St Mary’s is a grade II* listed AWN Pugin convent of the Sisters of Mercy.  This was the second Mercy convent in the country, opened by Venerable Catherine McAuley in August 1841 – her last foundation.  St Mary’s is still a lived-in convent but also houses a Heritage Centre with Mercy archives and artefacts on display.  We have a programme of regular convent tours throughout 2026 (details below).

Tours take around one hour and end with refreshments in the Convent Refectory.
Please book tours by phone (0121 554 3271) or email sisters@mercyhandsworth.org.uk.  Please also note that if you have an interested group and would like a heritage tour but none of the below dates are suitable, we encourage you to get in touch and we will try our best to accommodate you.
We look forward to welcoming you.

£5 suggested donation for tour.

Our heritage tours have now finished for 2025.
Please see below for new dates added for 2026.

Convent Heritage Tours 2026
2pm Wednesday 14th January

2pm Tuesday 17th & Friday 27th February

2pm Monday 16th & Saturday 28th March

2pm Wednesday 22nd April

2pm Thursday 14th May

2pm Monday 8th & Saturday 20th June

2pm Wednesday 8th & Tuesday 21st July

September: Heritage Open Days (see below)

2pm Thursday 8th & Tuesday 20th October

2pm Friday 6th & Monday 23rd November

2pm Wednesday 2nd December

HERITAGE OPEN DAYS 2026

Friday
11th September 2026
10.30 or 14.00 (places are limited and must be pre-booked)

Heritage Open Day bookings open on Monday 10th August 2026