Newark Nottinghamshire
Church of St Mary Magdalene Newark, Nottinghamshire - There was a saxon church here but nothing of this remains.
The c1180 Crypt (now the treasury) and 4 transept crossing piers survive from second Norman building one whose site the c1498 chancel is believed to be built. Mid 15c nave arcade, clerestory and north aisle. Late 15c transepts.
From the 12c the Gilbertine priory of St Katherine outside Lincoln retained control until the Reformation, providing vicars.. Although subject to the Bishop of Lincoln as Lord of the Manor, Newark with the rest of Nottinghamshire lay in the diocese of York and this resulted in much tension as both ecclesiastical overlords and the Prior of St Katherine’s attempted to impose their own wills on the town and church. Sometimes this resulted in violence, as in 1426, when a mob incited by representatives of the Archbishop of York, riotted in the church, assaulting the vicar Thomas Marshe.
With money coming from local wool and cloth merchants, many chapels and altars were built during the late Middle Ages, with 16 known separate altars and at least 20 chantries of which two, the 1500 Thomas Mering www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/iB8u1T & 1507 Robert Markham www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/x81223 survive on either side of the high altar.
The guild chapel of the Holy Trinity in the south transept was associated with at least 4 chantries, there was also the Corpus Christi Chapel, and chapels dedicated to St Katharine, St James and St Lawrence. Altars were also dedicated to St Peter, St George, Holy Cross, St Helena, Holy Innocents and St Stephen. All were dissolved c1545 when their properties were sold off and their endowments appropriated.
The tower begun c1220 is wrapped round by the side aisles, the upper stages and spire were added in 14c.
The tower was used as a look-out point during the Civil War when the town endured 3 sieges by the parliamentarians, the spire being reputedly hit by a cannon ball on one occasion, and certainly a hole remains to this day.
Royalist officers killed in the Civil War sieges are buried on the north side of the churchyard - their coffins once rested in the crypt.
The tall spire has suffered a number of lightning strikes during its history. In 1793 it was struck while a service was taking place. No-one was injured, but a jackdaw was killed, the weathercock was damaged and some stones dislodged.
In the 1850s a great restoration was undertaken, instituted by the vicar Rev JG Bussell, carried out by the architect Sir George Gilbert Scott when all the galleries and box pews were removed.
Newark Nottinghamshire
Church of St Mary Magdalene Newark, Nottinghamshire - There was a saxon church here but nothing of this remains.
The c1180 Crypt (now the treasury) and 4 transept crossing piers survive from second Norman building one whose site the c1498 chancel is believed to be built. Mid 15c nave arcade, clerestory and north aisle. Late 15c transepts.
From the 12c the Gilbertine priory of St Katherine outside Lincoln retained control until the Reformation, providing vicars.. Although subject to the Bishop of Lincoln as Lord of the Manor, Newark with the rest of Nottinghamshire lay in the diocese of York and this resulted in much tension as both ecclesiastical overlords and the Prior of St Katherine’s attempted to impose their own wills on the town and church. Sometimes this resulted in violence, as in 1426, when a mob incited by representatives of the Archbishop of York, riotted in the church, assaulting the vicar Thomas Marshe.
With money coming from local wool and cloth merchants, many chapels and altars were built during the late Middle Ages, with 16 known separate altars and at least 20 chantries of which two, the 1500 Thomas Mering www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/iB8u1T & 1507 Robert Markham www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/x81223 survive on either side of the high altar.
The guild chapel of the Holy Trinity in the south transept was associated with at least 4 chantries, there was also the Corpus Christi Chapel, and chapels dedicated to St Katharine, St James and St Lawrence. Altars were also dedicated to St Peter, St George, Holy Cross, St Helena, Holy Innocents and St Stephen. All were dissolved c1545 when their properties were sold off and their endowments appropriated.
The tower begun c1220 is wrapped round by the side aisles, the upper stages and spire were added in 14c.
The tower was used as a look-out point during the Civil War when the town endured 3 sieges by the parliamentarians, the spire being reputedly hit by a cannon ball on one occasion, and certainly a hole remains to this day.
Royalist officers killed in the Civil War sieges are buried on the north side of the churchyard - their coffins once rested in the crypt.
The tall spire has suffered a number of lightning strikes during its history. In 1793 it was struck while a service was taking place. No-one was injured, but a jackdaw was killed, the weathercock was damaged and some stones dislodged.
In the 1850s a great restoration was undertaken, instituted by the vicar Rev JG Bussell, carried out by the architect Sir George Gilbert Scott when all the galleries and box pews were removed.