Our History

Salter Street Parish was carved out of the parish of St Mary Magdalene, Tanworth-in-Arden and the need for a church in the area arose from the fact that the local population did not wish to put up with the six mile walk to Tanworth.

The funding required to build the church came from the sale of the land at Earlswood Common, which was needed to build the reservoirs to serve the Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon canal (now known as Earlswood Lakes). The sale proceeds were held in a trust fund for some time before the need for a church in the area was recognised.

The church, as seen today, was built in 1899. It replaced an earlier church which was built in 1840, the tower, with its ring of 5 bells, being added in 1861. The parish of Salter Street, the name of the area as well as the name of the road, was created in 1843. The first minister at St Patrick's was the Revd Patrick Smythe and it is generally believed that it was after him that the dedication to St Patrick arose.

The original church would have been about the same size as the present church. The nave consisted of box pews to the ground floor and galleries supported on columns on either side of the central aisle, which were accessed by staircases near the west door.

It is not known why, but in 1899 the church, with the exception of the tower was demolished and re-built by 1902 to its present form. The west balcony was erected and the oak screen and the door to the tower were installed and dedicated in 1936 through the generosity of Sir Cornelius Chambers.

The next major improvements to the Church took place in 2001/2002 when the open area to the rear of the vestry was filled in, and the vestry extended. New building at the same time saw the creation of extra rooms, including toilets and a kitchen, all of which have been a great boon to the congregation and visitors to St Patrick's.

Visits

If you would like to find out more about a guided tour of the Church, please contact the Parish Office and arrangements can be made. Open church events may have free tours, but for private or small group tours, we would appreciate a donation to the church.