| St Mary Redcliffe | |
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St. Mary Redcliffe from the north west |
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Bristol, England |
| Geographic coordinates | 51°26′54″N 2°35′24″W / 51.4482°N 2.5899°WCoordinates: 51°26′54″N 2°35′24″W / 51.4482°N 2.5899°W |
| Affiliation | Anglican |
| Ecclesiastical status | parish church |
| Architectural description | |
| Year completed | 12th century |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 240 ft |
| Width | 44 ft |
| Width (nave) | 59ft |
| Height (max) | 54 ft 9 inches |
| Spire height | 292ft (90m) |
  Shown within Bristol
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St Mary Redcliffe (grid reference ST591723) is an Anglican parish church located in the Redcliffe district of the English port city of Bristol, close to the city centre.
Contents |
Background
The church is Grade I listed,[1]
- the tallest building in Bristol
- the second tallest Anglican parish church in the country after St. James Church, Louth
- the third tallest parish church in the country after the Roman Catholic Church of St. Walburge, Preston and St. James Church, Louth.
The church was described by Queen Elizabeth I as "the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England."[2],[3]
History
Parts of the church date to the beginning of the 12th century. However, most parts are the work of 15th-century masons. The strong vertical lines of the Gothic church direct the eye upwards, giving the impression of great space and height. The upper part of the spire, missing since being struck by lightning in 1446,[4] was replaced in 1872 to a height of 292ft (90m).[2]
In 1571, what was to become St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School was formed in a chapel in the churchyard. The church and school have remained closely linked in many aspects of their operations.
Thomas Chatterton was born in the house next to the church in 1752, and his writings were inspired by the church, in which he acted as sexton and used a room over the south porch as a study.[2]
During the Second World War a bomb exploded in a nearby street, throwing a rail from the tramway over the houses and into the churchyard of St Mary Redcliffe, where it became embedded in the ground. The rail is left there as a monument.[5]
Architecture and decoration
The north porch has an inner component dating from 1200, with black Purbeck Marble columns, and an outer hexagonal portion built in 1325 which is ogee-cusped with a Moorish appearance.[2]
Much of the medieval church decoration was lost during the Reformation and the English Civil War. A wrought-iron chancel screen built by William Edney in 1710 still stands under the tower.
The church is adorned with monuments to individuals from the history of the city, including Sir William Penn (the father of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania). His helm and half-armour are hung on the wall, together with the tattered banners of the Dutch ships that he captured in battle.[6]
Little of the early stained glass remains. In the west window of St John's Chapel, for instance, the medieval glass barely survived the destruction (said to have been caused by Oliver Cromwell's men). Most of the higher portions went untouched, but others were severely damaged. In some cases the windows were impossible to repair, and clear glass was eventually introduced to replace the missing scenes.
The choir have released numerous recordings, as well as touring Europe and North America.
In the times of Queen Anne, and partially funded by her, the interior of St Mary Redcliffe was decorated in the flamboyant Baroque style.[7]
The Victorian stained-glass windows were created by some of the finest studios of that period.
The tower contains four bells dating from 1763 and made by Thomas Bilbie of the Bilbie family.[8]
Hogarth's tryptych
A great altarpiece tryptych by William Hogarth was commissioned in 1756 to fill the east end of the chancel. The churchwardens paid him £525 for his paintings of the Ascension flanked by The Sealing of the Sepulchre and the Three Marys at the Tomb. This was removed from the church by mid-Victorian liturgists and stored at various sites, including a tobacco warehouse (as this provided suitable humidity), before being displayed at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery; it is now stored in the redundant church of St Nicholas, Bristol.[2]
Organ
The first pipe organ in the church, built by Harris and Byfield in 1726, was of three manuals and 26 stops. In 1911 a four-manual 71-stop organ was built by Harrison & Harrison. Towards the end of his life Arthur Harrison said that he regarded the organ at St Mary Redcliffe as his "finest and most characteristic work". This view has been echoed since by other notable organists. Kevin Bowyer recorded Sorabji's First Organ Symphony on it in 1988, for which the organ was an "ideal choice"; the notes to the recording describe the church as "acoustically ideal, with a reverberation period of 3½ seconds", and notes that the organ has "a luxuriousness of tone" and "a range of volume from practically inaudible to fiendishly loud". This organ was restored most recently in 1990, but remains essentially as Arthur Harrison designed it in 1911.
In January 2009, the organ builders Harrison & Harrison began to dismantle the organ in a process of renovation that will last 18 months. Most of the pipes will be taken away to the builders' workshop, but the largest 16ft and 32ft pipes will be cleaned on site. The renovation will cost around £800,000.
List of Organists
Organist
- Nelme Rogers 1727 - 1772
- John Allen 1772 - 1816
- Cornelius Bryan 1818 - 1840
- Edwin Hobhouse Sircom 1840 - 1855
- William Haydn Flood 1855 - 1862
Organist and Choirmaster
- Joseph William Lawson 1862 - 1906
- Ralph Thompson Morgan 1906 - 1949
- Kenneth Roy Long 1949 - 1952
- Ewart Garth Benson 1953 - 1968 (continued as Organist until 1987)
Choirmaster
- Peter Fowler 1968
- Bryan Anderson 1968 - 1980
- John Edward Marsh 1980 - 1987
Director of Music and Organist
- John Edward Marsh 1987 - 1994
- Anthony John Pinel 1994 - 2003
- Andrew William Kirk 2003
Assistant Organist
- John Edward Marsh 1976 - 1980
- Colin Hunt 1980 - 1990
- Anthony John Pinel 1990 - 1994
- Graham Alsop 1994 - 2003
- Graham & Claire Alsop 2003
Railway
The Bristol Harbour Railway used to run through a tunnel under the churchyard, between Bathurst Basin and Bristol Temple Meads.
References
- ^ "Church of St Mary Redcliffe". Images of England. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=380316. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
- ^ a b c d e Burrough, THB (1970). Bristol. London: Studio Vista. ISBN 0289798043.
- ^ Little, Bryan (1967). The City and County of Bristol. Wakefield: S. R. Publishers. ISBN 0854095128.
- ^ "St Mary Redcliffe". About Bristol. http://www.about-bristol.co.uk/chu-12.asp. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
- ^ "Memories of Bristol's Trams". Bristol history.com. http://weldgen.tripod.com/bristol-history-com/id4.html. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
- ^ Brace, Keith (1996). Portrait of Bristol. London: Robert Hale. ISBN 0709154356.
- ^ "18th century". St Mary Redcliffe. http://www.stmaryredcliffe.co.uk/18thCentury.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
- ^ Moore, James; Roy Rice & Ernest Hucker (1995). Bilbie and the Chew Valley clock makers. The authors. ISBN 0952670208.
See also
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: St Mary Redcliffe |
- Official site
- Skyscrapernews.com details Large collection of photos of the church
- St Mary's Redcliffe Parish Church - dimensions and plans
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