360° Views of the Church
This page is part of our project "Revealing St Alban's Hidden Heritage" supported by a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to players of The National Lottery.
These views are rather rough and ready and we plan to repalce them with better ones when we are able to do so. They were taken in September 2020, when building work to renew the roof with the aid of a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund was in progress. The seating had been rearranged for a socially distanced Sunday Mass and the church was closed to visitors, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
You can click "View on Google Maps" at the top right of any of the images to view it full screen.
View from the west end of the Nave
This is the view looking east from the back of the nave towards the chancel and high altar. Here you can look up to see the stone vaulting and turn round to see the baptistry under the western balcony, with its wall painting and red marble font.
Please note that the compass indicator at the righ-hand side of this view is incorrrect.
View from the centre of the Nave
Here we have moved east, into the centre of the nave. Ahead is the wrought-iron chancel screen, which provides a formal separation of nave and chancel without concealing what lies beyond. The "rood beam" above the screen, with figures of the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist on either side of the central crucifix came from St Patrick's Church, which formerly stood nearby on Frank Street. The small portable altar in front of the screen came from the private chapel of "Sister Emma" who ran St Agnes' Home for orphan boys in Highgate Street.
To the left of the screen you can see the pulpit and further left, past the pillar and a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, into the Lady Chapel. To the right, you can see the brass eagle lectern, between two pillars, and behind an altar in the south transept dedicated in honour of St Alban, our patron saint, and his statue.
Looking left and right through the pillars into the side aisles, you can see some of the fourteen Stations of the Cross on the walls and the stained glass windows in the south aisle.
Looking back to the west end of the nave you can see the rose window and the west gallery above the baptistry. This is not a good view in which to look up at the vaulting, as the algorithm joining the individual pictures has mismatched the ribs. The church was designed by John Loughborough Pearson, not Maurits Cornelis Escher!
Please note that the compass indicator at the right-hand side of this view is incorrect.
View from the Chancel
Here we have moved east again, through the screen into the chancel. Ahead is the high altar, above which stand six great Arts-and-Crafts candlesticks, designed by Arthur Stansfield Dixon and made by the Birmingham Guild.
Looking left, behind the banner of St Alban the organ is covered in plastic sheeting to protect it from dust during the work to renew the church roof.
Looking right you can see St Patrick's banner and statue, both from St Patrick's, Frank Street.
Looking back west you can see the choir stalls. As part of the arrangements for a socially distanced service during the Covid-19 pandemic a projection screen is attached to the the wrough-iron chancel screen so that the congregation can see the words of the service without books or papers. This had been removed when the views in the nave were photographed.
(The compass indicator in this view is correct.)
View in the West Porch
The large crucifix that now hangs here facing the outer west door once hung above the chancel of St Mary’s, Aston Brook. It is attributed to the Birmingham architect W. W. Bidlake.
St Mary’s was demolished to make way for redevelopment around the Aston Express way in 1972. In its forlorn, unrestored state showing the scars of vandalism this crucifix stands both as a witness to its own sad history and as an image of the hurt of the world.
(The compass indicator in this view is correct.)
View in the Lady Chapel
The embroidery on the altar frontal is the work of the Wareham Guild, thought the red and blue fabric on which it is mounted has been renewed.
The chairs on the left and the small stautes of St George and St Michael on the window ledge above them had been removed from the 'cloister' lobby behind the door, which was being altered to provide a better wheelchair-friendly entrance.
To the right you can see past the statue of Mary and the pulpit across the church to the south transept with its altar.
Please note that the compass indicator at the right-hand side of this view is incorrect.
We plan to add further views here in due course.