapes.

The chancel arch recalls Bidlake’s design at St Agatha with the orders of moulding fading into unadorned, angled planes (similar to the canting between the clerestory windows). A projection screen is fixed to the north side of the chancel arch. A brick infill lierne vault with stone ribs and foliate bosses covers the chancel and sanctuary. Blue carpet obscures red encaustic floor tiles. Fixed oak choir stalls with relatively unusual lolly-poppy (?) heads to north and south sides. Behind the south stalls a fine organ case rises the full height of the chancel. A single step rises between the first and second bays. To the north is the Lady Chapel. To the south a blind arch with a door leading to the vestry.

The sanctuary is raised by another two steps. The lower walls are plastered and painted white. The floor is paved with black and white marble tiles. The east wall is dominated by a fine wood reredos rising to the height of the window sills. Beneath the altar table a mosaic containing symbols including: A, Ω, X.