St Mary's Church | |
---|---|
50°43′22″N1°58′18″W / 50.7227°N 1.9717°W | |
Denomination | Church of England |
Churchmanship | charismatic evangelical |
Weekly attendance | ca. 500 |
Website | www.smlpoole.org.uk |
History | |
Dedication | Virgin Mary |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | Grade II [1] ID: 412520 |
Architect(s) | Edward Blore |
Style | Gothic Revival |
Years built | 1830-33 |
Administration | |
Province | Canterbury |
Diocese | Salisbury |
Archdeaconry | Dorset |
Deanery | Poole and North Bournemouth |
Parish | Longfleet |
Clergy | |
Vicar(s) | Revd. Canon Andrew Perry |
Assistant priest(s) | Revd. Mark Hay |
Laity | |
Churchwarden(s) | Dr. Peter Naylor, Alison Cox |
Business manager | Claire Inkpen |
St Mary's, Longfleet (SML or SML Poole) is a Church of England parish church in Longfleet, a district of Poole, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is part of the New Wine network and describes itself as an evangelical charismatic church.
St Mary's is located on the south side of Longfleet Road, just above Poole Hospital. [2] It has a prominent spire that may be seen for miles around.
St. Mary's is a Gothic Revival church that was built in the years 1830–33 [3] and consecrated on 25 September 1833. [4] It built chiefly at the expense of Lord de Mauley [5] and was originally designed by Edward Blore, but has been considerably modified since. [4] In 1863, a chancel and organ chamber were added by G. E. Street and the year 1884 saw the western end enhanced by a spire, 135 feet (41 m) high, erected by G. R. Crickmay and Son. [3] The spire was donated by William Pearce JP, a 19th-century Mayor of Poole, who resided at nearby Springfield House. [6] There was further remodelling in 1915 [4] which saw the nave rebuilt with aisles and transepts by Herbert Kendell of Poole. [3] According to English Heritage, "in spite of a surprisingly complicated development, the church is an effective composition, whose major accent, the northwest tower and spire, is one of Poole's most important landmarks." [3]
In 1995 the church was assessed as a Grade II listed building. [3]
Longfleet parish was formed in 1837 from Great Canford. Its boundaries changed in 1946 when part of Longfleet became the new parish of Oakdale St George. [7] The living was, and still is, a vicarage in the Diocese of Salisbury. Its patron in the 1870s was Sir J. B. Guest, Bart., who owned Canford Manor, now Canford School. [5]
St. Mary's describes itself as a "vibrant evangelical charismatic Church" and "a large multi-generational church with an informal atmosphere." [8] The church is part of the New Wine Network [9] and, has a congregation of around 700, which is the largest in the Diocese of Salisbury.
The church continues to serve the local community and has several Sunday School classes as well as ministries for men, women, youth, pastoral care, outreach and worship. [10] [11] It is very active and works with local authorities, e.g. through Faithworks Wessex, running projects like MON£Y MATT£RS, a money management and debt advice service, [12] and Befrienders, linking up with people who are in need of companionship. [13] The church also has close links with Longfleet Church of England Primary School, which was formerly opposite on Longfleet Road. [14]
The present incumbent, Rev. Andrew Perry, became the vicar of St. Mary's in 1995 and has overseen the church as its community has grown from 80 to around 800. He was installed as a canon of Salisbury Cathedral on 3 July 2012. [15]
In August 2011, St Mary's was granted planning permission to redevelop its church centre [16] as a facility for the church and local community. The church centre is in Kingston Road, but faces the church itself across Longfleet Road. Work commenced in May 2013 and a pelican crossing over Longfleet Road was installed. [17] [16]
The new church centre was completed in May 2014 and officially opened on 23 September 2014 at a celebration attended by the Bishop of Salisbury, Nicholas Holtam. It is used regularly by Poole Hospital and local health charities.
In April 2018, SML sent a new vicar, Rev. Tessa Nisbet, and around 20 church members to lead a 'church graft' at St Michael's Church, Hamworthy, and St Gabriel's Church, Turlin Moor, in order to bring a new lease of life to the local community and turn around declining congregations. [18]
Salisbury is a cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately 20 miles from Southampton and 30 miles from Bath.
Poole is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is 21 miles (34 km) east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. The town had an estimated population of 151,500 making it the second-largest town in the ceremonial county of Dorset. Together with Bournemouth and Christchurch, the conurbation has a total population of nearly 400,000.
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The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the historic county of Dorset, and most of Wiltshire. The diocese is led by Stephen Lake, Bishop of Salisbury, and by the diocesan synod. The bishop's seat is at Salisbury Cathedral.
Poole is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Neil Duncan-Jordan, a Labour politician.
Hamworthy is a suburb of Poole, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It is sited on a peninsula of approximately 3 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) that is bordered by the town of Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to the south, Lytchett Bay to the west and Holes Bay to the east. Poole Bridge, the southern terminus of the A350 road, connects the suburb with the town centre. Hamworthy is the location of the Port of Poole ferry passenger terminal and cargo handling operations.
Wilton is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Lying about 3 miles (5 km) west of the city of Salisbury, and until 1889 the county town of Wiltshire, it has a rich heritage dating back to the Anglo-Saxons.
Parkstone is an area of Poole, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It is divided into 'Lower' and 'Upper' Parkstone. Upper Parkstone - "Up-on-'ill" as it used to be known in local parlance - is so-called because it is largely on higher ground slightly to the north of the lower-lying area of Lower Parkstone - "The Village" - which includes areas adjacent to Poole Harbour.
Longfleet is a small district of Poole, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England, centred on Longfleet Road. It is situated directly north of the town centre and lies to the east of Oakdale and to the south and west of Parkstone.
Poole Hospital is an acute general hospital in Poole, Dorset, England. Built in 1907, it has expanded from a basic 14-bed facility into a 789-bed hospital. It is the trauma centre for east Dorset and provides specialist services such as cancer treatment for the entire county. It is managed by the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital was managed by Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust until the merger with The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 1 October 2020.
St Andrew's Church was a Church of England church on Barking Road in Plaistow, east London. It began as a small mission built in 1860 on Whitwell Road by St Mary's Church, Plaistow. A permanent church designed by James Brooks opened in 1870 on a site just south of the northern outfall sewer embankment and a separate parish assigned to it the following year. A large central crossing tower with a pyramidal spire was planned but only completed as far as the ridge of the nave roof.
Hamworthy is a ward in Poole, Dorset. Since 2019, the ward has elected 3 councillors to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.