 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2010) |
The Glover's Needle (or St Andrews Spire) is a spire-carrying tower in the city of Worcester, England. [1]
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2010) |
The Glover's Needle (or St Andrews Spire) is a spire-carrying tower in the city of Worcester, England. [1]
The tower is a prominent landmark of the city, from road, rail, or the River Severn, and can be seen for miles around. It is located in St Andrews Gardens close to Worcester College of Technology. [2] The spire used to crown the church of St Andrew but this was demolished in the late 1940s. The Glover's Needle is seated on Deansway, Worcester Cathedral being very close to the south and All Saints Church to the north. On the western side of the spire the pedestrian can descend into gardens that lead onto the River Severn. Across the road from the Glover's Needle is a "House of Fraser" shop which stands on the site of the old graveyard of St Andrews. At night the spire is illuminated (but not the tower below) and a blue glow is projected from inside one of the windows. The blue represents St Andrew, the colour of the Scottish flag.[ citation needed ] The blue glow and night lighting were paid for by the Rotary Club of Worcester Severn, to commemorate the millennium in 2000.
St. Andrews, a church with a tall spire, was built in the 15th century, but this was destroyed in a great storm of 1733.[ citation needed ] The spire was rebuilt in 1751 by Nathaniel Wilkinson. [3] It was constructed by using the ingenious method of kite flying to carry up the stones. Worcester people took the new masterpiece to their hearts and named it the 'Glover's Needle'.[ citation needed ] This name came from the industrial glove making that was executed in Worcester. The entire structure measures approximately 245 feet. It is the tallest spire in the country to have such a narrow angle of taper. In the 1920s the slum housing which crowded round the church was demolished. The congregation of the church was thus reduced by a large degree. The church fell into decay, had an overgrown churchyard, few parishioners and a tiny parish of five acres. In the 1940s, the council accepted the Bishop of Worcester's offer of the church. They decided to demolish the church and create a garden of remembrance to replace it, but decided to leave the tower and spire, freestanding. The rest of St Andrew's church was demolished in 1949. The original top was replaced by a copy; the original can be found in the public garden which replaced the demolished church. [3]
As a millennium project, a clock was installed in the tower and now the hours are struck on the council bell.[ citation needed ] A recently reinstated custom is to have the council bell strike from 18:45 to 18:50 before a full meeting of the council. In the early 2000s a fence was put around the base of the spire. A few years ago,[ when? ] the RSPB has taken the Glover's Needle into their own hands and the actual spire is now used for special birds of prey for roosting.[ citation needed ] Live web cams have been installed in the tower. [4]
The Glover's Needle formerly housed a set of five bells.[ citation needed ] These were hung full circle for proper English style change ringing. In 1870, four of the bells were sold but the tenor (heaviest bell) was retained in the old bell frame. This bell weighs 20 CWT — 1 ton. This is the so-called council bell mentioned above. It is unlikely that the Glover's Needle could sustain a ring of bells today as there is no church to buttress the swaying tower.[ citation needed ]
Worcester is a cathedral city in Worcestershire, England, of which it is the county town. It is 30 mi (48 km) south-west of Birmingham, 27 mi (43 km) north of Gloucester and 23 mi (37 km) north-east of Hereford. The population was 103,872 in the 2021 census.
Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of the bishop was moved from Selsey.
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, widely known as St Mary Redcliffe, is the main Church of England parish church for the Redcliffe district of the city of Bristol, England. The first reference to a church on the site appears in 1158, with the present building dating from 1185 to 1872. The church is considered one of the country's finest and largest parish churches as well as an outstanding example of English Gothic architecture. The church is so large it is sometimes mistaken for Bristol Cathedral by tourists. The building has Grade I listed status, the highest possible category, by Historic England.
The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. It is one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom featuring three spires.
St George's Bridge was a bridge over the River Severn in Shrewsbury, England; so named as it was close to the medieval St George's Hospital. It connected Frankwell, an old suburb of the town, to the town centre via Mardol. The gate on the town side was called Mardol Gate and is located where the Mardol Quay Gardens are. The gate on the other side was called Welsh Gate or St George's Gate. The bridge, sometimes now known as the Old Welsh Bridge, was demolished in 1795 and was replaced with the Welsh Bridge.
Christchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset. It is one of the longest parish churches in the country and is as large as many of the Church of England Cathedrals.
All Saints' Church, Northampton is a Church of England parish church in the centre of Northampton. The current church was largely built after a fire and was consecrated in 1680. It is a Grade I listed building.
St Paul's Tower is a skyscraper located on Arundel Gate in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Construction commenced in May 2006 and the building was topped out in August 2010, surpassing Sheffield University's Arts Tower as the tallest building in Sheffield at 101 metres (331 ft) tall. The city's first skyscraper, it was constructed as the centrepiece of the St Paul's Place project as part of the Heart of the City redevelopment of Sheffield city centre.
The St Saviour's Cathedral is the heritage-listed cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn in Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree Council, New South Wales, Australia. The cathedral is dedicated to Jesus, in his title of Saviour. The current dean is the Very Reverend Phillip Saunders. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 April 2009.
St John's is a suburb of Worcester, England, lying west of the city centre and the River Severn. St. John's is referred to locally as the "Village in the City", which is partly due to being an independent township, before joining the city in 1837. There is still a sense of identity within the community.
St. Mary's Church, Selly Oak is a Church of England parish church in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England.
Hallow is a village and civil parish beside the River Severn, about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Worcester in Worcestershire. The village is on the A443 road that links Worcester with Holt Heath.
Wakefield Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, is a co-equal Anglican cathedral with Bradford and Ripon Cathedrals, in the Diocese of Leeds and a seat of the Bishop of Leeds. Originally the parish church, it has Anglo Saxon origins and, after enlargement and rebuilding, has the tallest spire in Yorkshire. Its 247-foot (75 m) spire is the tallest structure in the City of Wakefield. The cathedral was designated a Grade I listed building on 14 July 1953.
Walkley is a suburb of Sheffield, England, west of Burngreave, south of Hillsborough and north-east of Crookes.
St Thomas' Peace Garden is a small public park in Birmingham, England, designated as a monument to peace and a memorial to all those killed in armed conflict.
Anthony Keck (1726–1797) was an 18th-century English architect with an extensive practice in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and South Wales.
St Mary Magdalene Church is the Church of England parish church in the village of Ickleton in Cambridgeshire. The church is a Grade I listed building. Its parish is part of a combined benefice with those of St Peter's, Duxford and SS Mary and John, Hinxton.
The Church of St Andrew is a Church of England parish church and civic church in the centre of Rugby, in Warwickshire, England. It is a grade II* listed building. It is unique in having two peals of bells hung in separate towers and is part of the Major Churches Network. The church has medieval origins, but was greatly enlarged during the Victorian era.
St Andrew's Church, London Road was a parish church in the Church of England in Derby, Derbyshire. It was built between 1864 and 1867 and demolished in 1971.
St. Andrew's Church, Fulham, also known as St. Andrew's Church, West Kensington, is a Church of England church located in West Kensington, near Fulham in southwest London. The church was founded in 1873. The church is notable for the fact that some of its parishioners were responsible for establishing Fulham Football Club. It has been Grade II listed since 2009.