| All Saints' Church | |
All Saints' Church, Northampton
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| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Churchmanship | High Church |
| Website | www.allsaintsnorthampton.co.uk |
| History | |
| Dedication | All Saints |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Peterborough |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Vicar(s) | David McConkey (from 28 April 2012), assisted by Nicolas Aldritt, Geoffrey Neal, Frank Pickard and Paul Rose. |
| Laity | |
| Organist/Director of music | Lee Dunleavy |
| Organist(s) | Roger Palmer & W. Ron Gates |
| Churchwarden(s) | David White & Jill Davidge |
All Saints' Church, Northampton situated in the centre of Northampton, is a Parish Church of the Church of England and Northampton's Civic Church.
Simon de Senlis' church of All Hallows, Northampton, England, lasted with medieval alterations until disaster struck the town on 20 September 1675. Most of the old town was destroyed by fire, not unlike the Great Fire of London in 1666 (see Great Fire of Northampton). The fire began in St. Mary's Street, near the castle, and the inhabitants fled to the Market Square, but then were forced to evacuate, leaving the buildings to burn, including All Hallows:
All Hallows Bells jangled their last and doleful Knell, presently after the Chimes had gone Twelve in a more pleasant Tune: And soon after the wind which did flie swifter than Horsemen, carried the Fire near the Dern-Gate, at least half a Mile from the place where it began, and into St. Giles-street in the East, and consumed every house therein, save one, whose end-Walls were higher than the Roof, and by them preserved.[1]
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After the fire, Charles II gave a thousand tons of timber for the rebuilding of All Hallows Church, and one tenth of the money collected for the rebuilding of the town was allocated to the rebuilding of All Hallows under the management of the King's Lynn architect, Henry Bell. Henry Bell at the time was resident in Northampton, and he set to rebuild the church in a manner similar to Sir Christopher Wren's designs.
After the fire, the central medieval tower had survived, as well as the crypt. The new church of All Saints was to be built east of the tower in an almost square plan, with a chancel to the east, and a north and south narthex flanking the tower.
You enter the church through the existing tower into a barrel vaulted nave. At the centre there is a dome, supported on four Ionic columns, which is lit by a lantern above. The barrel vault extends into the aisles from the dome in a Greek-cross form, leaving four flat ceilings in the corners of the church. The church is well lit by plain glass windows in the aisles and originally there was a large east window in the chancel, that is now covered by a reredos. The plasterwork ceiling is finely decorated, and the barrel vaults are lit by elliptical windows.
The comparison between this building and Sir Christopher Wren's building of the London churches after the Great Fire of London cannot be ignored.
After the Great Fire of London, the rebuilding of the city churches was initiated by financing of the second Building Act of 1670. Sir Christopher Wren, as Surveyor General of the King's Works, undertook this operation, and one of his first churches was St Mary-at-Hill.
The interior space of St Mary-at-Hill is roughly square in plan, and of a similar size to All Saints. To the west is the tower, again flanked by a north and south narthex. Wren spanned the square space by a barrel vault in a Greek-cross plan, with a dome at the centre, supported on four columns. If Henry Bell drew his inspiration from any one of Wren's churches, then this would be the one. The barrel vaulting though in All Saints is much flatter than in St. Mary-at-Hill, which has semi-circular vaulting. The dome in All Saints is more hemi-spherical, and the columns at St. Mary-at-Hill are Corinthian with fluting. The Mayoral Seat dominates the pews on the south side, and in the north aisle there is a Consistory Court. Two icons - of Saint Peter and Saint Katharine - are situated at the east end before the steps in to the Quire, and these were written for the Church in 2001 to reflect the parish boundaries which include the site of St Katharine's Church (demolished) and St Peter's Church. St Peter's Church, which was given to the Churches Conservation Trust in 1998, can lay claim to being the most outstanding Norman church in the county; it is open from 10.00am to 4.00pm on Thursdays and Fridays.
The rebuilt church of All Saints, Northampton, was consecrated and opened in 1680. Then in 1701 a large portico was added to the west end, in front of the narthex. As a memorial of Charles II's contribution to its rebuilding, a statue of him was erected above the portico, dressed in a Roman tunic. At noon on Oak Apple Day each year the choir sings a Latin Hymn to Charles from the roof as the statue is wreathed in oak leaves; a similar ceremony takes place on Ascension Day at 7.00am.
In 2008 the Narthex, Vestries and Lavatories were refurbished, and a privately-leased Coffee Shop operates from its North and South areas, and on the space under the Portico. The North end of the Coffee Shop is named the John Clare Lounge, after the poet who sat outside this space, composing his poems. Two years earlier, in 2006, a new Chancel Organ was installed to accompany the choirs (a West Gallery Organ is used for recitals (which are given on the first Thursday of the month (except August) and every Thursday in June and July at 1.10pm), and a small Organ in the Memorial Chapel for congregational services) alongside a new ring of ten bells, replacing a heavy set of eight dating from 1782.
All Saints is open from 9:00am to 5:00pm throughout the year, with extended opening on days with choral services.
The renowned choir of All Saints' Church, Northampton was formed in the Middle Ages and consists of Boys and Men and more recently, girls. The boys choir, the last of its kind singing in Northamptonshire range from 8 to 14 years old and the girls from 12 to 18. The men consist of Choral Scholars with an age range of 15 to 18, most of them having previously sung in the treble line, and Lay Clerks. The choirs sing five or more choral services a week, with Choral Evensong being sung at 6.00pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as well as Sunday alongside the 10.30am Solemn Choral Mass. In addition a voluntary choir, the All Saints' Singers, sing at the daily 12.30pm Mass on Feast Days; the music department thus currently boasts over 100 musicians regularly leading the services.
In recent years the choir has toured the United States of America (three times), France (twice), Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Poland, where the senior choristers sang Britten's War Requiem in a televised performance marking the seventieth anniversary of the invasion in 1939. In May 2010 they visited Paris, singing at the Église Saint-Sulpice and receiving a standing ovation from an audience of over one thousand at Notre Dame de Paris. In August 2010 they sang in residence at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. They have sung in many English Cathedrals, most recently Chester Cathedral, Ely Cathedral, Lichfield Cathedral, Gloucester Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. In 2010 they sang for the first time at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle and King's College Chapel, Cambridge and in September 2011 they sang at St Paul's Cathedral. In 2012 the Boys' Choir will tour Belgium, Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands and the choirs will sing at Gloucester Cathedral, St Edmundsbury Cathedral, St Alban's Abbey and York Minster.
In the past five years they have performed in concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Henryk Wieniawski Orchestra of Lublin, members of Queens' Park Sinfonia, Fiori Musicali, and the Stephen Petronio Company in a performance of Rufus Wainwright's Bloom. They gave their first full performance of Handel's Messiah in 2008, and in recent years have given concert performances of Monteverdi's Vespers, J. S. Bach's Cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, Haydn's Nelson Mass, Vaughan Williams' "Five mystical songs", Britten's "War Requiem", "Friday Afternoons" and "Ceremony of Carols", and Requiems by Bednall, Duruflé, Fauré and Rutter. In March 2010 they performed J. S. Bach's St Matthew Passion alongside the Northampton Bach Choir and the period orchestra Charivari Agréable, and the Choral Scholars and Lay Clerks's joined the Northampton Bach Choir to perform Rachmaninoff's Vespers in November 2010. In January 2011 they sang again alongside the Northampton Bach Choir and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Requiem (Fauré) and Handel's Zadok the Priest and in March 2011 they gave a concert performance of Franz Schubert's choral works with the Tyburn String Quartet.
They have a considerable catalogue of recordings, and in 2011 recorded two new discs; a second CD of French music for upper voices with the Girls' Choir, and the combined choirs recorded their fourth Christmas CD. All three choirs recorded a disc of their commissions - OMNES SANCTI - in the fine acoustics of St Mary's Church in Wellingborough in July 2010. Further plans include a CD of the music of Adrian Self, a disc of English music for upper voices and piano, and a recording of Solemn Choral Evensong and Benediction for Whitsun, a disc which will exclusively feature North American compositions. There are two CDs available of the Gallery Organ, one of three organs in the building; they also have grand piano given to the Church by Sir Clifford Curzon.
They are directed by Lee Dunleavy, former Organ Scholar of York Minster and Hertford College, Oxford, who is assisted by W. Ron Gates and Roger Palmer, Assistant Organists, Nathan Lam, Senior Organ Scholar and Joseph Groves, Junior Organ Scholar. The Church has produced many successful musicians, including Lay Clerks and Organists who hold or recently held positions at Blackburn Cathedral, Guildford Cathedral, Nativity Cathedral, Bethlehem PA, Magdalen College, Oxford, New College, Oxford, Peterborough Cathedral, Robinson College, Cambridge, St Albans Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral, St George's Chapel, Windsor, The Royal Academy of Music, The Royal College of Music, Wells Cathedral and York Minster.
The Choirs of All Saints pride themselves on performing a diverse repertoire and since 2002 have continued the earlier tradition at St Matthew's Church, Northampton by commissioning new choral and organ works; in the last five years they have given first performances of numerous choral and organ works, including a Mass setting by Adrian Self, a setting of "Ave Maria" from James MacMillan, and two new Carols by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett ("The Holly and the Ivy" and "The Shepherd's Carol"). In May 2011 they gave the first performance of a double-organ and double-choir Mass - "Messe pour Saint-Sulpice" - from David Briggs. In 2012 they will be giving the first performance of works by James Davy, Michael Finnissy and Adrian Self. Principal commissions are listed in bold.
2012 : Magnificat and Nunc dimittis (Third Service), S+org, Michael Finnissy
2011 : Messe pour Saint-Sulpice, S+SATB+2org, David Briggs
2010 : Two Carols (The Holly and the Ivy; The Shepherd's Carol), SATB (with divisions), Sir Richard Rodney Bennett
2009 : Ave Maria, SATB+org, James MacMillan
2008 : The Passion according to Saint Matthew, S+SATB+2org, David Bednall
2007 : Two anthems (Ecce sacerdos magnus, SSAATTBB; O living bread, SATB+org) Ian Colson
2006 : O praise God in his holiness, SATB+org, David Bednall
2005 : Missa 'Omnes Sancti', SATB+2org, Malcolm Archer
2004 : For Remembrance, SATTB, Robert Walker
2003 : Two anthems (Drop, drop, slow tears; The Bethlehem Star), SATB+org, Robert Walker
2002 : O where can I go from your spirit?, SATB+org, Malcolm Archer