St. John's is situated in the heart of the West Midlands (The Black Country) and seeks to teach and live out the Catholic Faith in this setting. Situated in the Deanery of Wednesbury in the Diocese of Lichfield, S. John‘s has passed Resolutions A, B, & C (Ordination of Women Measure) and is under the episcopal care of the Bishop of Ebbsfleet. It is one of four Anglican parishes in Tipton and has a population of around 10,000. The parish is classed as 'inner city' and has a slightly higher unemployment level than the national average. Tipton was once dominated by Black Country heavy industry and mining, which has nearly all disappeared. Some of the extensive canal network upon which it relied remains.

At the centre of our life as a parish is the daily celebration of the Mass. It is here that we come together as the Body of Christ, in order to feed on the Body of Christ, so that we may become more fully the Body of Christ in Tipton.



Tipton was a manor belonging to the Bishops of Lichfield, but passed into lay ownership by the end of the 13th Century. The church was originally dedicated to St. Martin and is the original parish church of the Tipton area. There is a tradition, though unsubstantiated, of a foundation here by St. Chad. That said, there is no written record of the Church until 1291, though nothing of this building is now visible. The oldest part of the today‘s building is the tower which was substantially rebuilt in the 17th Century.

The Church was abandoned in the 18th Century and was allowed to fall into serious disrepair. A new St. Martin‘s was built a mile away. In 1853, a squat, brick nave was built onto the tower, at a cost of £244, and the church reopened under the patronage of St. John the Evangelist. Subsidence due to mining led to the Church's closure for several years at the beginning of this century. At this time, at the temporary chapel of St. Joseph, the Catholic tradition with which the Church is blessed today began and grew.