GENUKI: Tipton St Martin

Tipton St Martin

"The present parish church, St Martin, is on the east side of the parish, in the populous village of Horseley Heath, two miles NE of Dudley. It is a plain brick building commenced in 1795, and finished in 1797. The ancient parish church, at Summer Hill, near Princes End, on the west side of the parish, was long a neglected ruin. Both it and the burial ground were too small for the increased wants of the parish, even in 1795, when the new church was commenced. The ancient tower is still standing, and attached to it is a small chapel of ease (St John), to the present parish church, erected in 1850.
The benefit is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Executers of the late JS Hellier, Esq, and incumbency of the Rev William Ker, MA."

[From History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851]

Cemeteries
Church History
Church Records

Cemeteries

A transcript of the Monumental Inscriptions of St Martin has been published by the Birmingham & Midland SGH.

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Church History

The parish church of St Martin, in Lower Church Lane, is a plain Georgian structure of brick, encased in cement, and consisting of a chancel, nave, aisles, gallery, two western porches and a belfry dome, within which is a peal of eight bells. The church was built under an Act of Parliament in 1797 to replace the ancient Tipton parish church of St John, at Summer Hill, which at that time was unfit for use. The registers appear to date from 1513, which would make them the oldest in the country, however studies have shown that the date should be 1573 and was probably mistranscribed in a contemporary copy. The church became redundant in 1992.
The mission churches of St Luke in New Road, Great Bridge, and the Conygree Road Mission were served by the clergy of St Martin.

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Church Records

Church of England Registers
The register of St Martin, Tipton, commences in 1573. The original registers for the period 1573-1901 (Bapts), 1573-1900 (Mar) & 1573-1865 (Bur) are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.
Bishops Transcripts 1672-1837 (with gaps 1674-75, 1678-81, 1707-11 & 1732-35) are deposited at Lichfield Record Office.

A transcript of the registers for the period 1573-1736 was published by the Staffordshire Parish Registers Society in 1923, and has been reprinted by the Birmingham & Midland SGH.

Nonconformist Church Registers
Records of Nonconformist churches in Tipton can be found on the Tipton page.