Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Newark-on-Trent

Coordinates: 53°04′36″N 00°48′30″W / 53.07667°N 0.80833°W

St Mary Magdalene's Church
Newark-upon-Trent

Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene
Denomination Church of England
Website southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk/newark-st-mary/hintro.php
History
Dedication St Mary Magdalene
Administration
Parish Newark-on-Trent
Deanery Newark & Southwell
Archdeaconry Newark
Diocese Southwell and Nottingham
Province York
Clergy
Rector Revd Stephen Morris
Curate(s) The Revd Judith Pollard (Team Curate)[1]

The Church of St Mary Magadalene, Newark-on-Trent is a parish church in the Church of England in Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire.

The church is Grade I listed by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport as a building of outstanding architectural or historic interest.

History

The present church is the third on this site. The Saxon church that stood on the site was in the manor of the Earl of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva, but nothing of that structure now remains. Newark had been granted by the Earl to the monks of Stow.[2]

The church

Exterior

It is notable for the tower and the octagonal spire (236 ft. high), the highest in Nottinghamshire. The central piers remain from the previous church, dating from the 11th or 12th century. The upper parts of the tower and spire were completed about 1350; the nave dates from between 1384 and 1393, and the chancel from 1489.

The sanctuary is bounded on the south and north by two chantry chapels, the former of which has on one of its panels a remarkable painting from the Dance of Death. There are a few old monuments, and an exceedingly fine brass of the 14th century. There is a hole in the spire which was supposedly made by a musket ball during the Civil War, although there is doubt locally as to the truth of the story. This hole is visible from some parts of the town centre.

The interior

Interior view of the church

On the north wall hangs the oil painting The Raising of Lazarus by William Hilton RA. It was previously used as an altarpiece for the High Altar.

It was heavily restored in the mid nineteenth century by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The reredos was added by Sir Ninian Comper.

The reredos, given in 1937 in memory of William Bradley and his wife Elizabeth, wasa deigned by Sir Ninian Comper.

The Magnus Bequest

The church is supported by the Magnus Bequest, a charitable foundation created in the early 1530s by Thomas Magnus, who gave farms and lands in south Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire for a fourfold purpose:

Music

Organ

The organ in St Mary Magdalene's Parish Church, Newark

At the beginning of the 19th century a new organ by George Pike England of 3 manuals was provided by the trustees of the Magnus, Brown’s and Phyllypott’s charities at a cost of £1300. It was opened on 11 November 1804 by Thomas Spofforth.[5]

It was placed on the west gallery from where the choir sang services. In 1814 the organ was re-located on the chancel screen and the choir returned to the chancel. In the 1850s, the organ was rebuilt by Forster and Andrews of Hull, provided with a new case and again re-located, this time to its present position in the south choir aisle.

In 1866 the organ was rebuilt and enlarged by Henry Willis. Willis virtually doubled the size of the instrument and its case, creating a large Romantic four-manual organ. The organ was again rebuilt by William Hill & Sons in 1910 at the expense of Mrs Becher Tidd Pratt and family, and subsequently by Hill, Norman and Beard in 1924, 1938, 1964 and 1978 when it was rebuilt and more voices added.

It is now electrically operated by the Ellen Dynamic Transmission system which allows much greater mobility of the organ console, providing more direct contact with the congregation and the choir; it is the first four-manual instrument in the country to be so equipped, enabling a live performance to be electronically recorded and replayed automatically.[6]

The Choir

The choir stalls and high altar

The Choral Foundation was set up by Thomas Magnus in 1532[3][4] and was said to be the only existing pre-reformation choir outside cathedrals and Oxbridge colleges. Girl choristers were admitted into the main choir from 2008.

As of February 2012, when choral services stopped following the dismissal of the Master of the Song School,[7] the choir comprised two head choristers (one boy and one girl), four senior choristers, several full choristers and a number of probationers, together with adult songmen who sang alto, tenor and bass parts.

A voluntary adult choir currently sings for the Sunday 9:30am Eucharist and the occasional civic services. Evensong is usually said at 6.00pm.

Masters of the Song School

Masters of the Song School, the Magnus Foundation, Newark

The organist of the church is still known by the old title Master of the Song School. There have been appointments since at least 1532.

  • Robert Kyrkbye[8] 1532- 1574
  • Peter Newcombe c. 1590
  • Edward Manestie until 1596
  • George Fishburne 1596 - 1636?
  • Thomas Kingstone 1636 - 1641
  • Thomas Heardson 1642 - 1649
  • John Hinton 1649 - 1668
  • John Barlow 1668 -
  • Roland Barlow 1679 - 1682
  • William Farrow 1682 - 1709
  • Thomas Farrow 1709 - 1712
  • John Spencer 1712 - 1731
  • John Murgatroyd 1731 - 1741
  • Walter Cottingham 1741 - 1749
  • Richard Justice 1749 - 1751
  • Samuel Wise 1751 - 1754, latterly organist of Southwell Minster and St. Mary's Church, Nottingham
  • Lloyd Rayner 1754 - 1756, later organist of Lincoln Minster
  • Bailey Marley 1757 - 1758
  • John Alcock[9] 1758 - 1768
  • Thomas Jackson 1768 - 1781
  • John Calah 1782 - 1784
  • William Hunter 1784 - 1802
  • William Brydges 1802 - 1835
  • Edward Dearle 1835 - 1864
  • Samuel Reay 1864 - 1901 (formerly organist of St Thomas the Martyr, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Sydney Harry Franz Weale FRCO LRAM 1901 - 1903
  • William Thompson Wright ARCO RCM 1903 - 1928 (formerly organist of St. Leonard's Church, Newark)
  • William A Hall MusDoc 1928 - 1930
  • Edward Francis Reginald Woolley[10] MA ARCO 1930 - 1954 (assistant organist at Lincoln Cathedral 1926 - 1930)
  • Colin Ingleson FRCO 1954 - 1974
  • Robert Edward Gillman 1974 - 1980
  • Michael Overbury 1980 - 1986 (later organist of Worksop Priory)
  • John Webster 1986 - 1992
  • Roger Bryan 1992 - 2006
  • George Richford BA (hons) Dunelm, Fellow of St John's College, Durham FRSA 2009 - 2012 (former Girls Choir Director and Acting Director of Music at Newcastle Cathedral, now Director of Music at Holy Trinity Dartford)
  • Interregnum 2012 - 2015[11]
  • Stephen Bullamore 2015[12] -
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Tower and south of Mary Magdalene's church

.

Assistant organists

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

Vicars of Newark

  • 1301 Walter Adam de Coddington
  • 1320 William de Lincoln
  • 1322 Rocelinus or Roslyn
  • 1333 John de Leverton
  • 1349 Thomas de Silkeston
  • 1359 Thomas de Westburgh
  • 1360 Roger de Leverton
  • 1367 William de Nesse
  • 1371 Roger de Leverton
  • 1375 John de Seggefield
  • 1378 John Sharp
  • 1421 John More
  • 1423 Thomas Marshe
  • 1425 Robert Crosslande
  • 1425 Nicholas Ferriby
  • 1445 John Burton
  • 1475 Nicholas Laughton
  • 1476 John Tristrop
  • 1479 John Smythe
  • 1521 Edward Fowke
  • 1521 Sampson Lorde
  • 1532 Henry Lytherlande
  • 1540/2 Robert Chapman
  • 1550 Christopher Sugden
  • 1554 John Taverham
  • 1559 Christopher Sugden
  • 1561 Edward Roodes
  • 1573 Nicholas Clayton
  • 1581 William Smythe
  • 1585 Lawrence Staunton
  • 1588 Edward Holden
  • 1596 William Pell
  • 1597 Bryan Vincent
  • 1601 Joseph Batts
  • 1612 Simon Jacks
  • 1618 Edmund Mason
  • 1628 Samuel Keemel
  • 1629 John Moseley
  • 1642 Henry Trewman
  • 1655 Samuel Hawkes
  • 1660 Thomas White, afterwards Bishop of Peterborough
  • 1666 Richard Pearson
  • 1667 Henry Smith, Prebendary of Southwell Minster
  • 1702 Eli Stanfield
  • 1719 Bemard Wilson, D.D.
  • 1772 Hugh Wade
  • 1776 Charles Fynes
  • 1788 Davies Pennell
  • 1814 William Bartlett
  • 1835 John Garrett Bussell, B.A., Canon of Lincoln Cathedral
  • 1874 Josiah Brown Pearson, LL.D. afterwards Bishop of Newcastle, Australia
  • 1880 Marshall Wild, M.A., Canon of Southwell Minster
  • 1908 Walter Paton Hindley, M.A., Canon of Southwell Minster
  • 1919 James Manders Walker, M.A., D.D., Canon of Southwell Minster
  • 1929 William Kay, DSM, M.C., M.A. Canon of Southwell Minster, afterwards Provost of Blackburn Cathedral
  • 1936 Alfred Parkinson, B.A., Canon of Southwell Minster
  • 1944 Lewis Mervyn Charles-Edwards, afterwards Bishop of Worcester
  • 1948 George William Clarkson, M.A., Canon of Southwell Minster, afterwards Bishop of Pontefract
  • 1955 John H.D. Grinter, B.A., Canon of Southwell Minster
  • 1963 Eric J. Kingsnorth, F.I.A., Canon of Southwell Minster
  • 1975 Benjamin Hugh Lewers, M.A., Rector from 1980, afterwards Provost of Derby Cathedral
  • 1981 George Miller McMillan Thomson
  • 1988 Roger Anthony John Hill, M.A., Canon of Southwell Minster
  • 2003 Vivian John Enever
  • 2014 Stephen Morris (Priest in charge)[14]

Gallery

See also

Sources

  1. Pask, B. M. (1995), The Parish Church of St, Mary Magdalene, The District Church Council of The Parish Church of St, Mary Magdalene, Newark, ISBN 0-951-6888-8-X
  2. 3.0 3.1 "Home page". Newark-upon-Trent, United Kingdom: Magnus Church of England School. Retrieved 28 April 2012. Magnus Church of England School was formed from the amalgamation of two schools: the Magdalene High School, which was named after Newark's Parish Church, St. Mary Magdalene, and the Thomas Magnus School. Thomas Magnus was Chaplain to King Henry VIII and gave money to start a Grammar School and a Song School.
  3. 4.0 4.1 "Sing a Song for Newark". Lincolnshire Echo (Lincoln, England: Northcliffe Media). 21 February 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2012. The Song School or music department at Newark Parish Church has a rich history. Established by Thomas Magnus in 1532, at a time when many choral foundations were being destroyed by King Henry VIII, the original choir consisted of just six men and six boys to sing the daily services.
  4. "N13568 Version 3.1". National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR). Reigate, United Kingdom: The British Institute of Organ Studies. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  5. "D06241 Version 3.1". National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR). Reigate, United Kingdom: The British Institute of Organ Studies. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  6. "Choristers fall silent". Newark Advertiser (Newark-on-Trent, United Kingdom: Advertiser Group Newspapers). 16 February 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  7. Warner, Tim. "Hamlet lay outside the town walls". Newark Advertiser (Newark-on-Trent, United Kingdom: Advertiser Group Newspapers)). Retrieved 28 April 2012. A deed from May, 1507, (quoted by N. G. Jackson in his history of the Magnus) makes reference to a Robert Kyrkbye of Osmundthorpe who was described as a 'singing man' (presumably a music teacher). This is thought to be the same Kyrkbye who became first master of the Magnus Song School from 1532 to 1574.
  8. "John Alcock (Jun): Eight Easy Voluntaries for the Organ (London 1775)". Greg Lewin Music: New Titles. Bridgnorth, United Kingdom: Greg Lewin Music. Retrieved 28 April 2012. John Alcock jun (1740-1791) was a chorister under his father at Lichfield Cathedral. He took his BMus degree at Oxford in 1766. He was Organist and Master of the Song School at Newark from 1758-1768 and organist of St Matthew's church, Walsall from 1773.
  9. Who's Who in Music. Shaw Publishing Co. Ltd. London. First Post-war Edition. 1949/50
  10. "Newark Parish Church's new director looks to musical future". Newark Advertiser (Newark on Trent). 22 June 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  11. "New director of music for Newark Parish Church". Newark Advertiser (Newark on Trent). 16 November 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  12. Lincolnshire Chronicle - Friday 11 March 1864
  13. "Warm Welcome for Priest". Newark Advertiser (Newark upon Trent). 22 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014. The Rev Stephen Morris was welcomed to the town by members of the church and the community.

External links

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