| Description | Barnt Green Preparative Meeting had its origins in a Sunday afternoon class for children which was started in November 1903 in a room near Barnt Green Station. A year later, the class had an average attendance of twenty-five children. Since there was no chapel or church nearby, and the population of Barnt Green was growing, with houses being built in the area around the station, it was decided to establish a Mission Meeting. An evening meeting was begun in April 1904 in the same room where the children's class was held and by November 1904, average attendance had reached twenty-three. As the levels of attendance were promising, and there appeared to be considerable interest in the meeting, it was decided to try to find larger accommodation.
John Gibbins, a member of the Society of Friends, donated a piece of land on Sandhills Road, Barnt Green and a corrugated iron pre-fabricated building with the capacity to seat 110 people was built and furnished, financed through donations and collections and costing a total of £207. The building later became known as the 'tin tabernacle'. The opening meeting was held on 3rd December 1904, with 130 people attending.
The larger accommodation meant that the attendance of the evening mission meeting and the children's class rose, and the Mission continued to expand its work: a Men's Adult School opened in January 1905 which maintained an average attendance of 20 men throughout that year; a Band of Hope, begun on Monday 20th February 1905, had an average attendance of 40 and met with considerable interest from children; during the winter, a girls sewing class was held on Wednesday evenings and a Mothers' Meeting was held on Monday afternoons during the winter. In addition, popular lectures were given by Friends on Wednesday evenings in the winter of 1904-1905 (see SF/3/2/2/1/1 for a list of these). As these were so well-attended, it was decided to enlarge the mission hall building during the summer of 1905. At the request of several families in the area, this was followed on 24th September 1905 by the first Morning Meeting for Worship.
On 10th October 1905, Warwickshire Monthly Meeting, held at George Road Meeting House, approved the request for Barnt Green Mission to become a Preparative Meeting (see Warwickshire North Monthly Meeting minute book, SF/2/1/1/1/1/26, minute 328).
The Meeting rented out rooms to local community groups, including Hereford and Worcester county council for provision of a county library, and as a result it became a centre for the local community.
In 1933, M. Louisa Gibbins gave land at Sandhills Road next to the pre-fabricated building to the West Birmingham Trustees to provide a site for a more permanent meeting house. However, the pre-fabricated structure was in use until May 1969, when it was replaced by the current meeting house. See SF/3/2/1/5 for further details.
Among others, members of the Gibbins, Grubb, Impey, Albright, Wilson, Southall families, as well as Edward Cadbury, David Cadbury and Christopher Tangye belonged to this Meeting.
Barnt Green Preparative Meeting became Barnt Green and Redditch Local Meeting in 2009 when Redditch Local Meeting officially became a part of it.
See SF/3/19 for records relating to Redditch Preparative Meeting.
See SF/3 for a description of the functions of the Local/Preparative Meeting. |