St Mary's Church, Melton Mowbray

St Mary is the parish church of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The large medieval church, described as "one of the finest parish churches in Leicestershire", suffered from a poor Victorian restoration, and was left in a poor state of repair and deemed "unfit for purpose". By late 2017, work was completed to make the church more accessible and safe, which included a new floor and underfloor heating, a lighting and sound system and a rebuild of the historic organ; the reordering cost an approximate £2 million.[1][2]

St Mary's Church, Melton Mowbray
St Mary's Church
52°45′49″N 00°53′11″W
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipBroad Church
WebsiteWebsite
History
StatusActive
DedicationSt Mary
Architecture
Functional statusParish church
Heritage designationGrade I listed
Designated24 October 1950
Administration
ParishMelton Mowbray
DeaneryFramland
ArchdeaconryArchdeaconry of Leicester
DioceseDiocese of Leicester
ProvinceProvince of Canterbury
Clergy
RectorThe Revd Kevin Ashby
Honorary priest(s)The Revd Graham Spencer
Asst Curate(s)The Revd Catriona Cumming
Laity
Reader(s)Ted Hutchin, Malcolm Britton, Linda Pearson
Organist/Director of musicJames Gutteridge

Features
Melton Mowbray St Marys SE aspect

St Mary's Church is the largest and "stateliest" parish church in Leicestershire,[3] with visible remains dating mainly from the 13th-15th centuries. The stonework in the lowest section of the tower, which has Norman windows, dates from 1170, although there were certainly one or more Anglo-Saxon churches on this site before the Norman one. It is built on a plan more usual for cathedrals and the 100-foot tower dominates the town, and is a rare example of a parish church with aisled transepts (one of only five in the country) a feature usually found only in a cathedral. It contains a number of notable monuments including the tomb of Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray and others dating from the 14th to the 18th century; also a memorial tablet to equine artist John Ferneley (1782 to 1860).[4]

The church has a large choir containing around 40 members. It forms part of the Framland church trail along with 14 other churches in the 'Framland area'. Copies of the guide to the church trail are available from Melton Tourist Information Centre.

Crusader knight tomb in St.Mary's church, circa 1300, thought to be Hamon Belers, a relative of the de Mowbrays.

Bells and carillon

The belfry contains ten bells. The earliest bell (No.6) is by John of York dating from the fourteenth century. Most of the rest have been recast. Until 1802 there were only six bells: then two more were added and in 1894 a further two made the total ten. In addition there is a small sanctus bell which dates from the seventeenth century.

The carillon on which the chimes are played three times a day were restored in 1938 through a bequest by Alice Henton. This restoration involved a new clock to replace the previous one dating from the early nineteenth century.

List of Rectors
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • 1562 Miles Bennes
  • 1578 Edward Turner
  • 1599 Isaac Cooper
  • 1613 Zachary Cawdray
  • 1660 John Dowell
  • 1690 Simon Henley
  • 1731 John Hardy
  • 1740 Ffoulk Middleton
  • 1741 John Middleton
  • 1773 Thomas Ford
  • 1820 Thomas Godfrey
  • 1832 John Halifax
  • 1839 Robert Croughton
  • 1866 William Colles
  • 1889 Gilbert Karney
  • 1891 Canon Richard Blakeney
  • 1924 John Llewellyn Davies
  • 1928 Canon Percy Robson
  • 1937 Canon Harold R. Bates
  • 1946 Canon Charles Maurice Strettell Clark
  • 1965 Canon George Herbert Codrington
  • 1981 Canon Donald Edward Boughton Law
  • 1989 Donald Henry Thorpe
  • 1994 Canon Charles Jenkin
  • 2009 Kevin Ashby

Organ
Interior, looking East

A new organ was installed by John Gray of London was opened on 30 September 1832.[5] It was built in the fashion of two Gothic towers and was intended to stand at the west end of the church allowing a view of the window in the middle. It was enlarged by Groves and Mitchell in 1849 to comprise 27 stops over two manuals and pedals[6] and re-opened on 13 January 1850. In this new incarnation it was moved to a position either side of the chancel.[7] The organ was enlarged again in 1897[8] by William Hill and Son to become a 3 manual and pedal instrument of 39 stops. In 1929-30, Haydn Morton overhauled the instrument, inserted pneumatic action to the pedal board, and made layout modifications to assist with tuning and maintenance. The console was moved into the north transept.[9] This was rebuilt by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd in 1955. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

List of organists
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Taken from handwritten list in the church on the organ console:

  • Thomas Hickson 1846 - 1880
  • Claude Ferneley 1880 - 1890
  • L. Camidge 1890 - 1900
  • Percy Jones 1900 - 1914
  • Malcolm Sargent 1914 - 1924[10]
  • William Hunt 1925 - 1928
  • Percy George Saunders 1928 - 1930[11] later organist of Wakefield Cathedral
  • William Dean Pearson 1930 - 1937[12] - 1940
  • Lt. Col. Skentelbury 1941
  • Cecil Clarke 1942 - 1946
  • Harold L. Barnes 1946 - 1966
  • John A. Bellamy 1966 - 1968
  • Eric Bennett 1968 - 1973
  • Michael Bryan Hesford 1973 - 1978
  • Ian Major 1978 - 1982
  • Robert Kalton 1982 - 1987
  • Douglas Hollick 1987 - 1988
  • John Wilks 1988 - 1991
  • John Clark 1991 - 1998
  • Anne de Graeve 1998 - 2002
  • Keith Morgan 2002-2005
  • James Gutteridge 2005 - current
gollark: Also everyone, while you're here, be active or else.
gollark: Bees WILL be deployed. None are safe.
gollark: Thank you for reading.
gollark: Important message:Terrariola bad.
gollark: > incredible hardwareSomehow I doubt this.

References
  1. "Appeal to revamp St Mary's Church in Melton Mowbray". BBC news. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  2. "St Mary's Church, Melton Mowbray". Melton Mowbray Team Parish.
  3. Guide to St Mary's Church, Melton Mowbray. W. G. Hoskins
  4. British Listed Buildings - Parish Church of St Mary, Melton Mowbray, www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk, Accessed: 12 February 2015
  5. "Opening of the New Organ in Melton Mowbray Church". Stamford Mercury. England. 28 September 1832. Retrieved 21 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Melton Mowbray Church Organ". Leicester Journal. England. 21 December 1849. Retrieved 21 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Melton Mowbray". Leicestershire Chronicle. England. 18 January 1850. Retrieved 21 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Re-opening of Melton Parish Church Organ". Grantham Journal. England. 1 May 1897. Retrieved 21 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "St Mary's Church, Melton Mowbray. Dedication and opening of organ". Grantham Journal. England. 15 February 1930. Retrieved 21 June 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. Aldous, Richard (2001). Tunes of Glory: The Life of Malcolm Sargent. London: Hutchinson. p. 12. ISBN 0091801311.
  11. The Succession of Organists of the Chapel Royal and the Cathedrals of England and Wales from c.1538, Watkins Shaw. Oxford. 1991
  12. Who's who in Music. Shaw Publishing. 1937. p.227
  • Thompson, Charles Henry (1950). The Story of St Mary's Church Melton Mowbray. Gloucester : British Publishing Co.
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