St Mary de Lode Church

St Mary de Lode Church, Archdeacon Street, Gloucester GL1 2QT, is a Church of England[1] church immediately outside the grounds of Gloucester Cathedral, which is believed to be on the site of the first Christian church in Britain. The church is in the Diocese of Gloucester and Grade I listed by English Heritage.[2] It has also been known as St. Mary Before the Gate of St. Peter, St. Mary Broad Gate and St. Mary De Port.[3]

Contents

History

The word Lode is from the old English word for water course or ferry and in this case it refers to a ferry that once crossed a branch of the River Severn to the west of the church, which no longer exists.[1] The church is believed to have been built on the site of an ancient Roman temple which became the first Christian church in Britain. The Roman mosaic tiled floor can still be seen in the church.

In 1979, archaeological excavations in the nave showed that the church is built over two Roman buildings of the 2nd to 4th and 5th to 6th centuries. There was also evidence of a church on the site Saxon times, or earlier. According to written records, the earliest church on the site dates from the late eleventh century, consisting of a nave, tower and chancel but these were destroyed in a 1190 fire. A new chancel was built in the thirteenth century.[1][4]

Local legend says that the church was the burial place of King Lucius, who established a bishopric in Gloucester in the second century A.D.[1] In March 1643 and also in 1646, during the English Civil War, the church was used as a prison to hold royalist soldiers captured by Sir William Waller and Lieut. Col. Edward Massey.[3]

Architecture

The church has a Norman tower and chancel, and a monument of Bishop John Hooper stands in its grounds. The nave was rebuilt in the Gothic style in 1826. There is a fifteenth century wooden pulpit and an organ which was moved from Gloucester's St Nicholas Church in 1971. The church also includes stained glass windows commemorating the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars and the Gloucester poet Ivor Gurney.

Today

St Mary de Lode remains a functioning church with regular services and a Sunday School.[1]

The church is the regular venue for concerts by the Gloucester Music Society.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e St Mary de Lode, Gloucester. A Church Near You, 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  2. ^ Church of St Mary de Lode. English Heritage. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b St. Mary de Lode Church. City of Gloucester, Places of Worship, 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  4. ^ Heighway, Carolyn. Gloucester: a history and guide. Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, 1985, p.72. ISBN 0862992567
  5. ^ The Gloucester Music Society. Retrieved 20 June 2011.

External links