Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick

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The Collegiate Church of St Mary is the parish church of the town of Warwick, England. It lies in the centre of the town just east of the market place.

1 History
2 Bishop of Warwick
3 Gallery
4 External link

[edit] History

The church dates back nearly 1000 years and was founded by Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick in 1123. In addition to founding the church, de Beaumont established the College of Dean and Canons at the church. The only part of the Norman church that survives is the crypt.

The chancel vestries and chapter house of the church were extensively rebuilt in the 14th century by a later Earl of Warwick, Thomas Beauchamp in the gothic style. His descendants built what is officially called the Chapel of Our Lady, but commonly known as the Beauchamp Chapel. It contains the effigial monuments of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick and Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester.

The 1694 the church, along with much of Warwick, was devastated by the Great Fire of Warwick. The nave and tower of the building were completely destroyed. Rebuilding took ten years, and in 1704 the renovated building was completed.

[edit] Bishop of Warwick

The church has the status of collegiate church. There is a Bishop of Warwick, but it is not correct to describe him as having his seat at St Mary's as the church is not a cathedral. The Bishop of Warwick is instead a suffragan bishop operating under the authority of the Bishop of Coventry.