St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury

St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury occupies a prominent position in the county town of Shropshire. The current church building was built in 1792, and with its distinctive round shape and high tower it is a well-known landmark in the town. It faces The Quarry area of parkland, which slopes down to the River Severn. The church is a Grade I listed building.^[2]

The motto of the church is "open doors, open hearts, and open minds". This indicates the aspiration of the church to be a welcoming church, involved in the community, and on a collective journey seeking after God.^[3]

Music is a strong tradition at St Chad's. The church has a robed choir which leads the music at many of the services. The church organ is a large three-manual pipe organ, built by Norman and Beard in 1904 and restored by Nicholsons in 1963 and Harrison & Harrison in 1985 and more recently in 2011.^[4] The church hosts lunchtime organ recitals and other concerts.

Charles Darwin was baptised in St Chad's church in 1809, and as a young boy attended the church with his mother Susannah.^[5]

The headstone prop of Ebenezer Scrooge (played by George C. Scott) that was used in the 1984 film A Christmas Carol is still present in the now-disused churchyard. According to the Shrewsbury Town Crier, Martin Wood, the headstone is not a "prop" but an actual period headstone, on which the original inscription had deteriorated to the point that the movie production people asked the church if they could use it and inscribe the "Ebenezer Scrooge" words on it. You can still see some of the original inscription on the bottom part of the stone. Among those actually buried in the churchyard was Shrewsbury architect Edward Haycock, Sr.^[6]

In 2010, the church became a member of the Greater Churches Group.^[7]

History

Inside St Chad's Church, looking towards the sanctuary

The present building replaced an earlier church, dedicated to St Chad, situated near College Hill; this was a 13th-century building which was largely destroyed when the central tower collapsed in 1788. All remaining of the earlier building is a side chapel surrounded by a disused churchyard which also contains an exposed crypt.

Scottish architect George Steuart was commissioned to build a new church, and he submitted several preliminary designs. Due to a misunderstanding, Steuart went on to complete a circular plan which was not the Parish Church Council's preferred design; however, time was limited, and this was the design which was built.^[8][9]

The foundation stone was laid on St Chad's day, 2 March 1790.The church was built of white Grinshill stone.^[8][9] The building work was supervised by John Simpson (who later worked on several projects with Thomas Telford, including the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct). Internally, the gallery was supported by slender cast iron pillars, an early example of cast iron used for this purpose; they were made by William Hazledine, a pioneering ironmaster who had a foundry in Shrewsbury.^[10][11] (There are memorials to Simpson and Hazledine on either side of the sanctuary arch of the church.^[9])

The church was opened on 19 August 1792.^[9]

The sanctuary window is a copy in stained glass of a triptych by Rubens in Antwerp Cathedral; it was made in the 1840s by David Evans, a local stained glass artist. The original pulpit, which obscured the altar, was removed in 1888; it was replaced by a copper and brass pulpit in Arts and Crafts style, placed to one side and giving a clearer view of the Sanctuary.^[8][9]

The entrance hall has many memorials relating to the 53rd Regiment of Foot, and its successor regiment the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) including:

• alabaster tablet memorial to officers and men of the 53rd who died at the Battle of Sobraon (1846);
• large tablet to those of that regiment who died in the Indian Mutiny campaign (1857–59);
• tablet to those of the 1st Battalion KSLI who died in the Egyptian campaign of 1882;
• tablet to those of the 1st KSLI who died in the occupation of Suakim, Sudan, 1885–86;
• tablet above vestibule entrance to KSLI dead (4,700 all ranks) of the Great War, unveiled 1930 in presence of Poet Laureate John Masefield; and
• books of remembrance of KSLI war dead of both World Wars, in separate cases.^[12]

In 1913 a vestry off the right hand side of the entrance lobby was converted in a chapel of St Aidan, in memory of former vicar Richard Eden St Aubyn Arkwright. In 1951, at about same time as a second storey was added to another vestry the opposite side of the lobby, funds were raised to convert this chapel into a regimental chapel for the KSLI, resulting in an enlarged apse, new altar, rood screen, rails and chairs. In 1952 and 1966 Regimental colours were laid up here.^[13]

After World War I, the church's main sanctuary was refitted with a light oak reredos, designed by Cecil Lightwood Hare, new altar and wainscot as a memorial to the parish fallen of the war, repainted in gold leaf and cobalt in 1951.^[13]

Notable Clergy

• Sir Lovelace Stamer, 3rd Baronet, Vicar 1892-96, also Anglican Bishop of Shrewsbury 1888-1906
• William Alonzo Parker, Vicar 1942-45, later Anglican Bishop of Shrewsbury 1959-70
• William Johnston, Vicar, later Bishop of Dunwich 1977-80

See also

• Grade I listed churches in Shropshire

References

External links

• St Chad's Church web site

Buildings and structures in Shrewsbury Civic HM Prison Shrewsbury Shrewsbury Library Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery Railway stations Abbey Foregate railway station Shrewsbury railway station Shrewsbury Abbey railway station Educational Belvidere School Meole Brace School Prestfelde School Priory School Shrewsbury College of Arts & Technology Shrewsbury High School Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury Sixth Form College Sundorne School Wakeman School Hospitals Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Churches Barnabas Community Church Greyfriars Christ Church, Shelton and Oxon Shrewsbury Abbey Shrewsbury Cathedral Shrewsbury Unitarian Church St Chad's Church St Mary's Church Pubs Golden Cross Complexes Darwin Shopping Centre New Riverside Shrewsbury Business Park The Parade Shopping Centre Sports venues Gay Meadow New Meadow Historic Coleham Pumping Station Ditherington Flax Mill The Mount Old Market Hall Shrewsbury Castle Town Walls Tower Monuments Lord Hill's Column The Quantum Leap Bridges Castle Walk Footbridge English Bridge Kingsland Bridge Porthill Bridge St George's Bridge Welsh Bridge

Coordinates: 52°42′26″N 2°45′32″W / 52.70722°N 2.75889°W / 52.70722; -2.75889