St Mary the Virgin, Acocks Green

Beneath the rose window on the west wall, there is a memorial to John Field Swinburn, the church benefactor.

The nave is separated from the aisles by five arches with contrasting red and yellow stonework supported by columns ending in Corinthian capitals decorated with acanthus leaves of 13th century design. Bomb damage inflicted in December 1940 still remains. In old photographs, contrasting geometric patterns can be seen on the brickwork between the arches, but these are now painted white. Separating the nave from the chancel is the arch again constructed from contrasting red and yellow stonework. The roof trusses are wooden.

The aisles contain windows based on 13th century geometric designs. These developed from earlier narrow lancet windows.

The south aisle contains the war memorial to the pupils of Wellesbourne House School killed in the two world wars. Wellesbourne House School was situated to the rear and left of Holy Souls R.C. Church on Warwick Road.

The pulpit is on the right, but was originally on the opposite side. At 8.20 pm on 10 December 1940, a bomb landed in the nave, in front of the lectern, destroying the east window and all the other stained glass in the church. A confirmation class had recently gone to the cellar of the vicarage, then situated in what is now St Mary's Close. Revd. Philip Kelly collected the pieces and gave them to the art gallery for safekeeping.[5] The incendiary bomb destroyed the roof and many internal features,[1] although the structure was unaffected. The walls of the nave were raised to reduce the pitch of the roof, which had made repairs difficult and larger clerestory windows replaced the original roundels. The new glass was not stained but clear so the church is now lighter.[6]

East Window by Edward Burne Jones and reredos.

The chancel has a wooden barrel vaulted ceiling, the trusses supported by corbels bearing stiff leaf decoration.

The altar is on steps of Devonshire marble installed in 1898. The reredos, the carved screen behind the altar, is of alabaster and was installed in 1903. The north wing of which was given by Revd. James Balleine and the south wing by Dr. and Mrs. Cordley Bradford. The stained glass in the east window is from a design by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. It was erected in memory of Revd. Frederick Swinburn, first vicar of St Mary's, in 1895 by his wife and son.[5]

In the north part of the cemetery is the grave of Sydney Basil Barber, Sergeant (Flt. Engr.) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve serving with 460 (R.A.A.F.) Sqdn. He was the 35-year-old son of Annie Barber; husband of Gladys May Barber, of Acock's Green, Birmingham, who died on 09/04/1944.[9]

On the south side, there is the grave of Staff Sgt. Gordon Grant Helm, Royal Army Pay Corps. He was the 26-year-old son of William Frederick and Ethel Victoria Helm, of Acocks Green, and husband of Betsy May Helm, of Elmdon Heath[10]

On the north side, is the grave of Aircraftman 1st Class, Vernon Leslie Priest, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He was the 20-year-old son of Frederick and Elsie Gwendola Priest, of Acocks Green. His elder brother Alfred Lewis Priest, had also died on service the previous year.[11]

In the west side is the grave of Lance Corporal Albert Thomas Rew of D Coy. 4th Bn, Royal Sussex Regiment. He was the 24-year-old son of David and L. Rew, of 266, Wharfdale Rd., Tyseley, Birmingham. He died on 24/02/1919.[12]

Also on the west side of the churchyard is the grave of Captain Wilfred Eric Wright, 5th Btn South Staffordshire Regt. who, though listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site, lies beneath a private memorial with a stone cross bearing the Regimental badge of South Staffordshire Regiment.[13]

He was born in 1894 and died of wounds on 3 November 1918. He was the sixth son of Frank Wright, a button maker, and Alice Wright. He originally arrived in France on 2 March 1915 as a lieutenant and was made captain on 1 June 1916. He was wounded at Vermelles on 13 October 1915 during the attacks made by the Territorial Battalions of the North and South Staffordshire Regt. as part of the Battle of Loos.

A medical report shows that he was wounded in three places:

1. A superficial wound to the left front of his head and ear
2. A flesh wound of the left forearm
3. A wound of the left leg the bullet passing through the calf.

These wounds were classed as 'Severe' but did not attract a gratuity.

He attended various medical boards whilst recuperating at home, and, although the head and arm wounds healed quickly, his leg did not, and was always weak. On 30 June 1917, a medical board declared him to be unfit for general service, as he could not march for long. He was, however, considered to be fit for duties behind the lines and was appointed as a Railway Transport Officer on 19 July 1917, before being returned to France.

During the early morning of 11 August 1918, he was on duty at Heilly Station near Amiens supervising the loading of mules onto a train when one escaped, and in attempting to avoid it he fell into a 6-foot-deep (1.8 m) disused gun-pit. He suffered a contusion of his right thigh with haemorrhage of lissures. He returned to England on the St Patrick travelling from Rouen to Southampton and returned home.

He subsequently died of pneumonia at Scarborough on 3 November 1918, widowing Mrs. Marjorie Claire Wright of Westleigh, Acocks Green. She was sent a gratuity and backdated pay of £333.5s.0d. and, on 20 February 1920 received the memorial scroll and plaque for those who died.[14]

• Thomas John Grainge 1892 - 1894 (afterwards organist of All Saints' Church, Cheltenham)
• Arthur Elmore 1906 - 1932 (formerly organist of St. Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham)