The Carvings at St. Augustine's Church

We are proud of the expert carvings at St. Augustine's, which are the work of John Roddis who lived between 1839 and 1887. A prominent architectural sculptor with premises on Aston Road in Birmingham, Roddis did much carving for churches, most notably St Augustine of Hippo, Edgbaston (1868); St Catherine of Sienna (1875, now demolished) Goulburn Cathedral, South Australia; and Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand (which he died during the building of).

He also completed the exterior carving of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (1885, excluding the tympanum) and was responsible for a number of monuments including the Earl of Derbys tomb at Knowsley (1872) and the Augustine Memorial erected by Lord Granville on the Isle of Thanet.

He was a founder member of the Midland Arts Club and became its President in 1885. He was also a member of the Municipal Arts Club. As well as carving the corbels shown above, he also created the reredos at St. Augustine's.