The Profile for the Parish Church of St. Peter Devizes

Home , Bishop of Ebbsfleet, Devizes Castle, Diocese of Salisbury, Ruth Worsley

Contents

A Little History of Devizes 3

An Historical Perspective 4

The Church and School 5

Our Community 6

The Congregation 7

Church and Community 8

Order of Services 9

The Church of St. Peter, Devizes 10

The Fabric 10

Financial Health 10

Collaborative Ministry 10

Our Church 11

Personal Profile 11

Forward Planning, Aims and Objectives 11

Acknowledgements 12

WELCOME

“We are delighted that you are wanting to find out more about the worship, ministry and mission taking place within St Peter’s Devizes. This is an excellent opportunity to grow the people of God within this worshipping community and to extend a welcome to others in the discovery of faith. The See of Ebbsfleet and the Diocese of Salisbury are committed to working together to provide the support and pastoral care needed for the person appointed.”

+ Jonathan Ebbsfleet Ruth Worsley See of Ebbsfleet Archdeacon or Wilts. Salisbury diocese

THE PARISH PROFILE FOR ST. PETER’S, DEVIZES

The Parish Church of St. Peter stands beside the Kennet and Avon Canal at the north-west edge of Devizes, a busy Wiltshire market town and the home of Wadworth Brewery and the traditional Shire horses who deliver to public houses in the town.

A LITTLE HISTORY OF DEVIZES

Devizes town owes its name to a castle built around 1080 by Osmond Bishop of Salisbury atop a steep hill which marked the boundaries of the three manors of Cannings , Potterne and Rowde , it became known as ‘ castrum ad divisas ‘ the castle at the boundaries .

The castle, a stone one replaced the original wooden one, was of strategic importance during the civil war 1139-1141 between the followers of Stephen and Matilda. An aerial view of the town shows how the street pattern developed during medieval times. During the English Civil War 1642-1649 the castle became a strategic prize again. A battle was fought on downland by Roundway Hil,l the Royalists won, [ Hopton Garden Industrial Estate is named after their resourceful leader]. Later, in retaliation the Parliamentary forces destroyed the castle.

The town gradually recovered from the plundering inflicted by both sides during the Civil War. The 18th century was a time of prosperity including the brewing, malting and tobacco industries. The lack of water power compensated for by two windmills on the site of Devizes castle. The Kennet and Avon canal built along the eastern edge of the old town between 1794 and 1810 was the first broad canal built to take 3

barges carrying up to 60tons, it linked with the Wilts and Berks canal at Semington and with the Somerset Coal canal at Limply Stoke. Coal, beer, tobacco and building and road making materials were carried to and from Devizes Wharf. The canal engineer, John Rennie, designed side pounds alongside the canal all the way up Caen Hill to prevent the loss of water in the stretches between the locks when the locks are being filled. 29 locks were built within two and half miles to negotiate the steep gradient and three million bricks were used for the locks. Caen Hill brick works beside the canal flourished.

By the 19 Century Devizes beyond the Northgate, along the Bath Road , housed workers and their families of the Devizes Brick and Tile Company, which had four kilns, canal labourers and bargees , the Wiltshire Militia in barracks and married quarters and Devizes Prison. The prison contained 210 cells, was overcrowded, the prisoners diet was bread and gruel, long hours were spent on the treadmill. There was a riot in 1822 but strict rules of silence, solitary confinement and flogging continued. An Anglican priest concerned for the spiritual, moral and educational welfare of these people obtained land beside the canal in order to build a church and a school. In 1865 St. Peter’s Church was founded by The Rev. Benjamin Charles Dowding, Vicar of St James Southbroom.

AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Reverend Benjamin Charles Dowding laid the foundation stone in June 1865. There was a large gathering at the ceremony including many of Mr Dowding’s parishioners of St. James and the officers and men of the Royal Wilts Militia in full uniform. The children ‘’were regaled with tea and cake’’ while the masons and others employed in the construction were given ‘’a substantial supper’’. A Devizes Gazette report describes ‘’the church which is to be called St. Peter’s, will form a very pretty object at the entrance to the town from the Bath Road. It is to be built of Bath and Ham stone and Westbury tile, surmounted at one end by a bell turret, and will have porch and vestry attached…….the interior, though simple will be very neat and appropriate’

On 17th July 1866 the new church was consecrated .The Bishop and assembled clergy preceded by the band, officers and men of the militia processed from the Assize Courts in Northgate Street to the church. The Vicar of Rowde, the Reverend A.B. Starkey met the Bishop at the door and presented to him a petition praying that the church might be consecrated. The Bishop signed his consent and proceeded up the aisle to the chanting of the psalm, ‘The earth is the Lord’s and all that therein is’.

The first Vicar was the Rev. Harold Grindle who held office from 1866 until his death in 1885; he was described as ‘a dear friend of the poor’ with his heart and energies centred on St Peter’s, its services and people. After ordination in 1871 the Rev. Lincoln Wainwright assisted as his curate.

By early 1884 sufficient funds had been raised to enlarge the church with a south aisle, a new vestry and to rebuild the chancel arch adding two corbels of Chilmark stone. Gas lighting was installed to replace the candle chandeliers. Services were held to mark the re-opening of the church. At the morning service the

Right Reverend W.G.Tozer, formerly Bishop of Central Africa, preached and at the evening service the Rev. Fr. Lincoln Wainwright, Vicar of St.Peter’s London Docks, and a former curate at St. Peter’s Devizes. ‘‘Many people stood and scores more were obliged to return home as they were unable to get in’’, it was recorded.

The interior design of the church is simple but memorial gifts have been added, including the beautiful stained glass windows many of them given in memory of the founder, the Reverend B.C.Dowding, his wife Maria and their family. Also, In memory of the Rev Harold Grindle the Baptistry and the carvings on the font ‘by those baptised therein’. The chancel screen given in memory of the Rev. Arthur Devas, the second vicar. Canon Frederick Phipps, a prominent Anglo-Catholic, who was the Vicar from 1901 until his death in 1934, enriched the tradition and introduced incense into the worship on St. Peter’s Day 1919. Canon George Frank George, Vicar 1935-1939, an architect, in tribute to his predecessor, redesigned the High Altar, moving the original table into the Lady Chapel. In 1938 he designed the three rood figures and the heightened chancel screen to hold the specially commissioned carved figures paid for by a bequest to the church. All these gifts have enriched the church, its atmosphere and worship.

St. Peter’s well founded Anglo-Catholic traditions have been enhanced and the spiritual life of the parish maintained by the work and dedication of a succession of worshippers and incumbent vicars and lately by a ‘priest–in-charge. The present congregation and people are indebted to them all.

THE CHURCH AND SCHOOL

The church’s founder speaking at a luncheon on Consecration Day spoke of the intention to open a school; ‘’ we are an aspiring people and don’t intend to remain with just the nave of a church’’. Two years later in 1868 a piece of land between the church and the canal was purchased from the Great Western Railway Company, at the cost of £5. ‘For a school for the education of children and adults, or children only, of the labouring, manufacturing and other poorer classes in the ecclesiastical district of St. Peter’s, Devizes and for no other purpose’. The school building, similar to the church in design, opened in 1870 as a Church School with a Headmaster and 36 boys. Four years later girls were admitted too.

From the beginning the Chairman of the Governors was the Vicar of the parish who also gave religious instruction in school. The children attended services in the church, weekly and at the beginning and end of term and on special holy days: Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Ascension Day and St. Peter’s Day. Many children, until the school leaving age was raised, attended St. Peter’s for all their schooldays. In the 1950s the school became a Primary School for 5 to 11 year olds, still a church school, the close ties remained. The boys becoming, choir boys or altar boys and the large Sunday school met in the school building. The school was the meeting place for other church organisations also, there was a thriving Church of England Men’s Society and a Mother’s Union.

In the 1960’s the administration of the school was passed over to Salisbury Diocesan Board of Education. In the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s new local authority housing within the parish caused an increase in population and a larger school roll from 179 in 1968 to 267 in 1977. The ‘juniors’ moved into the old Grammar School building next door and the ‘Infants’ stayed in the original St. Peter’s school building. The church congregation and the people of the parish were able to use and enjoy the larger school building and grounds for social and fund raising events. Gradually the demographic trend towards an older population led to a fall in the number of children attending and with the cost of maintaining the large Old Grammar School building rising, the Diocesan Board of Education decided to build a new school close to new housing developments on the northern edge of ‘new ‘ Devizes.

In 2012 St. Peter’s School closed and the children moved into the new school, The Trinity School V.A. C of E, built ‘up’ the London Road, with the intention to serve all three parishes of Devizes. But it was a sad day for St. Peter’s Church. The parish priest, congregation, the past pupils’ old boys and girls, parents and grandparents , retired teachers , ex and serving governors who had all given valuable service to the school felt a sense of loss, the close ties had gone. The school founded in ’perpetuity’ for the children of the parish no longer existed. The original school building still stands behind the church, it is owned now by Wiltshire Council and houses a privately run Nursery School. However there remains a Primary School at the western end of town, within the parish, St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School.

OUR COMMUNITY

The parish is roughly lozenge shaped, bordering the Kennet and Avon Canal westwards down Caen Hill to Whistley Lane , eastwards along Rotherstone to the Town Cemetery, northwards down Dunkirk Hill , the southern boundary is along the dismantled railway line.

The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception with St. Joseph’s School and the Meeting House of The Society of Friends are in the parish.

The boat building yards , the brick and tile works are long gone ,also Devizes prison and the military barracks replaced by , the Wiltshire Police Headquarters, which in its turn moved to the London Road , all demolished and replaced with houses. More recently Gaiger’s Builders yard moved and the site was developed with neat houses. Thus the parish has become more residential in character with an interesting mix of Victorian, Edwardian, 1930’s houses, post WW2 Local Authority building including blocks of flats and private housing development. Since 2000 there has been more house building as land becomes available. Re-development is forecast to continue, the site of the former Kennet Local Authority Offices and Registry Office at Browfort, at the top of Dunkirk Hill is for sale, and Wiltshire Council is the new Unitarian Authority with new offices. The Salisbury Diocese Board of Education have instructed the Agents Savills to apply for outline planning permission to demolish and re- develop with housing the site of the former St. Peter’s Primary School and car park.

Shane’s Castle, which used to be the Toll House, still stands at the top of the hill and is lived in, but the residents no longer collect the tolls to open the gates on the roads to Bath and Rowde.

The Business Park, Curry’s the petrol station and garage workshop, the Local Shop and Post Office, Townsends Garden Centre and St. Peter’s Church and Vicarage all remain on the Bath Road giving it an urban village atmosphere.

On the canal the narrow boats continue to make their way through the locks to the distinctive and reassuring sound of the lock-keys opening and closing the gates. There are two Care Homes for the elderly within the parish and accommodation providing short term care for vulnerable young people. The Housing Association provides rented accommodation, many tenants are lifelong residents, but some young tenants do not stay very long, so it is more difficult to get to know them. The parish church does not have a hall of its own, in the past St.Peter’s School has provided a venue for local events, nor is there a Community Hall within this area of Devizes which has a growing population.

Many people have lived within the parish or neighbourhood all their lives and have worshipped at St. Peter’s for a very long time. Some people chose to move to Wiltshire for their work or on retirement and have sought for an Anglo-Catholic church of our integrity. Young adults who have come to England from the E.U. or from Africa have been made welcome , joined the congregation brought their babies for Baptism and worshipped with us before moving on to bigger and better accommodation and work.

THE CONGREGATION

The people of St. Peter’s parish and the congregation are the most valuable resource for the future. At the present time there are 90 on the Electoral Roll 49 of whom live outside the parish and travel considerable distance to attend the services. St. Peter’s is the only ABC parish church in north Wiltshire providing traditional Anglo Catholic and Book of Common Prayer services.

St. Peter’s has a team of servers who assist and an organist and choir who lead the singing, at the Sung Mass on Sunday mornings. There is a rota of people who are able to assist at Mass by reading or offering the intercessions.

The Sidesmen welcome visitors and newcomers. The congregation are caring people who help others. There are books and drawing materials available for children who receive a blessing at the appropriate time in the service. Church cleaners, brass cleaners, flower arrangers, Church News distributors and providers of coffee and cake all play their part. The Church Garden is maintained by a parishioner and has won ‘Devizes in Bloom’ awards in successive years.

Members of the congregation who served as Governors, teachers and former pupils miss the close links that were enjoyed with St. Peter’s School so are anxious to maintain a relationship with the children of the new Trinity School. The older children walked with their new Head Teacher, Mr. Andrew Wilson and staff to St Peter’s to join members of the congregation for an Easter Service. The Parish Priest, Fr. Peter Moss, Mr Wilson and the children collaborated on the Order of Service.

A St. Peter’s Church Trail has been compiled by a team from the congregation with the intention that it may be a useful educational resource. The seating in the south-west corner of the church has been modified to provide a social corner for the serving of coffee after Sung Mass and for small meetings. Social and fund raising events take place during the year including coffee mornings, quizzes, a cake stall in town, outings and the joyous ‘harvest supper’ held in the Crown Centre.

Outings include the Annual Glastonbury Pilgrimage with our Servers assisting ; visits to the Shrine at Walsingham ; ‘Quiet Days’ at Ivy House, St Deny’s, Warminster; and each year the See of Ebbsfleet Chrism Mass and Festivals. In April of this year a group travelled to London for a visit to St. Peter’s Church, London Docks in Wapping. We are proud of our connection with this parish church where the saintly Father Lincoln Wainwright, who began his priestly ministry as Curate at St Peter’s Devizes, was firstly Curate and then Vicar serving there for 56 years until his death in 1929.

The Women’s Guild meet twice a month, membership is open and growing. Meetings used to be held in the school but are now in the Crown Centre in Devizes. The Guild’s annual church service is on Ascension Day.

THE CHURCH in the COMMUNITY

Since 1866 there have been many changes, many new inventions; different demands on people socially and economically. It is our challenge as a worshipping community to be a constant presence amongst change, to draw people into the awareness of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; to the Holy Scriptures and the truths to be found there.

The church is approximately in the centre of the parish, surrounded by a garden. Beneath the west window there is a Garden of Rest. A Book of Remembrance records the names of those whose ashes are interred there.

The Vicarage stands beside the church, a solid two storey building bought in the 1940s with study, two reception rooms, kitchen, utility room and cloaks on the ground floor, four bedrooms and bathroom on the upper floor. There is a garage and parking space with gardens around the house.

Mission

St Peter’s Church is Anglo-Catholic in doctrine and practice. In order to maintain the integrity of these traditions the PCC passed Resolutions A & B in 2003, Resolution C was granted in 2005. All three resolutions have been re-affirmed this year since we have been in interregnum.

St Peter’s is in the episcopal, pastoral and sacramental care of the See of Ebbsfleet, which co-operates with the Bishops of Salisbury and Ramsbury. The parish is affiliated to the Forward -in-Faith movement and to the Mission Society of St. Wilfrid and St. Hilda.

Outreach

The church produces a monthly ‘Parish News ‘which is delivered to every household in the parish. A weekly ‘Pew Sheet ‘produced by Forward-in Faith, includes reflections on the days bible readings, and on a saint whose day falls that week. Details of services and events are added.

St. Peter’s has four licensed Lay Pastoral Assistants who make provision for the infirm. The L.P.A.s, who used to assist the parish priest, now in the interregnum continue to visit the housebound and each month services are held in the two Nursing Homes in the parish.

Requests for Baptism are followed up by one of the L.P.A.’s and then by the ’Acting Priest- in-Charge.’ The Nursery School is made welcome and enacts a Christmas play or concert in church for their families. We see an opportunity to develop and encourage our relationship with the Nursery as close neighbours and hope for a priest who will lead us in this.

The Christingle Service is attended by many young children and their parents.

There are significant possibilities for further outreach within our community to the care homes which provide for elderly and for vulnerable young people in our parish. In addition we anticipate new neighbours as plans for a small residential development on the site of the old school proceed. We would see this as an opportunity to offer a welcome, hospitality and a sharing of our faith.

SERVICES

St. Peter’s is to be first and foremost a House of Prayer

• Services are held every Sunday.

• Low Mass and Homily [Book of Common Prayer] at 8.00am.

• [During the interregnum on the 4th Sunday of each month].

• Sung Mass and Sermon at 10.00am, the Angelus is said at the close of the Service.

• Midweek: Low Mass with Homily on Thursdays at 7.00pm.

• Benediction used to be held on the first Sunday of the month, but not during the interregnum.

• The daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer are said on most weekdays.

• We are very fortunate; retired priests of our integrity are helping, one as ‘acting priest-in-charge.’

• Most Baptisms are conducted within the 10.00am Sung Mass in the presence of the church family.

• Weddings by arrangement, the couples are welcomed, we hope that they will return to worship with us.

• Funerals are dignified traditional services with a Requiem Mass for the departed if requested.

• The services are traditional, not ‘old fashioned’.

THE CHURCH OF ST PETER, DEVIZES

On entering the church the first impression is of the purpose of the building; designed for worship to glorify God, a worthy setting for the offering of the Mass.

For a relatively small church it is endowed with some beautiful stained glass windows. The great west window shows the figure of Our Lord robed and crowned as King of Glory; when the evening sun shines through it the whole church is bathed in golden light.

The chancel screen and rood draw people towards the high altar at the east end which is the focal point with the sanctuary lamp, cross and tabernacle and the dorsal curtain forming a backdrop.

The Sanctuary is built for the offering of the Mass with the priest facing east.

Vestments The church has full sets of vestments, high mass sets, high altar frontals and dorsal curtains. The Sacristan duties include the care of the vestments and preparation for the services.

Fabric The last Quinquennial Survey was in 2009 in which the PCC were congratulated on the extent of works carried out to the building. Since 2009 the provision of improved guttering and ground-drainage has reduced the problem of damp in the south wall of the Lady Chapel. The present concern is for the provision of new and improved external protection for the stained glass windows.

Financial Health The church is paying the full amount of the diocesan annual ‘share’ demand. Fund raising events are held to help balance income and expenditure. Collections are taken and offered at the Sunday services, supported by payments via. Bankers order, with tax recovered under the ‘Gift Aid ‘scheme. Financial support is also given by members of the community who do not necessarily attend the services.

Collaborative Ministry St. Peter’s is a member of the Devizes Partnership of Churches, representatives from Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Salvation Army, Christian Fellowship, United Reform churches and the Society of Friends attend. Interdenominational services and events are arranged, members of our congregation participate. Exchange visits between our neighbours of the Roman Catholic Church and St. Peter’s have evolved. Members of St. Peter’s church have attended Vespers. On Good Friday mornings members of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception attend Morning Prayer B.C.P. before moving on together to the Partnership of Churches Act of Witness in Devizes Market Place.

OUR CHURCH: Why Are We Here?

The Font stands just inside the main door of St. Peter’s church, It is hexagonal, on three of the sides of the font there are symbolic medieval carvings. • The ship, ‘The Ship of Faith ’, is The Church sailing through rough seas. The ‘Three Fishes’, co-equal, each with the tail of another in its mouth, depicting the Holy Trinity. The ‘Mystic Rose’ representing the Blessed Virgin Mary. Obedience to God’s Will; Faith in His Purpose; Love for His Son.

This church, its spiritual inheritance of Anglican worship based on scripture and tradition upheld by the hard work and dedication of earlier generations of priests and people created a ‘House of Prayer’ worthy of our God and Heavenly Father. It is our responsibility, churchwardens, members of the PCC and congregation to enable others, the future generations, to enjoy that ‘inheritance’.

PERSONAL PROFILE:

We seek a traditional catholic priest who will, supported by the Churchwardens, PCC, retired clergy and laity: • Lead the celebration of the Eucharist as the focal point of parish life. • Maintain the high standards of the traditional worship and B.C.P. Services. • Be a good pastor and encourage us in reaching out to our neighbours. • Encourage links with the new C of E. Primary School in the town. • AND have a sense of humour to help deal with diverse personalities.

FORWARD PLANNING: Aims and Objectives

• To appoint a Priest in Charge to provide pastoral care and ministry in the parish, including the residential homes, local nursery and the arrival of new neighbours. • Maintain the Daily Offices at St. Peter’s. • The Priest in Charge to give spiritual guidance to all who attend its services. • Continue under the Episcopal care of the Bishop of Ebbsfleet and to sustain contact with other churches in the See of Ebbsfleet. • Establish a working relationship with the two other Devizes parishes for the worship, support and pastoral care of The Trinity School.

Acknowledgements

To Lorna Haycock for her book Devizes, History and Guide To Terry Gaylard for his publication St Peter’s Church, Bath Road, Devizes: A History of the Church and School, 125th Anniversary [1866-1991] To my grandson, Ged, for his I.T. skills, and to my ‘proof readers ’for their patience.

Jean Hosie Churchwarden Feb 2014