The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army has important links with the town. In the mid 1860s William Booth, later General Booth lived for a time at 5 Hatherton Street with his wife and son. He ran a mission in the town and formed the Hallelujah Band of Reformed Reprobates. Due to his activities in 1865, a hall was built in what later became Revival Street in Bloxwich. By the late 1890s the hall, known as the Revival Chapel was used by the Salvation Army. A barracks opened in Clarendon Street, Bloxwich in 1901 and remained in use until 1907 when the Salvationists moved to the former Gospel Mission Hall in Pinfold, Bloxwich.

The Walsall Corps was formed in 1882 and from 1883 was based in a barracks at the skating rink in Hatherton Street. In 1902 a barracks and school was opened in Green Lane, which is still in use today. In the 1930s and 1940s the Salvation Army also had premises in West Bromwich Street.

Catholicism

Many Catholics were holding meetings in Walsall before the Catholic emancipation that was brought about because of the Catholic Relief Act of 1829, which removed most of the restrictions on Roman Catholic worship in the United Kingdom. They were supported by a number of prominent Walsall families including the Birch family of Goscote, the Mountforts of Bescot Hall, and the Purcell family of Yieldfields Hall.

Around 1800 a shop in Harden Road, Bloxwich included a chapel, which was enlarged in 1808, and by 1819 had a congregation of around 300. It was dedicated to Saint Thomas, and continued in use until 1869 when St. Peter’s Church opened in Bloxwich High Street. It was designed by Bucknall & Donnelly of Birmingham, and built of brick and Bath stone. The building consists of a nave with a clerestory and aisles, an apsidal sanctuary, and a presbytery. In 1952 to 1954 an extension was built into High Street which included a new façade and two towers. It was designed by Jennings, Homer & Lynch of Brierley Hill.


St. Mary's Church.

In 1819 Catholics were meeting at the assembly room in the Dragon Inn in High Street.

The congregation moved to St. Mary’s Church on The Mount, when it opened in 1827. It was built at a cost of nearly £7,500.


From an old postcard.


The interior of St. Mary's Church. From an old postcard.


From an old postcard.

In 1856 St. Patrick’s Church opened in Blue Lane East. It was built as part of project started at St. Mary’s to support the large Irish Catholic population in the northern part of the town. A presbytery was added in 1910. The church survived until 1966 when the present St. Patrick’s Catholic Church opened on the corner of Green Lane and Blue Lane East. It was designed by Harrison & Cox of Birmingham and is built of brown brick, with blue brick and concrete dressings. The original church was replaced by St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary School.

St. Catherine’s chapel of ease opened in 1963 in Edison Road on the Beechdale Estate. It was designed by J. T. Lynch of Brierley Hill, and is built brown brick. In 1970 it became the church of St. Catherine with St. Chad, which is shared with an Anglican congregation. Another Catholic Church, The Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury opened in Dartmouth Avenue in 1960. It was designed by Jennings, Homer & Lynch of Brierley Hill, and is built of brick.


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