It is the historic parish church of Aston and the only church in Birmingham that was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

However, little remains of the original church which was rebuilt in sandstone in the 1880's by JA Chatwin with an apsidal chancel, a 7-bay nave with aisles illuminated by a clerestory and a south porch.

Only the 15th century west tower and spire and some reset 14th century stonework in the south aisle pre-date Chatwin's rebuild.

The interior contains monuments to the Holte, Erdington and Devereux families who were once the respective lords of Aston, Erdington and Castle Bromwich.

It was designed in the Decorated Style by Thomas Rickman and built in stone with a crenellated parapet in 1822.

St Barnabas initially consisted of a four-bay nave without aisles, a west gallery on a cusped iron screen and a west tower with angle buttresses. The chancel and transepts were added by J.A. Chatwin in 1883. The fifth bay of both transepts is inclined to compensate for the difference in width between the nave and chancel.

The interior contained eight Georgian stained-glass windows, also by Rickman, but seven were destroyed by fire in 2007 when the church was almost completely gutted; indeed only the bell tower, ringing chamber, lecturn and clock survived.

St Barnabas' is being rebuilt with the addition of a controversial modern foyer with a glazed facade and steel roof that will create a new entrance from Erdington High Street and screen the church from an unsightly Poundland retail store.

However, critics argue that the foyer is an inappropriate addition to an historic listed building; 23 monuments, including Victorian gravestones, were removed from the churchyard in preparation for the rebuild (News Archive 26/08/10) which started in February 2011 (News Archive 06/02/11).

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