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

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St Mary Magdalene's Church
Newark-upon-Trent
Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene
Denomination Church of England
Website www.newarkanglican.org.uk
History
Dedication St Mary Magdalene
Administration
Parish Newark-on-Trent
Deanery Newark and Southwell
Archdeaconry Newark
Diocese Southwell and Nottingham
Province York
Clergy
Rector Revd Stephen Morris
(Priest in Charge)

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.[1]

The church

Exterior

It is notable for the tower and the octagonal spire (236 feet (72 m) high), the highest in Nottinghamshire[2] and reputed to be the fifth tallest in the UK.[3] 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

File:St.Mary's nave - geograph.org.uk - 919596.jpg
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, was designed 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:

  • The establishment and endowment of a free grammar school;[4]
  • The provision and endowment of a song school to ensure the maintenance of a high standard of worship in the parish;[5]
  • the provision of a sufficient sum to guarantee the efficient administration of the bequest and proper upkeep of the farms and lands from which the income was to be derived;
  • the provision of occasional sums to be used for the general well-being of the church or the town (if there be any surplus after the first three objects had been fully accomplished).

Music

Organ

File:The organ in St Mary Magdalene's Parish Church, Newark.jpg
The organ

At the beginning of the 19th century a new organ, by George Pike England, with three manuals, was provided by the trustees of the Magnus, Brown’s and Phyllypott’s charities at a cost of £1,300. It was opened on 11 November 1804 by Thomas Spofforth.[6]

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.[7]

The Choir

File:St.Mary's choir - geograph.org.uk - 919483.jpg
The choir stalls and high altar

The Choral Foundation was set up by Thomas Magnus in 1532[4][5] 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,[8] the choir comprised two head choristers (one boy and one girl), four senior choristers, eight full choristers and a number of probationers, together with adult songmen who sang alto, tenor and bass parts.

Masters of the Song School

File:Masters of the Song School.jpg
Masters of the Song School, the Magnus Foundation, Newark

There have been appointments since at least 1532.

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File:St Mary Magdalene's church, Newark 005.JPG
Tower and south of the church

.

Assistant organists

Harry Jacques 2015

Vicars of Newark

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Gallery

  • St Mary Magdalene's church, Newark 013.JPG

    The reredos

  • St Mary Magdalene's church, Newark 014.JPG

    Dance of Death panels

  • St Mary Magdalene's church, Newark 012.JPG

    Chancel roof

  • St Mary Magdalene's church, Newark 016.JPG

    The organ

  • St Mary Magdalene's church, Newark 017.JPG

    West window

  • St Mary Magdalene's church, Newark 010.JPG

    The tower and front from Kirkgate

See also

Sources

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External links

  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
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  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  11. ↑ Who's Who in Music. Shaw Publishing Co. Ltd. London. First Post-war Edition. 1949/50
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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lincolnshire Chronicle - Friday 11 March 1864
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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