Parish

St Mary's, Brierley Hill

Established as a mission served from Stourbridge in 1854, the present church, designed by E W Pugin, was built in 1873. It occupies a prime position in the High Street.

St Mary's, Brierley Hill.

In the late 1960s major alterations were made to its interior, including the relocation of the high altar, removal of the Sacred Heart and Lady Altars, the laying of a new floor and enclosure of the choir loft. New pews and Stations of the Cross were donated by parishioners.

In the grounds, at the back of the high altar, is the grave of the celebrated Mgr John Humphries, who died in 1988. Nearby are grottoes of Our Lady and the Sacred Heart.

Essential refurbishment of the presbytery and construction of a new parish centre were completed in 2004.

The residential development of the area and the continuing expansion of the Merry Hill shopping complex has attracted younger Catholic families to the locality and boosted Mass attendance.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Kingswinford

In the early years of World War II the local bus service from Kingswinford to Brierley Hill ceased to run on Sundays. This posed a problem for local Catholics. How were they to get to Mass at their parish church, St Mary's at Brierley Hill?

Our Lady of Lourdes, Kingswinford.

Father Frederick James, parish priest from 1926, solved the crisis by setting up a Mass centre at Kingswinford. Thanks to Dr Constance Myatt, a surgery became the Mass centre for the small 40-strong local congregation.

The original church built in 1950 - now the parish centre

Numbers attending grew and soon an ecumenical invitation solved a further problem. The vicar of St Mary's inKingswinford, Rev J H Thompson, offered the use of his parish hall on the corner of Penzer Street. Immediately life was made much more spacious and comfortable – and remained so for the next seven years, during the tenure of three vicars.

Then Fr James acquired land in Summerhill and the foundation stone of a chapel of ease and a multi-purpose building was laid on 22 July 1950.

In 1962, Kingswinford became an independent parish.

Fr Joseph Lanny, who took over as parish priest in 1979, decided to build the present church of Our Lady of Lourdes. Begun in November 1980 it was opened on 5 July 1983. The multi-purpose building became the parish hall.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Old Hill

Our Lady of Lourdes, Old Hill

The original church was founded in a disused button factory in the 1920s. This was used until the late 1970s when it was demolished and a new church built.

The new church was blessed by the Most Reverend Maurice Couve de Murville, Seventh Archbishop of Birmingham, on October 13th 1988 and was later consecrated by the Right Reverend David McGough, Bishop of Chunavia and Auxilliary of Birmingham on 1st November 2009.

Mass Times

Please see individual parish websites for details of Masses.

Archdiocese of Birmingham

St. Mary's comes under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. Please follow the link below to their website:

Emmaus CMAC
St Mary's Catholic Primary School Ofsted
A School Life Website
School Life iOS Mobile Application
School Life Android Mobile Application