Winter Social 1st December 2011

1st December 2011 Winter Social : Talk and Tour of St Paul’s Church and Dinner at St Paul’s Club

John Sawkill welcomed members and guests to a tour of and talk on the Church’s history on Thursday 1st December 2011. This interesting tour was followed by dinner at St Paul's Club.

interior of St Paul's church Set in a timeless Georgian Square, St Paul's chapel was one of two new chapels built under an Act of Parliament of 1772. It was designed by Roger Eykyn, a surveyor from Wolverhampton, with Samuel Wyatt, a distinguished local architect, acting as an advisor. The chapel was consecrated in 1779. In 1785 a Vestry Meeting commissioned one Francis Eginton to make a painted glass window on the topic of the conversion of St Paul, to be a copy of a painting on that subject commissioned from Benjamin West. Francis Eginton had been a senior employee of Matthew Boulton in a number of products and a partner in some, but they had parted company and Eginton had set up as a glass painter in Handsworth. However, Eginton ran into problems with the window and it was to be 1791 before it was finished, six years after the commissioning. Since then there have been further changes and restoration of the Church. The Parochial Church Council completed an extensive programme of restoration between 1985 and 1994 with the assistance of the Birmingham City Council, Duchy of Cornwall, English Heritage, local business and other benefactors. The Coat of Arms erected on the West Wall in 1996 represents that of George III in whose reign St Paul's Church was built. The Millennium Window was added in 2000 and a peal of ten bells was installed in 2005.

St Paul’s Club is a Georgian building in St Paul’s square, it was originally established in a different location in the City Centre in 1859 and moved to the Square in 1867. The founders of the club were well-known men in the district, some of them occupying positions in the municipal Government of the town. The supper will be held in the atmospheric Dining Room which houses the long table which is the focal point of the Club.

Website:http://www.saintpaulbrum.org/