St Nicholas Church, Durham

St Nicholas Church, commonly known as St Nic's, is a Church of England place of worship located on Durham marketplace and is the city's civic church. The church stands in the open evangelical tradition of the Church of England.

St Nicholas Church, Durham
St Nic's
The church viewed from the marketplace
St Nicholas Church, Durham
54°46′39″N 1°34′31″W
LocationDurham, County Durham
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipOpen Evangelical
Websitewww.stnics.org.uk
History
StatusCivic church
DedicationSaint Nicholas
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationGrade II
Architect(s)James Pigott Pritchett junior
Completed1858
Specifications
Bells6 (1687)
Administration
ParishSt Nicholas Durham
DeaneryDeanery of Durham
ArchdeaconryArchdeaconry of Durham
DioceseDiocese of Durham
ProvinceProvince of York
Clergy
Vicar(s)The Revd Arun Arora
Curate(s)Claire Elwood
Maeve Sherlock
NSM(s)The Revd Prof Peter Johnson
The Revd Colin Patterson
The Revd David V. Day
Laity
Reader(s)Jamie Harrison
Andrew Trigger

History
Old St Nicholas Church before its demolition in 1858

Old St Nicholas' Church

The original St Nicholas' Church is thought to have been founded in the early 12th century by Ranulf Flambard, Prince Bishop of Durham. He cleared Palace Green, between the cathedral and his castle, and established the current marketplace below the castle, with the church of St Nicholas, patron saint of merchants, beside it.[1][2]

This church had a buttressed nave and chancel, and a square tower with battlements. Its north wall formed part of the city walls, and abutted the ancient Clayport Gate on one side until the gate's demolition in 1791.[1] A graveyard lay between the church and the marketplace, and another behind the church.[1]

The building was extensively modified over the centuries, including shortening of the east end to allow widening of the road, and in the 19th century a market piazza was built against its south wall.[1] It was described in 1803 as "very ruinous".[1]

1858 rebuilding

In 1854, a competition was held to secure an architect to renovate the church, which was won by 24-year-old Darlington-based architect James Pigott Pritchett junior.[1][3] However, when the market piazza was demolished, it was found that the church was beyond repair, and Pritchett was engaged instead to design and build a new church. The incumbent, George Townshend Fox, gave an initial donation of £1000 (equivalent to £95,000 in 2019) towards the cost of rebuilding.[3]

The old church was demolished in June 1857.[1] Almost all that remains from is its font, dating from 1700, and its five bells, dating from 1687 and therefore the oldest ring of bells in the diocese. Though the bells were not rung from the 1970s onwards due to fears for the safety of the tower, ringing resumed in 2000 and the 17th-century bells, along with a sixth added in 1889, are now rung frequently.

Pritchett's new church, in the decorated gothic style, was estimated to cost £3600 (equivalent to £365,000 in 2019) and was opened with great ceremony in December 1858.[1] The building was described by the Illustrated London News at the time as "the most beautiful specimen of church architecture in the north of England", and was considered by Nikolaus Pevsner to be one of Pritchett's best.[4] It was the first church in Durham to have a spire; which had not been part of Pritchett's original plan, but was added at the behest of Fox, who paid the £400 cost himself.[1] It is a Grade II listed building.[5]

Reordering and later

George Carey, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was vicar of St Nicholas from 1975 to 1982. During that time he led a project, supervised by ecclesiastical architect Ronald Sims, in which the pews and the majority of the Victorian interior features of the church were removed to allow the church to be used more flexibly for worship and community activities.[1] Carey's book The Church in the Marketplace describes the process and its impact on the life of the parish.[6]

Parish and population
The church from the back, showing the compact design with the church hall as part of the same structure. The roof on the right belongs to the Market Hall.

The parish is small (covering only the area around the Market Place, Claypath and The Sands) and is bounded by the parishes of Durham's three other ancient city churches - St Giles', St Oswald's and St Margaret's. Historically the parish was densely populated; however, slum clearance in the 1920s (as well as commercial development of previously residential areas) greatly reduced the population of the parish, and though more recent building has increased this a little, the church draws the majority of its congregation from outside its own parish. It has a large student population, and is classified by the Diocese of Durham as its own locality, meaning that its mission is recognised as distinctly different from those of other city centre churches. The church has a long tradition of evangelicalism, and its patronage has been held by the Church Pastoral Aid Society since the mid-19th century.

Outreach

One notable feature of the reordered church is the Gateway World Shop, which occupies the south-east corner of the church, having its own outside entrance, and sells Fair trade goods. The shop reflects the church's long involvement with the fair trade movement; Richard Adams, founder of Traidcraft, was a member of the church.

St Nics has a long history of supporting overseas mission. The first bishop of Uganda, Alfred Tucker, left his curacy at St Nics to bring Christianity to Uganda. This support is currently expressed by the church's financial support of the Church Mission Society, South American Missionary Society, the Bible Society, Spanish Outreach Ministries and the diocese of Lesotho.

Notable clergy
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References
  1. Dodds, Derek (2019). Durham City in 50 Buildings. Amberley Books.
  2. Lloyd, Chris (29 November 2019). "The story of the first man to escape the Tower of London and his impact on Durham". The Northern Echo.
  3. Proud, Keith (29 January 2009). "Lesser jewels that light up cathedral's shadow". The Northern Echo.
  4. "St Nicholas' Church, Durham". The British Library. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  5. Historic England. "Church of St Nicholas  (Grade II) (1310684)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  6. Carey, George. The Church in the Market Place. ISBN 0-8192-1562-7.
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