St James' Church, Standard Hill

St. James' Church, Standard Hill was a Church of England church in Nottingham.

History

In 1807 an Act of Parliament sanctioned the erection of a new church, It was opposed by the three clergy of the existing parishes of Nottingham, but the land was acquired in the extra-parochial district of Standard Hill, over which none of the existing clergy had jurisdiction.^[1]

Despite the failure of their opposition, the three clergy succeeded in clogging its usefulness by imposing conditions on it. It had no parish, and marriages could not be celebrated in it during its first years.

The principal backers of this new church were Thomas Hill, Edmund Wright, Richard Eaton and Benjamin Maddock.

In 1808 a cornerstone was laid. The Rev. J. H. Maddock acted as Chaplain. The building proceeded and in 1809 the edifice was consecrated by Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt the Archbishop of York.^[2]

Shortly afterwards an independent congregation started to meet in the church. They left in 1883 when they opened their own church, Park Hill Congregational Church on Derby Road.

Bell

The bell in the tower was cast in 1791 by Hedderley for a cotton mill in Broad Marsh.

Organ

The first organ was installed in 1815 by the builder Thomas Elliot. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. On closure of the church, some of the pipes from the organ found their way into the new instrument at St. Cyprian's Church, Sneinton.

List of organists

• Mr. Hopkin ???? - 1850^[3]
• Henry Bond 1850 - 1866
• Francis Marshall Ward 1867 - ????
• Mr. Herrap Wood ca. 1879
• Frederick E Hollingshead^[4] (formerly organist of St. Andrew's Church, Nottingham, afterwards organist of St. Andrew's Church, Walcot, Bath)

Closure and demolition

The church was demolished in 1935 to make way for an extension to the Nottingham General Hospital.^[5] The church congregation moved to a new location in Mapperley Park. The parish was combined with that of St Peter's Church, Nottingham.

References