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Faversham Parish Church | |
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The Parish Church of St Mary of Charity | |
51°19′02″N0°53′41″E / 51.3171°N 0.8948°E | |
OS grid reference | TR 01822 61535 |
Location | Faversham, Kent |
Country | England |
Denomination | Church of England |
Website | www |
Specifications | |
Bells | 8 |
Administration | |
Diocese | Canterbury |
Clergy | |
Priest(s) | Revd Simon Rowlands |
St Mary of Charity, Faversham Parish Church is the Church of England parish church of the town of Faversham in Kent, England. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The church spire dominates the town's skyline and is visible from some distance.
The church is all that remains of a previously much larger religious community around Faversham Abbey which was established in 1147 by King Stephen and dissolved by Henry VIII.
Although the church itself was founded in the medieval era, the flying spire, known as a crown or corona spire, by which it is recognised dates to the 18th century - a period of prosperity for the town of Faversham. The church itself is much larger than might be expected and is reputed to be the second largest in Kent, after All Saints Church, Maidstone. This gives the church a distinctive acoustic and, unusually among parish churches, makes it large enough to hold a symphony orchestra for concerts. The interior was restored and transformed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, known for his St Pancras Station, the Foreign Office and many college and cathedral buildings, in 1874.
Notable features of the church include the reputed tomb of King Stephen (the church is thus one of only a few churches outside London where an English king was interred), nationally important misericords in the Quire, a rare medieval painted pillar and a recently installed altar dedicated to Saints Crispin and Crispinian.
Its clock was built by James William Benson.
In 1950 it was listed Grade I by English Heritage. [8]
The church supports a strong choral tradition with a choir of adults and children who sing Anglican Matins, Evensong and Communion. The current Director of Music is Ben Saul. The choir is affiliated with the RSCM and currently has three singers who hold the highest RSCM award, the Gold Award.
Sir George Gilbert Scott, largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started his career as a leading designer of workhouses. Over 800 buildings were designed or altered by him.
Cartmel Priory church serves as the parish church of Cartmel, Cumbria, England.
The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, it was refounded as a Benedictine monastery by St Wilfrid in 672. The church became collegiate in the tenth century, and acted as a mother church within the large Diocese of York for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The present church is the fourth, and was built between the 13th and 16th centuries. In 1836 the church became the cathedral for the Diocese of Ripon. In 2014 the Diocese was incorporated into the new Diocese of Leeds, and the church became one of three co-equal cathedrals of the Bishop of Leeds.
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, 8 miles (13 km) from Sittingbourne, 48 miles (77 km) from London and 10 miles (16 km) from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British trackway which was used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons, and known as Watling Street. The name is of Old English origin, meaning "the metal-worker's village".
Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the city's parish church. It is on Victoria Street in Manchester city centre and is a grade I listed building.
Sir Arthur William Blomfield was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in 1886. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied Architecture.
Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the diocese of Norwich. It is administered by its dean and chapter, and there are daily Church of England services. It is a Grade I listed building.
The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, training courses and an award scheme. The organisation was founded in England in 1927 by Sir Sydney Nicholson and today it operates internationally, with 8,500 members in over 40 countries worldwide, and is the largest church music organisation in Britain. Its Patron as of May 2024 is King Charles III, following the previous monarch Queen Elizabeth II.
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Leeds Minster, also known as the Minster and Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds is the minster church of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the site of the oldest church in the city and is of architectural and liturgical significance. A church is recorded on the site as early as the 7th century, although the present structure is a Gothic Revival one, designed by Robert Dennis Chantrell and completed in 1841. It is dedicated to Saint Peter and was the Parish Church of Leeds before receiving the honorific title of "Minster" in 2012. It has been designated a Grade I listed building by Historic England.
St Mary Magdalene Church, Newark-on-Trent is the parish church of Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England. It is dedicated to Mary Magdalene and is the tallest structure in the town.
St Mary's Church is the civic church of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England and is one of the largest parish churches in England. It claims to have the second longest nave, and the largest West Window of any parish church in the country. It was part of the abbey complex and originally was one of three large churches in the town.
A crown steeple, or crown spire, is a traditional form of church steeple in which curved stone flying buttresses form the open shape of a rounded crown. Crown spires first appeared in the Late Gothic church architecture in England and Scotland during the Late Middle Ages, continued to be built through the 17th century and reappeared in the late 18th century as part of the Gothic Revival.
The Church of St Mary and All Saints is an Anglican church in the village of Whalley, Lancashire, England. It is an active parish church in the Diocese of Blackburn. A church probably existed on the site in Anglo-Saxon times and the current building dates from the 13th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
All Saints is a parish church in Maidstone, Kent. It is a Grade I listed building, and has been described as the grandest Perpendicular style church in Kent.
St Mary's Church is a Church of England parish church in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
Norton, Buckland and Stone is a small rural civil parish 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Teynham and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the centre of Faversham in the borough of Swale, Kent, England. It is bypassed by the M2 to the south and traverses the historic A2, on the route of the Roman road of Watling Street. In 2011 the parish had a population of 467.
Charles William Justin Hanbury-Tracy was a British scholar and heritage consultant on the history and development of medieval British and European continental church furniture. He published under the name of Charles Tracy.
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