It occupies a hilltop site above Old Stevenage. It is a Grade I listed building and is composed of a tower, entrance porch, nave, north and south aisles, choir, Lady chapel, Trinity chapel, and vestry.
History
The earliest settlement in Stevenage was on the site of the present St Nicholas' Church.[1][2] It was likely established in the 7th century.[3] This Saxon village of wooden huts may have been centered around a small wooden church on a hilltop, or may have been a more scattered collection of farmsteads. It was at this time that the name "Stevenage" emerged, with early variants including "Stigenace" and "Stithenace" in the 11th century, the meaning of which is generally accepted as "at the stiff or strong oak", though some scholars favour "at the strong gate".[1] In Saxon times, England was divided into parishes, each with its church and a rector or vicar. The boundaries of Stevenage parish were defined at about 1100 and were unchanged for 850 years. The church in this time was enlarged and embellished. Parishes were organised into dioceses; Stevenage was in the Diocese of Lincoln. At this time, England was part of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe.[4]
In the early 12th century (probably around 1120,[4] though perhaps as early as 1100),[5] a thick-walled[6] flint tower[4] was built onto the church, where villagers could find refuge, and fire arrows at attackers through the narrow windows,[5] and the Saxon church was replaced by Norman one.[6] The flints, sourced from hills to the north of the town,[7] were knapped to produce smooth faces,[8] and set into lime mortar.[7] The tower also contains Hertfordshire puddingstone, brownish-white quartzite and speckled black and white volcanic rock.[8] In the 13th century, the town moved away from the church to the Great North Road.[2] Most of the church was completely rebuilt at this time, leaving just the tower,[9] which is now the oldest part of the church.[2] Traces of an earlier nave, which predates the tower, can be found on the eastern face of the tower.[7] Expansion of Stevenage in the 15th century is shown by expansion of the church at the same time. At this time, the aisles were widened, the chancel was rebuilt, and the spire was added in the second half of the 15th century.[10] The church was remote from the main settlement of Stevenage but also served many hamlets and farmsteads.[11]
In the 16th century, Protestant groups emerged, and Catholics and Protestants persecuted each other. There was religious upheaval during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I, from Henry's break with Rome in 1535 to Mary's death in 1558. Stevenage had as its rector at this time the Reverend Thomas Alleyne,[4] who was respected and loved by his parishioners, who saw him as a father figure. The Church of England (Anglican Church) emerged from these tumultuous years.[12] Alleyne was a Protestant, and Stevenage was probably Protestant in its outlook, as much of Hertfordshire was at this time.[13] Stevenage became part of the Diocese of London.[14] During the English Civil War, the church suffered the loss of stained glass windows, murals were whitewashed and ornaments were destroyed by Roundhead supporters.[15]
In 1841, the number of seats in the church was increased from 314 to 634, but this was still inadequate as the population of Stevenage was 1850.[16] As Stevenage expanded in the 1850s, a new church was needed as the population reached 2118. In 1861, a chapel-of-ease, the Holy Trinity Church, was built for the residents of new roads in the south of Stevenage who objected to the long walk to St Nicholas' Church,[17] especially as they would often find the church was full.[18] In 1877, Stevenage was placed in the Diocese of St Albans.[14] St Nicholas' Church was designated a Grade I listed building on 18 February 1948.[19]
Stevenage was designated the first new town in 1946.[20] Those concerned with the new town realised that new centres for people to meet were needed to create a sense of community, so several new churches were to be built.[21] In 1955, the Reverend Eric Cordingly became rector of Stevenage and led the development and reorganisation of the Church of England in Stevenage. Each neighbourhood of the town would have its own church building and priest-in-charge, and there would be one large, centrally-located church as the parish church for the town, St George's (later St Andrew and St George's), to which the title of rector would be attached.[20] St George's took over from St Nicholas' as the civic church of the town.[22] St Nicholas' and its daughter church, the Holy Trinity, became daughter churches of St George's, leading to sarcastic remarks that the daughter was older than the mother, and resentment that the ancient church had been casually demoted.[20]
In 1970, the ecclesiastical parish of Stevenage was divided into seven parishes, each with its own church and vicar (though St George's retained the title of rector),[22] so St Nicholas' regained its parish church status. In 1998, the benefice of St Nicholas was joined with that of St Mary, Graveley.[23]
Clergy
The earliest known rector of Stevenage is Nicholas Fitz-Simon, who was appointed in 1213.[24] Notable incumbents who left their mark on the town include Stephen Hellard, who bequeathed a set of almshouses to the town, rent-free, provided the residents commended his soul to God every day,[10] and Thomas Alleyne, who left funds in his will for a free grammar school, which, combined with that of a yeoman, Edward Wilshire, provided The Thomas Alleyne School in 1558, surviving today as The Thomas Alleyne Academy.[25]
In 1960, the new parish church of St George was consecrated and St Nicholas became a district church in the care of a priest-in-charge. In 1970, the parish of Stevenage was divided into seven separate parishes, and St Nicholas regained its status as a parish church, with the incumbent having the title of vicar. In 1998, the benefice of St Nicholas was joined with that of St Mary, Graveley, so from that date, each incumbent was vicar of St Nicholas and St Mary.[23]
The church now comprises the tower, an entrance porch, nave, north and south aisles, choir, Lady chapel, Trinity chapel and vestry.[6] The square-shaped font dates to the early 13th century[2] and has a medieval carved wooden cover.[6] The tower's walls are 5 feet (1.5m) thick on three sides at the base and 3feet 7inches (1.09m) at the top.[7] It measures 24feet 7inches (7.49m) by 22feet 1inch (6.73m) and is aligned about 12.5° west of north.[28] The church is entirely embattled.[29]
The wooden church attached to the 12th century stone tower was replaced in the 13th century. Aisles were added circa 1230,[19] and the present chancel was built in around 1330, the aisles were widened[9][19] and the font was installed.[11] The interior was decorated with paintings and stained glass, and it had a decorated roof and a gilded and painted screen between the chancel and the nave. Faint traces of murals dating to this period can still be seen.[9] A spire of the traditional Hertfordshire design[11] was added to the tower in the 14th[1] or 15th century.[2] The roof may have been raised and later lowered, evidenced by the presence of a door high on the tower, above the present roof, which presumably enclosed a higher nave roof.[11]
Around 1836, the walls were damp from soil accumulating on the outside walls to a height of 4 feet (1.2m) above the floor of the interior, so the soil was removed, leaving a ditch 5 feet (1.5m) wide, a low wall was built to keep the ditch banks up and the ditch was paved with bricks.[30] Following this, repairs were carried out to the tower; the spire was repaired and re-leaded, the battlements were restored, a cornice was run around the tower, the windows and doors were repaired and the whole surface of the tower was repaired.[31][32]
In 1841, the north-east vestry, south transept (since converted to a parish room)[33] and south porch were added,[19] and the pews were replaced.[16] The rector at the time, George Becher Blomfield, set about repairing leaks and draughts, and had a musicians' gallery at the west end of the church and its two supporting pillars removed to enable the repairs, and they were not replaced.[33] The pillars were moved to a coaching inn on the High Street where they remain to this day.[34] The entire ceiling was coloured to resemble oak; the chancel ceiling of plain plaster was taken down and renewed with transverse beams supported by angels painted in fresco. Two concealed windows were discovered in the chancel with the mullions and tracery nearly perfect, as were the remains of three sedilia and a double piscina.[32] The damaged font was repaired and moved.[35]
In 1914, the rector, Canon Molony, set about to restore the church where "the rain has been streaming down the inside walls in the south-west corner of the transept and the boarding of the nave has required further temporary repairs in order to save people from going through the flooring."[36] The south aisle was enlarged at around this time.[19]
The tower houses eight bells,[6] though in a 1553 list of church goods, four bells were listed, and it was increased to six before 1700.[37] The church also contains six 14th- or 15th-century oak misericords, including one with a carved image of a woman with a branks in her mouth (though sometimes interpreted as a Green Man) and another of an angel. Three of the others have foliage carved on them, and the sixth is plain.[38]
An organ was installed in 1836,[16] and it was enlarged in 1858, however, a new organ was erected in 1885. Alterations were made in the church for the new organ and new choir stalls.[32] The brass lectern was presented to the church in 1871.[35] There are nine stained glass windows in the church.[39] A carved reredos dates from 1890.[6] The oak pews installed in 1964 are by Robert (Mouseman) Thompson. St Nicholas' Church underwent redecoration in 2009,[40] and the parish room was refurbished in the 2010s with a kitchen and two upstairs toilets.[6]
Memorials
St Nicholas' Church has been called "unremarkable" within the county of Hertfordshire in that it has fewer medieval monuments and memorials than other parishes. It contains six visible surviving monuments from the Middle Ages,[41] five of them were brasses set into stone slabs.[42] The only surviving brass is a memorial to Stephen Hellard, who was rector of Stevenage from 1472 until his death in 1506, and is buried in the church. The brass is in the north of the altar and shows Hellard dressed as a priest in his vestments. It was inscribed while Hellard was alive with a space left for his death date, but the inscription was not completed.[42][43] The remaining brasses are missing with only indents remaining on the slabs and the details of any inscriptions were never recorded.[44] The sixth is a late-13th century stone effigy of a lady with hands raised in prayer at the east end of the north aisle. It is described as one of the "less common but most fascinating sepulchral devices". It is fragmented into four parts.[41] It was discovered in 1824 being used as a doorstep to the south aisle,[29][19] and was in good condition having been placed upside down, perhaps for centuries. The colours were preserved but have since faded, and the carving has worn, but a drawing of it was made upon its discovery, showing how it looked at the time. The lady is supported by two figures; it is generally accepted that the right figure is of a priest, the other may be an angel, a priest or a gentleman.[45] There is no evidence as to the lady's identity, and it is not known whether the effigy would have originally been set on top of a tomb or within a wall.[42]
Among the wall memorials in the church are a carved marble wall monument to Charles Gibbon dating to 1771, and a brass tablet that was placed on the wall at the south end of the communion rail to notify the esteem in which the Canon Blomfield, rector from 1834 to 1874, was held, by both friends and parishioners, after his death in 1885.[46] Above the door in the north aisle is a memorial tablet, described as the most stylish of the church's memorials, to Lieutenant Jellicoe Turner and his wife Georgiana Elizabeth Turner, who died in 1844 and 1831 respectively.[27] Lt. Turner had paid for the church organ and tower repairs in 1836.[37] A memorial plaque was dedicated to William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt in 1991.[47] Each of the nine stained glass windows contains a monumental inscription.[48]
Other wall tablets and memorials inside the church include:[48]
George Becher Blomfield (died 1885), Canon of Chester and rector of Stevenage 1834–1874
Frances Maria Blomfield (died 1837), wife of the Reverend George Becher Blomfield
Sara Bowcocke (1628–1660), wife of Richard Bowcocke, daughter of John Nodes, mother of two daughters, one abortive, the other Sara
William Jowitt (1834–1912), rector of Stevenage 1874–1912; and Louisa Margaret Jowitt (1840–1926), his wife
Captain Sidney Henry Lowry (died 1917), killed in action in Flanders aged 29
Henry William Eliot Molony, Canon of St Albans and rector of Stevenage 1912–1918
William Pratt (died 1629), rector of Stevenage 1579–1629; Latin inscription
Angela Godfrey's Only Connect monument to E. M. Forster, who lived in the nearby Rooks Nest and after whom the area to the north of the church known as Forster Country was named, stands at the edge of the churchyard,[49] and marks the entrance to Forster Country. It is the world's only monument to Forster. The monument was commissioned by the Friends of the Forster Country, funded jointly by Stevenage Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council, and unveiled by Stevenage's then MP, Barbara Follett, on 29 November 1997. The title is in acknowledgement of the subtitle of Forster's novel Howards End. It was carved in Watts Cliff Stone, a Millstone Grit rich in plagioclase which gives it a lilac colour, from a quarry near Elton, Derbyshire.[50]
Graffiti
St Nicholas' Church contains a "surprising" number of drawings on its pillars, giving insight into the minds of the medieval inhabitants of Stevenage. The graffiti has been described as among the finest of their kind in Hertfordshire, if not in all the "chalk churches" in eastern England, and can be regarded as just as important as the plague writings of Ashwell church's graffiti. The graffiti in the nave could date to as early as the 12th century, while some probably dates to the 17th or 18th century. They are in the form of masons' marks, geometric designs, human figures, shields, crosses and writing.[51][52]
Churchyard
The lychgate
The churchyard has existed since the original church was on the same site. It has been enlarged several times.[53] In 1862, about 0.75 acres (0.30ha) of land was purchased by parishioners and added to the churchyard. Further land was added on the eastern side of the churchyard c.1895.[54] The most recent expansion was in 1930 and it is now 3.5 acres (1.4ha). The churchyard is now closed to burials but adjoins a municipal cemetery to the east.[53] The lychgate at the entrance to the churchyard was erected in 1895, after Mrs George Smyth left money in her will devoted to the expense of doing so.[54]
The monumental inscriptions in the churchyard (and within the church) have been recorded three times, in 1908, 1962 and 1985. In 1985, 1,275 inscriptions were recorded in the churchyard, and a further 19 were recorded in 1962 that were not found in 1985.[48] Among those buried in the churchyard are Albert and Ebenezer Fox.[55] There are a small number of war graves, maintained by the War Graves Commission.[56]
Stevenage is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about 27 miles (43 km) north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage was designated the United Kingdom's first New Town under the New Towns Act.
South Mimms is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of South Mimms and Ridge, in the borough of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire in the East of England. It is a small settlement located near to the junction of the M25 motorway with the A1(M) motorway. In 2011 the parish had a population of 855.
Anstey is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Stevenage. According to the 2001 census the population of the parish was 338, reducing to 299 at the 2011 census.
St Peter's Church is the parish church of Prestbury, Cheshire, England. It is probably the fourth church on the site. The third, the Norman Chapel, stands in the churchyard. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The Norman Chapel, the lychgate and west wall, the Hearse House, and the sundial in the churchyard are listed at Grade II. It is a Church of England parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the deanery of Macclesfield.
The Church of St Wilfrid is in Market Place, Standish, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the Diocese of Blackburn. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The authors of the Buildings of England series describe it as "one of the most interesting churches in Lancashire".
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St John's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England. In 1967 it was recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is now vested in The Churches Conservation Trust. The church stands on the junction of St John's Street and Green Street and is open daily to visitors.
St Nicholas is the Anglican parish church of Blakeney, Norfolk, in the deanery of Holt and the Diocese of Norwich. The church was founded in the 13th century, but the greater part of the church dates from the 15th century when Blakeney was a seaport of some importance. Of the original structure only the chancel has survived rebuilding, perhaps owing to its link to a nearby Carmelite friary. An unusual architectural feature is a second tower, used as a beacon, at the east end. Other significant features are the vaulted chancel with a stepped seven-light lancet window, and the hammerbeam roof of the nave. St Nicholas is a nationally important building, with a Grade I listing for its exceptional architectural interest.
St Helen's Church is the Anglican parish church of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in the deanery of North West Leicestershire and the Diocese of Leicester. There was a church in the town in the 11th century, but the core of the present building mainly dates from work started in 1474, when the church was rebuilt by William Hastings at the same time that he converted his neighbouring manor house into a castle. The church was refurbished in about 1670 to create more space, but the large and increasing size of the congregation led to further work in 1829, and a major rebuild in 1878–80, including the widening of the nave by the addition of two outer aisles.
The Church of St Nicholas is a Grade I listed parish church in the village of Mavesyn Ridware, Staffordshire, England. The church is situated at the eastern end of the village approximately 370 m (1,210 ft) north of the River Trent and just to the north of the Gatehouse of the former ancient Manor House. Although medieval in origin the church was partly demolished in 1782 leaving only the north aisle and west tower remaining from the older structure. The church is one of only 12 Grade I listed buildings in Lichfield District. It is listed as such as it is a complete example of a late 18th-century church rebuilding including a very rare late 18th-century and early 19th-century conversion of a medieval aisle to the former church into a family chapel with neo-medieval fittings and monuments.
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The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a parish church of the Church of England in Baldock in Hertfordshire. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the original church on the site dated to about 1150 and was built by the Knights Templar before being largely rebuilt in about 1330 by the Knights Hospitaller. It is a Grade I listed building.
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St Mary the Virgin is the Church of England parish church for East Barnet within the Diocese of St Albans. It is located on Church Hill.
St Botolph's Church is an Anglican church in Quarrington in Lincolnshire, England. The area has been settled since at least the Anglo-Saxon period, and a church existed at Quarrington by the time the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, when it formed part of Ramsey Abbey's fee. It was granted to Haverholme Priory in 1165, and the Abbey claimed the right to present the rector in the 13th century.
St Peter's Church, Netherseal is a Grade II* listed parish church in the Church of England in Netherseal, Derbyshire.
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St Nicholas Church, Sutton, is a Grade II* listed parish church in the centre of Sutton, London. It was built between 1862 and 1864 in the Gothic style with dressed flint and stone dressings. It was designed by the architect Edwin Nash.
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The Colchester Arts Centre, is an arts centre in Colchester, Essex, which is located in a former Church of England parish church, the church of Saint Mary-at-the-Walls, a name derived from its proximity to the Roman town walls. The church may have had Anglo-Saxon origins but was first mentioned in the early 13th century. The building was badly damaged during the English Civil War and was fully rebuilt twice in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the exception of the 16th century bell tower which has been heavily restored. The church became redundant in 1978 and opened as an arts centre in 1980. It hosts a wide variety of events, specialising in emerging talent, with a number of well known artists having made early appearances at the venue. It is a Grade II listed building.
Ashby, Margaret (1982). The Book of Stevenage. Barracuda Books. ISBN978-0860231752.
Ashby, Margaret (1995). Stevenage Past. Phillimore & Co. ISBN978-0850339703.
Ashby, Margaret; Hepworth, John; Pitcher, June (August 1998). On Foot in the Forster Country. Stevenage Museum.
Ashby, Margaret, ed. (1999). St Nicholas' Church, Stevenage: Recent Research I. The Friends of St Nicholas' Church Trust in association with Cambridge University Board of Continuing Education. ISBN978-0860231752.
Ashby, Margaret; Hills, Don (2010). Stevenage: A History from Roman Times to the Present Day (1sted.). Scotforth Books. ISBN978-0752424644.
Laidlaw, Jean; Palmer, Vi (1986). The Parish Church of St Nicholas, Stevenage, Hertfordshire — Monumental Inscriptions. Hertfordshire Family & Population History Society. ISBN978-0946780099.
Madgin, Hugh (2004). Stevenage: A History & Celebration. Frith Book Company. ISBN978-1904938477.
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Whitelaw, Jeffrey W. (1999). Hidden Hertfordshire (3rded.). Countryside Books. ISBN978-1853060250.
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