Religious Architecture 2019

January 2019: ST. WILFRID’S CHURCH, WILFORD Eighteen members of the group joined me to visit St. Wilford’s Church, Wilford, which overlooks a bend in the River Trent as it turns towards Trent Bridge, under the old Toll bridge which now carries trams destined for Clifton South. We were met by Raymond Hutchins and his wife, Pat. Ray gave us a talk about the church, its history, interesting features and the people associated with the church and the village of Wilford, including Henry Kirk White (1785 – 1806) the poet, who drew inspiration from Wilford and Clifton. Then we enjoyed refreshments provided by Raymond’s Wife, Pat, in the Church Office, which is thought to have been the old “Tithe Barn”, where a third of the village produce was stored to provide a stipend for the priest. The church dates from the late 14th century, thought to have been founded by Gervase de Wilford around 1361. The chancel dates from 1430 and the clerestory and tower later in the 15th century. There was a reordering of the church in the later 19th century, when the aisles were rebuilt, and a vestry was added. The organ dates from 1878, built by Henry Willis. In the graveyard, between the church and the river stands a Gazebo, built in 1757, its basement is said to have been a mortuary for drownings in the river. In 1980 it was restored after a fire in 1976. The graveyard contains war graves of 8 soldiers of the First World War and an airman of the Second World War. The village get its name as a contraction of “Wilfrid’s Ford”, St Wilfrid being the patron saint of the church. St. Wilfrid was a Saxon missionary bishop, his name being given to the Roman ford near the village to distinguish it from the “Bridge-ford” of Edward the Elder, a little further downriver.

February 2019: MARY MAGDALENE, HUCKNALL Fifteen members were warmly welcomed to Hucknall’s St. Mary Magdalene Church with refreshments. This church is special place of pilgrimage for those who love the works of George Gordon Noel Byron (1788 – 1824). He is buried in the Chancel, in the Byron’s Family Vault together with his mother, Catherine, his great uncle and predecessor, William Byron, (1722 – 1798) the “wicked” 5th Byron and his only legitimate daughter, Ada Lovelace, (Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (1815 – 1852) who is credited to having written the first computer programme. She was the produce of his ill-fated marriage to Annabella Millebanke.

Byron’s tomb

When Byron’s funeral took place on Friday 16th July 1824, the church was smaller than it is now, the South Aisle being added in 1871. By 1896, a Victorian benefactor, Canon John Godber had spent 13 years embellishing the newly enlarged church; he employed Charles Kempe (1837 – 1907) to install the largest collection of Kempe stained-glass windows of any parish church in the world. However, due to a reordering of the church in 1966, and a fire in the 1970s, only now 20 remain. Charles Eamer Kempe, born in Brighton, opened his London studio in 1866, supplying and creating stained glass, furnishings and vestments. It is estimated almost 5,000 Kempe windows grace High Anglican churches and other buildings across the globe. Near the door of the South Transept is the grave of Ben Caunt (1815 – 1861), a bare-knuckle boxer who became the heavyweight Champion of England; born in nearby Newstead village, the son of a worker on Lord Byron’s estate. He was 6ft. 7½ inches tall, an weighed 14st 7lbs, a giant of a man, a key to his success. He fought Nottingham legend, William “Bendigo” Thompson, three times in 10 years, both rising to become Champion of England. Also in the church are acknowledgements to other famous people born in Hucknall, namely Eric Coates, (1886 – 1957) composer of the Dambusters’ March, Calling All Workers & By a Sleepy Lagoon - and Robin Bailey (1919 – 1999) actor remembered for his Uncle Mort in I Didn’t Know You Cared.

St. Mary Magdalene from Hucknall High Street

March 2019: ST. WULFRAMS, GRANTHAM Seventeen members ventured to Grantham to visit the town’s main parish church, St. Wulfram. We were given a warm welcome by Dr. Brian Stagg, Curator of the Library and David Brown, a retired Churchwarden. After refreshments Dr Stagg gave us an in-depth history of the church, followed by a tour of the church. As well as a West door, the church has North and South porches both of which are parvises, having upper rooms, the North Parvis was built to house a relic of St. Wulfram, the southern Parvis now houses the Trigg Chained Library containing valuable and important books given in 1598 by the Reverend Francis Trigg, Rector of Welbourn, a village between Grantham and Lincoln. The most outstanding feature of the church is its tower and spire which rise to 283 feet.

The Nave as seen from the Chancel

There have been three churches on this site, the first being Saxon; after the Norman Conquest, this church was replaced by larger Norman structure; this in turn was enlarged in 1280. The Domesday Book states the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Grantham had a church, four watermills, was a centre of a Soke and had a population of over 1,000. The church is one of two dedicated to St. Wulfram, the other is in Sussex; he was born in Fontainebleau, near Paris in about 650A.D. Son of a Frankish soldier, he took Holy Orders and in 693 became Archbishop of Sens, later becoming a missionary to the pagan Frisians in northern Germany, dying in 720. The medieval Font (c 1496) is located near the west end of the church and is surmounted by an enormous ornate Victorian cover. Designed by Sir Walter Tapper R.A. in 1899 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, it takes the shape of a spire with the carvings inside of Edward the Confessor, St. Hugh and St. Wulfram.

The Font The West Front

Grantham is associated with two famous people, Mrs Margaret Thatcher and Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727). Newton was born on 25th December 1642 in the village of Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire. He attended King’s School, in Grantham, which stands adjacent to St. Wulfram’s church, before went to Trinity College, Cambridge.

Kings School

April 2019: ST. GILES, WEST BRIDGFORD Nineteen members visited St. Giles’ church in West Bridgford, where we were met by David Dunford, then given a twenty minutes presentation about the history of the church and its influence on the local community. The church is dedicated to St. Giles, who is the patron saint of cripples, lepers and nursing mothers, also blacksmiths and travellers.

Although Bridgford is mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086, no church is listed. This is speculation the first church was erected around 1191, built in the Early English style. Records show the first Rector was Luke de Crophill who took up the post on 13th October 1239. Finance for the erection of the church may have provided by the Lutterell family of Gamston, who were Lords of the manor until 1418 and with their descendants, the Hiltons and Timelbys who were Patrons until the end of the 16th century. The South Porch, with a steeply pitched roof was added around 1250. Over time the church was enlarged, in the 14th century larger windows in the Decorated, then the Perpendicular style were added. The 17th and 18th centuries saw a deterioration in the church’s fabric, although a new vestry is recorded to have been built in 1786, costing £10. In 1871/72 a reordering of the church took place, a new vestry was built on the north side of the chancel and a second hand organ from Sneinton was installed. Between 1881 and 1911 West Bridgford increased in size from 293 to 11600, so the church became too small for its congregation. Plans were drawn up by architects Naylor and Sale of Derby when it was decided to extend the footprint of the existing church, with a new nave, north aisle and vestries. The north wall of the original church was to be removed, but the re-roofed chancel, the nave, the tower and the south aisle to be retained. Sufficient money could not be raised, it was decided to defer the new north aisle and to build a temporary north wall and vestries. The foundation stone for the new nave and chancel was laid by Lady Byron on 28th October 1896, contractors being Baines of Newark. The new building was consecrated by Bishop Ridding on 15th September 1898. The iron screen between the nave and chancel and the brass lectern were installed in the same year. In 1899 a two manual and pedal organ, built by Messrs Lloyd & Co. of Nottingham was installed behind the 13th century screen in the old chancel, with its console in the south arch of the new chancel. In 1904 the upper part of the tower was restored. Reordering of the church continued at different times through to 1948. A peal of eight bells was installed in 1955, five of these came from Perlethorpe church in Thoresby Park; three were re-casted by Taylors of and re-dedicated. The other bells were given as memorials or thanksgivings by members of the congregation. In the porch the triangular stone resting on the western seat is the window replaced in the east wall of the old chancel during the 1872 alterations. In a corner of the south aisle is a bell cast in 1499 for St. Giles by Richard Mellers, Major of Nottingham. Within the old chancel, on the south wall are a piscina, a small sink for washing communion vessels, an aumbry, for storing communion vessels and reserved sacrament and a sedilla, unusually having two seats instead of the normal one, the second one was thought to be for the chantry chapel priest.

May 2019: CHESTERFIELD Twenty-one members of our group visited Chesterfield’s Parish Church, famous for its crooked spire. We were met by Assistant Verger Jill, who after giving us a potted history of the church, gave us a tour of the Nave and Chancel, and the various chapels, explaining features of interest and answering any questions. There is a possibility that St. Aiden established the church here in 642 AD, while on a mission to Repton from Lindisfarne, or by St. Chad a century later. The first evidence is found in the Lincoln Chartulary of 1093/4, which refers to a church in Chesterfield in the time of King Edward the Confessor (1042 -66). The advowson (right to appoint the parish priest) of the church was given to the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln in 1100 by King William II. The present church was begun in the 13th century, in the Early English Style, there was a dedication in 1234. Work on the tower and South Transept began in the early 14th Century and the main part of the church was completed by 1360. The spire was added in the 14th century. Why is it crooked? One possibility is the heat of the sun on green timber, one of the main supports is split. It is conjectured that competent master craftsmen were less available after the Black Death. There are a number of legends mostly concerning the Devil as to why the spire twisted. The spire is not attached to the tower, held in place by the sheer weight of the wood and lead. On 22nd December 1961, a fire broke out in the North Transept, which was believed to have started by an electrical fault in the 200 year old Snetzler organ, which was totally destroyed. Firemen battled to keep the fire from the spire. At the west end here is a stained glass window given to the church in 1984 by the people of Chesterfield to commemorate the church’s 750th anniversary tracing the town’s history. As a bonus after our tour we were able to listen to an excellent organ recital.

June 2019: ST. LEONARD’S, WOLLATON Eighteen members of our group visited St. Leonard’s, Wollaton’s Parish Church. We were warmly welcomed by Malcolm Stacey and his wife, Mary. After an external tour of the church, Malcolm went through the history of the church, followed by Coffee/Tea and biscuits. Although there must have been an earlier church, the present building was gradually reconstructed until its completion towards 1400 AD. The tower, which was the last part of the church to be completed, incorporated a passage through which processions could be made without leaving the graveyard perimeter. After the Reformation, the opening was blocked up; during the reordering of the church in the 19th century, the passage was restored, and in 1970 the present porch was established. In the South Aisle, there is a monument to Robert Smythson, who as well as designing and building Wollaton Hall for the Willoughby Family, built Longleat House and Hardwick Hall; he died in Wollaton in 1614. Although originally a stonemason, he is described as an “architector and surveyor”, this is thought to be the first time anyone was given this title. In the Chancel there are two Willoughby monuments, on the left side, to Sir Richard Willoughby (died 1471) and his four wives, and to the right to Sir Henry Willoughby, Richard’s nephew (died 1528). Behind the main Altar, there is a Reredos, which dates from the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, a rarity in that it is of the Classical style. The font was given in memory of Mrs Russell, wife of Re. Henry Charles Russell, Rector 1876 – 1922. Before the Reformation, services were conducted from a service book or an Antiphonal. Since the Church of England split with Rome, only about 20 have survived, including Wollaton. Although originally intended for another Nottingham village, Wiverton, it spent most of its active life in St. Leonards. It was hidden in Wollaton Hall, until it was returned to the church on Christmas Day 1924 by Lord Middleton. It was displayed in the church for 50 years, before being deposited with the Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham. It has been digitally recorded, and can now be viewed on-line.

July 2019: ST. SWITHUN’S, WOODBOROUGH Seventeen members of our group travelled to St. Swithun’s Church, where we were met by Alan Sharkley, a retired churchwarden. He started by going round the exterior of the church, pointing out graffiti carved into the stonework, which included mason marks and symbols to ward away witches. Once back inside, he related the church history: The Domesday Book of 1086 records Woodborough under the name Udeburg, and its land owned by three Saxon thanes and Southwell Minster, which held 420 acres. There may have been a Saxon church, but a Norman church was built in 1150 by the Lord of the Manor, Ralph de Wodeburg on the site of the present nave. The present church was consecrated in 1356 by Richard de Strelley, with a fine chancel distinguished by its five light east window in the Decorative Style. The tower, which is in the Perpendicular style was added in about 1550. The westernmost window in the north wall of the chancel depicts King David, Saint Dorothea and Saint John the Evangelist. It was designed by the artist, Edward Burne-Jones, and made by Morris & Co. Special features include a sculptured gable cross on the east end of the roof, a feature only found elsewhere in Nottinghamshire Clifton, shields of the Strelley family, Strelley of Strelley and Strelley of Woodborough above the outside of the east window, Kempe windows in the chancel, locally carved choir stalls and a Jacobean oak altar table given in 1660 by John Woode, Recorder of Newark. he piscina has a short filleted shaft with cap and base mouldings that are similar to the respond of the chancel arch.

August 2019: ST. PETER’S, RUDDINGTON Twelve members of the group visited Ruddington’s Parish church, where we were warmly welcomed by the incumbent, Rev. Andrew Buchanan, who gave us a talk on the history of the church and its interactions with the community. The decision to rebuild St Peter’s Church as it is today was taken in 1884. Previous to this, worship was in a sort of chapel in the middle of a field at Flawford just outside the village. Donations were received from many people including from wealthy village families including Philo Mills of Ruddington Hall, and the sisters Lucy and Ann Paget, from the influential local Paget family at Ruddington Grange. When the money for the new church had been substantially raised, building work commenced in 1887. The eventual cost of building was around £12,000 The architecture is in the Gothic Revival style favoured by the Anglo Catholic Movement that was influential in Victorian England. In the new architecture, the cluttered box pews of the previous church were abandoned and in a style reminiscent of a medieval cathedral, a large uncomplicated nave accommodates the worshipping people who are separated from the clergy by an ornate wooden screen through to the chancel. A prominent pulpit and a fine brass eagle lectern were designed to emphasise the importance of the preached Word of God. A small kitchen and store cupboard was added in 1996 behind light oak doors in the baptistery and the ornate font dating from 1885 was moved from the baptistery to a position nearer the West door. In 2009 the church community decided that better use could be made of the large church nave by the replacement of pews with chairs. This not only makes for more comfortable seating arrangements but also allows the space to be used to hold church events for the whole family.

September 2019: PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL Seventeen members of the group visited Peterborough Cathedral, the majority of which travelled there by train.

We were greeted and given a very warm welcome by our guide, Steve Cummingham. Starting outside, he explained the intricacies of the iconic West Front, before giving us a conducted tour around the main body of the nave. In the North Aisle is the resting place of Katherine of Aragon, King Henry’s VIII’s first wife 1485 – 1536. It is a place of pilgrimage by the Spanish, who still regard as Spain’s answer to our Princess Diana. She was given a full royal funeral, following her death in Kimbolton Castle on 7th January 1536.

In the South Aisle is the first resting place of Mary, Queen of Scots after her execution in Fotheringhay Castle on 7th February 1587, on the orders of Queen Elizabeth. Her body was kept in the castle for 5 months, before being interned secretly in the dead of night. The tomb is empty, her son King James I had her body exhumed in 1612 and reburied in Westminster Abbey, next to nemesis, Queen Elizabeth.

Their burials were under the supervision of Robert Scarlett “Old Scarlett” who died in 1594 and the prodigious age of 98. He said he buried three queens, who was the third queen, his wife!!! The apse, which is the oldest part of the cathedral contains a marble Baldachin, a canopy over the High Altar. The ceiling was painted 1856 to a design of Sir , who was influential in the reordering of the cathedral during the latter part of the 19th century. The central tower was found unsafe and was dismantled and rebuilt reusing original materials and design, excavations revealed a late-Saxon Church. The West front was repaired in the 1890’s, again using original materials. At east end, a new extension was built as a retrochoir to allow procession behind the High Altar in about 1500 incorporating what is considered the first example of stone fan vaulting. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the cathedral, a former abbey church was saved from destruction by the last abbot, John Chambers, being a friend of the king, was made the 1st. Bishop of Peterborough. During the Civil War, Peterborough was a staunch Royalist town. Captured by Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarian Army in April 1643, His troops Spent several weeks causing substantial damage to the cathedral , destroying the High-Church decoration. There is a memorial to nurse Edith Cavell, who was executed in 1915 by the Germans for spying and aiding the escape of injured service personnel.

October 2019: ST. MARY AND ALL SOULS’ CHURCH, BULWELL Fourteen members of our group visited St. Mary’s Church in Bulwell, where we were give a warm welcome by Father Andrew Fisher. He gave us a potted history of the church, then pointing out items of interest, when we explored the interior.

The church stands on a hill overlooking the town, upon which it is said four different churches have stood since Saxon times, the first documentation being 117A.D. The present church, designed by H.J. Stevens of Derby and built by James Hall of Nottingham dates from 1850. The previous was not demolished until the present one was built, so two churches stood side-by side for a while. The altar, made of Alabaster has a Reredos of Italian Alabaster depicting the Crucifixion. Above the altar is a new Christus Rex in memory of a long-standing churchwarden. This part of the church is a prayer corner for the Armed Forces and those who died. The Organ was rebuilt with additional pipes in 2006 by Henry Groves of Nottingham. The pulpit is made of Caen stone. The St. George Chapel has a reredos and altar carved by Robert Thompson, the “Mouseman” of Kilburn, . At the east end of the north aisle is the Lady Chapel. Three stained windows on the north wall are by a local artist, Michael Stokes, the centre one commemorating the miracle of Dunkirk, with the adjacent colours of the Nottinghamshire branch of the Dunkirk Veterans’ Association. The tower contains eight bells in an iron frame and a illuminated clock made by G.W. Cope of Nottingham. Although Church of England, its liturgy is “High Church” with Mass celebrated as after King Henry VIII split with Rome, and before its “Puritanisation” in Cromwell’s in Cromwell’s “Commonwealth”. November 2019: ST. BOLTOLPH’S, BOSTON Fifteen members visited the Parish church of Boston, fondly known as “Boston Stump”, including two guests from Ravenshead U3A. We were met by our guide Adam, one of the Vergers, who gave us a very interesting and in depth history of the church. The church is the largest building in England that has always been a parish church, is believed to have been begun in 1309, replacing a Norman edifice, whose foundation lie three feet under the south aisle. Work on the new church started in what is now the Chancel, two bays from the present east end and moved westwards. The Guild Chapel of St. Mary (in the South Aisle) was the first part of the Nave to be built and the church, except the Tower, was probably completed by 1390. The story of Christianity in Boston goes right back to the 7th century, when a missionary monk called Botulph of Botolph is believed to have preached here and founded a church. One possible explanation for how the town found its name is that the place was called Botolph’s Stone, later shortened to Boston and medieval documents show that Bostonians were known as “viri Sancti Botolphi”, St Botolph’s Men. The building of the Tower probably started early in the fifteenth century. The architect – perhaps Reginald of Ely, the first architect to work on King’s College Chapel, Cambridge – took no risks with the foundations, digging into the firm boulder-clay about five feet deeper than the bed of the River Haven. It took 70 years to build the Tower with at least four architects, successively in charge. No one really knows why it was call the “Stump”. The Guild of Corpus Christi was the only religious guild in Lincolnshire whose records show more bishops, peers, peeresses, abbots and foreign merchants than the local membership. The Guilds owned considerable property, giving them great wealth. Making the building of the church possible. The guilds maintained a multitude of services, masses for deceased members, services on festivals and saints’ days, the church illuminated with candles As many of the services were sung, the Guild of St Mary employed an organist and had a choir, boys of which were educated in a grammar school. John Taverner, the famous composer was an Alderman of the Borough in the 16th century, and was possibly a musician in the church. Dying in 1545, he was buried under the tower, his memorial lain the floor. One of the vicars, John Cotton, later to become the famous Congressionalist leader in Boston, Massachusetts, was known for his two-hour sermons, the whole service taking five hours. His departure to Massachusetts in 1633 with some of the more violently puritan lay leaders meant Boston puritanism was less rigid in the years that followed. A Cotton Chapel is the smallest chapel in the church. It is west of the porch and was anciently known as the “Founder’s Chapel”. It is possibly the burial place of Dame Margery Tilney, who laid the foundation stone of the Tower in the 14th century. In 1708 it was used for Laughton’s Charity School, and later housed the town’s fire engine. In 1857, the chapel was refurnished as a chapel under the direction of Gilbert Scott and funded by American money. It was then called the “Cotton Chapel”. Scott wanted to paint the roof with Stars and Strips but the vicar forbade as popish. During the Metropolitan Bishop’s Visitation of 1634 established a library in the room above the porch, which contains nearly 1,400 books, mostlt printed in the 16th and 17th centuries, the majority dealing with theology and church history. The oldest book is a 12th century manuscript of St Augustine’s commentary on the Book of Genesis. Other books include a copy of the English Prayer Book (1549) and a first edition of the Book of Martyrs by John Foxe, a Bostonian. The tower holds 25 bells. A ring of ten was recasted by Taylors of Loughborough in 1931. The tenor weighs 32 cwts. 1 qtr. 19 lbs. There is also a carillion of 15 bells that are now played from the west vestry. The clock, when chiming, uses the four largest bells in the carillion. The tower is a landmark which can be seen for miles across the flat landscape of the fens. From the first balcony – approximately 145 ft- it is at times possible to see Lincoln Cathedral to the North West, and across the Wash in an Easterly direction to Hunstanton. The church itself is the largest parish church in Lincolnshire and one of the largest in England. In the 14th century, Boston was one of the towns which belong to the Hanseatic League, a commercial organisation which promoted international trade throughout Northern Europe, its port bringing prosperity to the town. The league died slowly as England contested with the Netherlands for dominance in northern European commerce and Sweden emerged as the chief commercial power in the Baltic Sea region. The Hanseatic League's diet met for the last time in 1669.

December 2019: CHRISTMAS LUNCH This December’s meeting was in a church of a difference, for the second year running, the deconsecrated Unitarian Presbyterians’ church on Low Pavement which is now occupied by the Pitcher and Piano restaurant. Eleven of us sat down for the Christmas cuisine on offer. The choice of Starters included Roast Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup, Smoked Ham Hock & Chicken Terrine, the main courses: Turkey with all the trimmings, Leg of Lamb and Mushroom Bourguignon, and desserts: Christmas Pudding, Chocolate Decadence and Winter Berry Eton Mess, which was the most popular. The ambiance of the restaurant was perfect to round off the year, overlook by the glorious window designed by Sir Philip Burns-Jones.