St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham

Last updated

St Mary Magdalene Church
St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham.jpg
Norfolk UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
St Mary Magdalene Church
Location in Norfolk
52°49′42″N0°30′32″E / 52.828204°N 0.508924°E / 52.828204; 0.508924
Location Sandringham Estate, Sandringham, Norfolk, PE35 6EH
CountryEngland
Denomination Church of England
Churchmanship Traditional Anglican
Website Parish website
History
StatusActive
Dedication St Mary Magdalene
Architecture
Functional status Parish church
Heritage designation Grade II* listed
Administration
Diocese Diocese of Norwich
Archdeaconry Archdeaconry of Lynn
Deanery Heacham and Rising
Parish Sandringham with West Newton and Appleton
Clergy
Rector The Revd Canon Dr Paul Williams

St Mary Magdalene Church is a church in Sandringham, Norfolk, England, located just to the southwest of Sandringham House. Members of the British Royal Family attend services when in residence at Sandringham, which normally includes Christmas. [1] The church is dedicated to Mary Magdalene, a disciple of Jesus. The rector is the Reverend Canon Paul Williams. [2]

Contents

History

The chancel Chancel of Sandringham Church.jpg
The chancel

The Grade II* listed [3] church is dedicated to Mary Magdalene [4] and is described as a small building in the Perpendicular style, "nobly lying on raised ground". [5] [6] The current building dates to the 16th century and was restored by S. S. Teulon in 1855 and Arthur Blomfield in 1890. It is considered to be a noteworthy example of a carrstone building. [7] [8] It is located in the park and is approached from Sandringham House through the garden by "an avenue of fine old Scotch firs". [6]

Much of the decoration and the church's stained glass in the east window was created by Charles Eamer Kempe whom King Edward VII had also commissioned in 1903 to create a stained glass window for Buckingham Palace of his eldest son, Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence. [9] [10] The church's silver altar and reredos, created by the silversmiths Barkentin & Krall, were presented to Queen Alexandra by the American department store owner Rodman Wanamaker as a tribute to Edward VII. He also presented her with the silver pulpit and a silver 17th-century Spanish processional cross. Of note also is a Florentine marble font and a Greek font dating to the 9th-century. [7] [11]

Burials

There are memorials to many members and relations of the Royal Family in the church and churchyard. Prince John (12 July 1905 – 18 January 1919) is buried here. After his death in February 1952, the body of King George VI was placed in the church for two days prior to its lying in state in Westminster Hall. [12]

Baptisms

The church has been the site of many royal baptisms. These baptisms include: [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince John of the United Kingdom</span> British prince (1905–1919)

Prince John was the fifth son and youngest of the six children of King George V and Queen Mary. At the time of his birth, his father was heir apparent to John's grandfather Edward VII. In 1910, John's father succeeded to the throne upon Edward VII's death, and John became fifth in the line of succession to the British throne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maud of Wales</span> Queen of Norway from 1905 to 1938

Maud of Wales was Queen of Norway as the wife of King Haakon VII. The youngest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, she was known as Princess Maud of Wales before her marriage, as her father was the Prince of Wales at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Frederick Bodley</span> English architect (1827–1907)

George Frederick Bodley was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watts & Co.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandringham House</span> Country house in Norfolk, England, private home of King Charles III

Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a 20,000-acre (8,100 ha) estate in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The house is listed as Grade II* and the landscaped gardens, park and woodlands are on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brundall</span> Human settlement in England

Brundall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is located on the north bank of the River Yare opposite Surlingham Broad and about 7 miles (11 km) east of the city of Norwich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dersingham</span> Human settlement in England

Dersingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of the town of King's Lynn and 70 km (43 mi) north-west of the city of Norwich, opening onto The Wash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellingham, Norfolk</span> Human settlement in England

Ellingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located 2.3 miles (3.7 km) north-east of Bungay and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Norwich, along the River Waveney. The majority of the population lies in the east of the parish in Kirby Row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Eamer Kempe</span> English designer and manufacturer of stained glass

Charles Eamer Kempe was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lychgates and memorials that helped to define a later nineteenth-century Anglican style. The list of English cathedrals containing examples of his work includes: Chester, Gloucester, Hereford, Lichfield, Wells, Winchester and York. Kempe's networks of patrons and influence stretched from the Royal Family and the Church of England hierarchy to the literary and artistic beau monde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy</span> British politician (1885–1955)

Edmund Maurice Burke Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy was a British Conservative Party politician who held a title in the Peerage of Ireland. He was the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Knollys</span> English courtier

Elizabeth Charlotte Knollys was an English courtier and member of the Knollys family. She was Lady of the Bedchamber, and the first woman private secretary, to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, later Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, consort of Edward VII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John the Divine, Kennington</span> Church in London, England

St John the Divine, Kennington, is an Anglican church in London. The parish of Kennington is within the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. The church was designed by the architect George Edmund Street in the Decorated Gothic style, and was built between 1871 and 1874. Today it is a grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Eastham</span> Church in Merseyside, England

St Mary's Church is in the village of Eastham, Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Wirral South.

Captain Frank Reginald Beck, was a land agent to the British royal family. He helped to form a volunteer company comprising members of the royal staff. Under his leadership this unit fought in the Gallipoli campaign of 1915. Following the landings at Suvla Bay, as part of the August Offensive, Beck and many of his men went missing, presumed killed.

Frederick Richard Leach (1837–1904) was an English master decorator, mural and stained glass painter based in Cambridge. He worked with the architects George Frederick Bodley and George Gilbert Scott Junior, the designer William Morris and the church craftsman Charles Eamer Kempe on many Victorian Gothic revival churches, Cambridge college interiors and church restorations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Trinity Church, Micklegate, York</span> Grade I listed church in York, England

Holy Trinity Church, Micklegate, York is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Font</span>

The Lily Font is a silver-gilt baptismal font used at the baptismal services of members of the British royal family. It is part of the Royal Collection and is kept at the Jewel House at the Tower of London when not in use. The Lily Font has been used for the baptism of all the children and grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth II except Princess Eugenie of York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Ninian's Chapel, Braemar</span> Grade B listed Anglican chapel in Scotland

St Ninian's Chapel in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is a Grade B listed Anglican chapel located in the grounds of the Mar Lodge Estate. Built from 1895 to 1898 for use as a private chapel by the family of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, owners of Mar Lodge, it has been the property of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney in the Scottish Episcopal Church since 1899. St Ninian's Chapel is the most westerly church in the Diocese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Sabinus, Woolacombe</span> Church in Devon, England

The Church of St Sabinus is the Church of England parish church for in Woolacombe, Devon. It is the only church in the United Kingdom that is dedicated to St Sabinus of Canosa and has been a Grade II* listed building since 1985. The church comes under the Diocese of Exeter.

Arthur Harry Cross was a chorister, organist, choirmaster and composer of sacred and secular music, who was appointed organist and choirmaster at St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham in 1878 at the age of 20. He continued in that position for 28 years until his death of heart disease in 1906.

References

  1. "Duke of Edinburgh misses royals' Christmas Day service". BBC. 25 December 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  2. Bishop, Chris (10 May 2022). "New rector joins Norfolk's Royal group of churches". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  3. Historic England. "Church of St Mary Magdelene (1077615)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  4. Blomefield, Francis; Parkin, Charles (1775). An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: History of Norwich. Printed for W. Miller. p. 684. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  5. JSTOR (Organization) (1905). The Musical times. Novello. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  6. 1 2 Jones, C. Rachel (1888). Sandringham, past and present. Jarrold & Sons. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Church of St. Mary Magdalene". Sandringham Estate.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  8. Kelly, E.R. (1865). The Post Office Directory of Norfolk & Suffolk. p.  365 . Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  9. Margaret Stavridi; Kempe Society (1988), Master of glass: Charles Eamer Kempe 1837-1907 and the work of his firm in stained glass and church decoration, John Taylor Book Ventures for the Kempe Society, retrieved 7 March 2019, The chancel of St Mary Magdelene, Sandringham, decoration and east window by C E Kempe and Co Ltd
  10. "Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence (1864-1892) 1903-05 - by C. E Kempe (d. 1907)". Royal Collection Trust. Retrieved 7 March 2019. Commissioned by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, c.1903. It was originally from the Ministers' Staircase at Buckingham Palace and thought to have been moved after air raids in the 1940s.
  11. James, N P (1 November 2011). Norfolk: A County Guide. Cv Publications. p. 25. ISBN   978-1-908419-01-9 . Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  12. Time Inc (18 February 1952). LIFE. Time Inc. p. 38. ISSN   0024-3019 . Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  13. "Royal Baptism: Prince George of Cambridge". 27 September 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  14. "Princess Charlotte to be christened at Sandringham". 5 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  15. Morton, p. 100
  16. "Princess Charlotte is christened at a Sandringham church". BBC News. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.