New Meeting, after its destruction during thePriestley Riots (Etching by William Ellis after a drawing by P. H. Witton)The Joseph Priestley blue plaque
The building was first erected in 1726, but was burnt down the 1791Priestley Riots, which targeted Dr.Joseph Priestley who was the minister at theUnitarian New Meeting since 1780.[2][3] The Unitarian New Meeting House was rebuilt ten years later and reopened in 1803.[3] Ablue plaque on the building commemorates Priestley.[4]
When the New Meeting House became unsuitable for its congregation, they started construction on a new place of worship onBroad Street.[5] The New Meeting House was purchased, remodelled and consecrated as a Roman Catholic church in 1862,[6] at the time catering for a large influx ofIrish andItalianimmigrants who had settled in the area, leading to the church being known as "the Italian church".[7]
FollowingWorld War II, the church was adopted by the exiledPolish ex-servicemen and their families, and again has seen an influx in Polish congregations following the2004 accession of Poland into the European Union, causing the congregation to grow fourfold. This has led to the creation of separate Polish Mass services.[8]
Prior to moving into St Michael's Church, the first Catholic mission in Birmingham was founded in Masshouse Lane in 1687 by theFranciscan Fathers. When this was burnt down in anti-Catholic riots in 1688,Mass continued to be offered in various improvised chapels until 1862.
^Dargue, William."Little Italy/ The Italian Quarter".A History of Birmingham Places & Placenames . . . from A to Y. William Dargue. Retrieved12 June 2011.
