The Society urges the Church to redouble its efforts to find someone willing to take on the building rather than closing it and leaving it empty indefinitely.
Grade II*-listed, 1860, G.T. Robinson
St Luke’s is one of the most unusual and architecturally significant buildings in Wolverhampton, distinguished by its roguish Gothic Revival details, its unusually well-preserved Victorian interior, and its elaborate polychromatic brickwork. Designed by G.T. Robinson in the mid-nineteenth-century, some of its best-regarded features include a reredos of the Last Supper, a four-stage clock tower with inserted clock faces, and an arch-braced scissor truss roof. When the church was mooted for closure in 2012, on account of enormous repair bills associated with dry rot and the poor condition of the brickwork, English Heritage offered a £150,000 grant to cover most of the cost of the restoration work. Inexplicably, the parochial church council refused this offer, and formal closure procedures are ongoing, raising questions about the building’s future. The Victorian Society asks that the church works with the local council to develop a plan for restoring the building and turning it to a new use.
Director of the The Victorian Society, Christopher Costelloe, said: ‘We’re grateful to everyone who nominated St Luke’s. Like all the buildings included in this year’s Top Ten, St Luke’s is a listed building meaning that the Government has recognised its national importance. It deserves better than being closed and lying empty indefinitely. I urge the public to share the Top Ten list, and Griff’s message, to help raise awareness of these buildings and help them to find the investment they desperately need.’
Status Update / March 2026
Just a year after appearing on our list in 2015, a petition to restore the building was launched which secured more than 1,500 signatures from the local community. The church closed in 2017 regardless, and while several potential buyers offered to step in to conduct the necessary repairs, including a Sikh congregation, the building is currently in use as an antiques shop. No significant repairs to the building have been made, and Historic England considers its condition to be ‘very bad’ and on a negative trajectory.