St Paul’s is the iconic church of the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, set in a beautiful square that includes a number of restaurants and cafes on the edge of the city centre.
Built between 1777 and 1779 as a chapel of ease of St Martin in the Bullring, it is the only survivor of the town’s 18th century churches and stands in the city’s only surviving Georgian square. It is a neo classical building with a rectangular nave with aisles and galleries. The design is clearly influenced by St Martin in the Fields, though without the portico.
It is an excellent example of a Georgian church with round arched windows, galleries and apsidal chancel. It is the only 18th century survival in the city centre and one of the few in Birmingham to retain box pews with enamel plaques.
In 1785 Francis Eginton was commissioned to make a window depicting the conversion of St Paul, from a painting by Benjamin West. It is considered to be his best work.
