It had been four years previous, in 1852, that an important link between Acocks Green and Birmingham had been formed by the opening of a station at Acocks Green on the Birmingham and Oxford Junction railway. At that time it was the first station on the up line from Snow Hill, Birmingham, which in turn had been opened in the earlier part of the year. Business men, working and earning their living in the smoke and grime of the town, were quick to seize the opportunity of buying land and erecting houses in what was then the small village of Acocks Green. Easy travel by the new railway made this possible. At that time, Acocks Green, by a quirk of ecclesiastical history, was situated in the parish of Yardley in the county of Worcestershire.

Four days after Christmas, on December 29^th, 1862, a group of men met in the vestry of Bradford Street Wesleyan Methodist chapel. They were members of the Belmont Row Vestry Quarterly Meeting, the executive committee of the Birmingham East (second) circuit. The circuit steward, Mr Henry Taylor, a member at Belmont Row, had an important statement to make and the secretary later wrote in the minute book: "This meeting hears with pleasure the offer of Mr H. Taylor and a committee of gentlemen to build a place for preaching at Acocks Green and pledges itself to accept the same when built for the use of the Methodist Society." Mr Taylor lost no time in negotiating with a certain Mr Thomas Herrivel Bott for a site for a chapel not far from the Flavells’ house. Mr Bott had leased a large plot of land, named in the Yardley 1847 Tithe Map as ‘Foot Row Piece’, from the Trustees of one Benjamin Cook. This land bordered Shirley Road on its eastern side opposite Dog (or Dogge) Lane, later to become Hazelwood Road. At the time of leasing it consisted of fields with only a hedge dividing two of them. Later Mr Bott was to construct a road with houses on either side and bequeath his name to it in the form of Bottville Road. It was only in the early part of the 20^th century that a middle ‘e’ was inserted into the road name. Mr Bott was determined that the proposed housing development would not lower the tone of the existing neighbourhood. He stipulated in the building leases: "Not to build any brasshouse, glasshouse, laboratory, tallow chandlery, melting house, steam or fire engine or any other building or erection which might be deemed a nuisance without written consent…"

The negotiations between Mr Bott and Mr Taylor progressed favourably and on 9^th April, 1863, they signed a building lease for the erection of a chapel. Losing no time, the next day, April 10^th, an agreement was drawn up between Henry Taylor and six other gentlemen who agreed to take an underlease of the chapel "situate at Acocks Green Yardley in the county of Worcestershire for the purpose of erecting a Chapel thereon to be used for Divine Worship by Members of the Religious Community called Wesleyan Methodists…" Henry Taylor was to bear the entire cost of the building and was to pay a yearly ground rent to Thomas Bott of £7 11s 2d. In turn, the six gentlemen agreed to rent the chapel for the sum of £7 11s 2d and in addition "such annual sum by way of rent as shall amount to Four pounds per cent per annum upon the monies which shall be expended by the said Henry Taylor…in the erection of the said Chapel…such two amounts together to form the yearly rent…" the agreement further stated that the trustees agreed to purchase the chapel within ten years, at a sum to be specified, equal to the whole cost incurred by Henry Taylor. (The entire cost to Taylor in building the chapel was later stated to be £800).

It is interesting to note the names and occupations of the parties to this agreement as they reflect in miniature the trades in which Birmingham excelled. Henry Taylor himself was a glass and lead merchant who lived on the Stratford road in Sparkbrook. The other men were John Darlaston, gunlock and gun implement manufacturer of Aston Road; Henry Yates, edge tool maker of Well Head House, Perry Barr; Joseph Wilmere, glass toy maker; John Flavell, gun polisher of Acocks Green; Samuel Grice, engineer, and James Knight, timber merchant of Thomas Street, Aston.

Work started immediately on the chapel construction and on May 18^th, 1863, Mrs Henry Taylor was invited to lay the foundation stone. The ceremonial trowel which she used was afterwards presented to her. This trowel came back into the possession of the Acocks Green church at Eastertide, 1934. A letter accompanying its return states that it had come into the possession of a Mr Alfred Jones of 110 Olton Boulevard East, Acocks Green, and he felt that it should be returned to the minister and officials of the church. Unfortunately, Mr Jones did not elaborate in how it came into his keeping, but it is possible that he was a relative of the Taylor family. The trowel is 12" in length with an electro-plated blade and a bone handle. It is an early example of this process of electro-plating as although the process had been used since the 1840s it was not used on cutlery or flat ware until 1860. The blade is edged with an outer frieze of vines and at the base, near where it joins the handle are the words ‘I am the Vine – Ye are the branches’. The main inscription reads: "Presented to Mrs Taylor on occasion of laying the Foundation Stone of the Wesleyan Chapel, Acocks Green, May 18^th, 1863".

Very little is known about the design of this first chapel. What is known comes from the directions given by the architects to the builders of the present church in 1882. This church was built alongside the first and alterations had to be made to the 1863 chapel to accommodate the second. The chapel had a cast iron framed window in the back wall facing Shirley Road and there were similar, smaller windows along the buttressed side nearest to Botteville Road. It consisted of one large room and entry was made by way of a porch on the Botteville Road side. Inside there were twenty four wooden pews, each ten foot long and probably arranged so that they provided a centre gangway. The preacher stood at a central rostrum behind the communion rail. Both the rostrum and the communion rail were later re-used in the second church. It was decreed that of the seats for letting "not fewer than eighteen inches and not more than twenty inches be allowed, free seats eighteen inches, children fifteen inches." If we estimate that each ten-foot pew could accommodate six adults it shows that when full the chapel could accommodate about 144 adults.

Either by accident or design, and if it was the latter Henry Taylor was very far sighted, the chapel was built towards the western side of the plot with plenty of open ground left on the eastern or Botteville road side. Perhaps Mr Taylor saw that the growing village of Acocks Green would call for extra premises to be built at a later sate to house the larger congregations which could be expected. The chapel was finished within five months, and on Sunday, October 18^th, 1863, the first services were led by a Mr Austin of 86, Brearly Street.

The Stewards’ Book, which covered the years 1863 to 1873, showed sittings let in this original chapel, stated that in the quarter ending December, 1863, there was an income of £3 11s 6d from forty-two sittings let at a cost ranging from 1/- to 2/6d per quarter. From its very beginning over a quarter of the chapel seating was let to regular worshippers. The collection from the first Anniversary Sermon in 1864 amounted to £7 14s 10½d and at the end of the same year the balance sheet showed a surplus of £29 13s 8½d.

In 1867 the former Birmingham East circuit was divided into two. Belmont Row, Bradford St., Small Heath, Lord St., Acocks Green, Bloomsbury, Coleshill and Castle Bromwich formed the one circuit whilst Newtown Row, Lichfield Rd., Nechells Green, Curdworth, Water Orton, Whitacre, Bodymore Heath and Sutton formed the second. From that date until October, 1858, Belmont Row chapel gave its name to this circuit. After that date the name was changed to the Elmdon circuit when two more churches, Bordesley Green and Washwood Heath, were added to the already enlarged circuit.

To return to the late 1860s, there is very little documentation extant relating to Acocks Green chapel. There are some miscellaneous bills for items and services - £5 for gas lamp fittings, 1/3d to the chimney sweep, £3 to Mrs Keen, chapel keeper, and 5/- for cleaning chapel walks. In 1868 the sum of £1 11s 2d was paid out in respect of toll gate charges. It is known that at an earlier date there were toll gates at the junction of Stratford and Warwick Roads by the mermaid Inn in Sparkbrook and another tollgate opposite the Dolphin Inn in Acocks Green.

On 30^th September, 1867, Mr Henry Taylor announced to the Quarterly Meeting that he had decided to step down from the position of senior circuit steward. A year later, on September 28^th, 1868, the Quarterly Meeting resolved: "That the Rev. H. Paagham (sic), having retired for a year on account of partial ill health and come to reside at Acocks Green, this meeting accords to him and his family a hearty welcome into this circuit and trusts that his health will soon be restored and that his labours at Acocks Green and other parts of the circuit as God may give him strength will be very successful and that our Acocks Green friends may be encouraged in their praiseworthy efforts to promote the work of God."

Eighteen months later, on 28^th March, 1870, the Quarterly Meeting secretary wrote in the minute book: "Moved, That sanction be given for the purchase of the Acocks Green Chapel", so starting a move to fulfil the spirit of the 1863 agreement. However, nothing immediately came of this resolution and for the next two years Mr Flavell, who was Acocks Green church treasurer, continued to pay rent for the church.

On April 3^rd, 1872, a new agreement was drawn up between Mr Henry Taylor and seven other gentlemen for letting the chapel for twenty years at a rent of £23 6s 4d. This time the others were John Roberts, metal broker of Acocks Green; Thomas H Curtis, miller and corn dealer, baker of Acocks Green; Charles Savage, gilder, Acocks Green; Frederick James Burrows, occupation not stated, of Acocks Green; John Richards, farmer, no residence stated; and that same Mr William Lee, builder, of Aston Road North, who had preached the first sermon at the house service in 1859. The agreement not only referred to: "the said chapel buildings and premises...situate at the corner of Botteville Road an Shirley Road..." but also refers to "…all the school room building and premises now in course of erection on the said land…"It went on to stipulate that the tenants must "paint, paper, Whitewash and Colour the said Chapel and premises when where and as often as shall be reasonably necessary..." Lastly, the agreement stated that if so desired the gentlemen could purchase from Mr Henry Taylor all the chapel premises on payment of a sum of £374 5s 0d and for the property to be vested with proper Trustees for "use of the said Religious Community of Wesleyan Methodists."

In the Acocks Green Society Stewards book there is an entry for 1872 showing the cost of the new schoolroom erected that year as amounting to £155 19s 10d. The money for building the additional school premises was raised by means of a bazaar, a lecture, school anniversary, and donations and collections made by certain gentlemen. Mr William Lee, the builder, had erected this extension and his charge had been £132 2s 6d, but an error made by the architect in measurement had added a further £11 17s 6d on to the total cost. Possibly as conscience money Mr. Smith, the architect, had subscribed four guineas towards the building appeal.

Study of the 25" to 1 mile map of 1886 suggests that the minister’s present vestry and two small rooms to the Shirley Road side of it, now a W.C. and a boiler room, were originally part of these 1872 extensions. The present stewards’ vestry was constructed during the 1927 church alterations.

This building extension probably necessitated some rearrangement of the layout of the chapel for there is a receipt, dated 3rd December, 1873, from one Thomas Price for the alteration of seats and fixing of the harmonium at a total cost of £3 10s 11½d.

On 30th June, 1874, Henry Taylor repossessed all the chapel and schoolroom premises on token payment of one shilling on his part to the seven gentlemen who were party to the agreement two years earlier. The next month, on 24th July, 1874, Henry Taylor assigned all the chapel premises to members of the first chapel trust for Acocks Green on payment of £412 10s 0d. On the same day the deeds of Acocks Green chapel were sent from the Wesleyan Chapel Committee to the Rev. Floyd, superintendent of the Belmont Row circuit. An earlier history of the church erroneously stated that Henry Taylor had built the church and had given it to the Trust on token payment of one shilling, completely turning around the true facts.

On 29th March, 1875, there was the first mention of Acocks Green chapel in the Wesleyan Chapel trust schedule book showing that its total income was £23 2s 4d (2/- less than the yearly rent which it had been paying). An important footnote to this entry reads: "Acocks Green. This chapel was built by Mr Henry Taylor in 1863 and rented to Leasees. It is now settled on the Model Deed."

The events of the first twelve years of the chapel's existence have been gone into in some detail to show that the erstwhile assumption that the first school chapel was erected in 1868 is wrong. Local historians all quote 1868 as being the year in which the first Wesleyan chapel in Acocks Green was built. So does the Victoria County History of Warwickshire, Vol. VII. This book attributes its source of information to an article written in 1927 by the then minister of Acocks Green, the Rev.. G.B. Robson, entitled "The Story of Our Church." The Rev. Robson does give 1868 as the date for the first building but the present writer feels that there is a very good case for saying that this date is a misprint for 1863, the '3' being printed as an '8'. There is plenty of evidence (already quoted) taken from minute and account books to support the assertion that the first church was built in 1863 and none whatsoever for the date 1868. Local historians quoting either from the Rev. Robson's article or the County History have perpetuated this mistake.