Links…
St Mary at the Walls is
now an Arts Centre:
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From Wikipedia:
St
Mary-at-the-Walls
On Church Street Essex historian, was Rector from 1737 to 1770.[9] There was a further major rebuild in 1872[10] In 1978, the parish was united with Christ Church Ireton Road St Leonard St Leonard Colchester ).
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The church organ ended up
here:
Originally built by Hunter in 1881, for the church of St.
Mary-at-the-Walls, Colchester, the Cathedral organ is now sited at the west end
of the original Gothic nave of Brentwood’s Victorian Catholic church, in a case
designed by the architect of the new Cathedral, Quinlan Terry.
When St. Mary’s became an Arts Centre in 1977, the organ was
given to Brentwood Cathedral, and was completely rebuilt and restored by Percy
Daniel & Co Ltd. of Clevedon for installation in the new Cathedral
dedicated in 1991.
The organ has recently been thoroughly cleaned and refurbished
through the generosity of the Brentwood Diocesan Cathedral and Choral Trust
Fund. A new solo Fanfare Trumpet stop has been added together with tonal
revisions to the positive completed by Percy Daniel & Co Ltd and Dr David
Frostick.
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Here is an interesting webpage about the gargoyles: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMD2WN_Gargoyles_StMary_at_the_Wall_Church_Street_Colchester_Essex
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From this website:
ST. MARY’S-AT-THE-WALLS
The discovery
of Anglo-Saxon graves, perhaps of the Middle-Saxon period, south of the
surviving churchyard suggests that a pre-Conquest church stood on or near the
site of the surviving building. (fn. 71) The church, near the western postern in the town wall,
lay within the soke acquired by the bishop of London London Chelmsford
The rectory
was valued at 3 marks in 1254, £2 13s. 4d. in 1291, and £10 in 1535. A payment of 2s.
from St. Martin ’s rectory, recorded in 1254, was apparently lost by 1291. (fn. 77) In 1429 the abbot of St. John’s London
In 1610 the
glebe comprised c. 10 a. of arable, 3 a. of half year
land, and two small houses in St. Mary’s Lane. (fn. 83) The houses apparently replaced two taken down in the
1540s and were later divided into three dwellings which were pulled down c.
1677. (fn. 84) By 1810 Philip Bayles, rector 1804-55, had increased
the half year land to 11 a. by lease and purchase; from 1823 or earlier until c.
1890 he and his successors leased from the free burgesses rights of common on
the glebe. (fn. 85) By 1900 all the glebe had been sold. (fn. 86)
The rector
had an orchard and garden, and presumably also a house, in the early 14th
century. (fn. 87) A rectory house mentioned in 1610 was probably the one
opposite the church in St. Mary’s Lane that had 10 hearths in 1671, and was
extended eastwards c. 1677 by the rector, Joseph Powell. In
1739 its older west end was rebuilt by the rector, Philip Morant. (fn. 88) A new house was built in 1871, to the designs of
Frederic Chancellor, north-east of the old house, which was demolished. (fn. 89) The 1871 house was pulled down and replaced in 1964-5
by a smaller one, which was sold in 1983 to the Mercury theatre and renamed
Mercury House. (fn. 90)
In 1338 Joseph
Eleanor or Colchester , clerk, obtained licence to alienate 2 messuages, 102 a., a
toft, and 10s.
rent to two priests to say divine service in St. Mary’s church. (fn. 91) In 1348 he gave the same endowment, with 100 sheep,
for a chantry of St. Mary and All Saints served by two chaplains who were to
pray for him, his parents and benefactors, and all faithful Christians. (fn. 92) From 1362 or earlier the chantry was served by one
priest in the chapel of St.
Thomas
Rectors were
recorded from c. 1220; the living was poor and in the
Middle Ages incumbencies were usually short. (fn. 96) Papal authority was given in 1398 for the rector to
have a portable altar, and in 1440 to allow the new rector, Robert Lardener, to
hold another living, because of the poverty of St. Mary’s. (fn. 97) Lardener (d. 1464) endowed two lights before the great
crucifix and one at the entrance to the chancel. (fn. 98) The sale by the churchwardens of a silver and gilt pyx
and other plate c. 1534 and the removal of painted window
glass by 1548 suggest that parishioners held protestant views, as presumably
did Thomas Kirkham, rector 1540-51, who was fined in 1544 for failing to read
the king’s statutes in the church and for living with a woman. (fn. 99) His successor, Marmaduke Smith, escaped deprivation
for marriage in the spring of 1554, but took the precaution of fleeing before
the arrival of bishop Bonner’s episcopal visitors in October. (fn. 1)
From 1562
until 1804 rectors of St. Mary’s served at least one other cure, usually in or near Colchester , and from c.
1644 to 1735 were sequestrators of Holy Trinity. (fn. 2) Hugh Allen, rector from 1562, also held St. Mary
Magdalen and, from 1567, Tolleshunt D’Arcy. He subsequently went to Ireland
In 1644
parliament replaced the non-resident Robert Mercer, who was also vicar of St.
Peter’s, with William Boissard, who may have had royalist sympathies as he was
presented to All Saints’ rectory in 1640 by Sir Henry Audley. (fn. 6) Nevertheless he remained at St. Mary’s until 1660, when
he became perpetual curate of St. Giles’s. (fn. 7) Despite serious damage in the siege of 1648 (fn. 8) St. Mary’s church was used for baptisms 1654- c.
1663 and for marriages 1656-c. 1660. (fn. 9) The congregation used Holy Trinity church for services
until 1714, (fn. 10) when St. Mary’s church was rebuilt. John Smith, rector
1661-c.
1676 was also minister of the Dutch church 1668-75; he was later known as
‘Narrative Smith’ for his narrative of 1679 on the Popish plot. (fn. 11) The pluralist Joseph Powell, rector 1676-97, seems to
have lived in Colchester at least occasionally, for he enlarged the rectory
house, but an assistant curate, William Shillito, served St. Mary’s and Holy
Trinity 1679-99. (fn. 12)
Robert
Middleton, rector 1706-34, rebuilt St. Mary’s church in 1714 and from that time
provided one Sunday service in St. Mary’s, another in Holy Trinity, and
communion once a month and at festivals in the two churches by turns. From 1723
or earlier he employed assistant curates. (fn. 13) In the later 18th century the parish, with several
wealthy residents, a new church, and a good rectory house, (fn. 14) attracted two eminent scholars who preached to ‘polite
congregations’. (fn. 15) Philip Morant, historian of Essex, rector 1737-70,
provided one full Sunday service, communion once a month and at festivals, and
read prayers on Sundays between Michaelmas and Easter. He lived in the rectory
house until he moved in 1767 to his other benefice at Aldham, leaving an
assistant curate to serve St. Mary’s. (fn. 16) Thomas Twining, translator of Aristotle, vicar of
White Notley 1772-96, and curate of Fordham 1763-89, thought the living so
attractive, although not valuable, that he ‘used a bit of pushery’ to get it in
1788. He lived at Fordham and Colchester and died in 1804. (fn. 17)
His successor
Philip Bayles, rector 1804-55, served the cure himself, assisted in his later
years by a curate, and on Census Sunday in 1851 morning and afternoon services
were attended by c. 400. (fn. 18) In the 1860s the rector Charles L’Oste’s great age
inhibited innovation, but parish life revived under his successor John W.
Irvine, rector 1870-97 and rural dean from 1880, who increased the number of
services and rebuilt the church and rectory house. (fn. 19) His association with G. H. Wilkinson suggests an
interest in the reconciliation of ritualists and evangelicals; he also urged
better relations with nonconformists. (fn. 20) The parish boundaries were altered in 1898 by an
exchange of detached parts with Lexden and in 1911 by the transfer to St.
Mary’s of detached parts of St. Runwald’s, St. Botolph’s, and Holy Trinity,
consolidating the parish south and west of the church. (fn. 21) Greville T. Brunwin-Hales, rector of St. Mary’s 1897-
1932 and vicar of Berechurch 1913-32, rural dean from 1907, was active in
borough affairs and did notable work in the formation of the new diocese of
Chelmsford. (fn. 22) He introduced daily matins and evensong and weekly
communion, attracting many people from other parishes to St. Mary’s. (fn. 23) G. A. Campbell, rector and rural dean 1933-46,
replaced daily matins, which was rarely attended, with daily communion in St.
Mary’s or Christ Church
The church of
St. Mary’s-at-the-Walls comprises a chancel with northern organ chamber,
north-east vestries, and a south chapel, an aisled and clerestoried nave, north
and south porches, and a north-west tower. (fn. 28) All but the tower are of 1872. The medieval church
apparently comprised a chancel, perhaps with a chapel, a nave, south porch, and
north-west tower. (fn. 29) The tower needed repair in 1385, and was replaced c.
1534 by the surviving tower, built of rubble containing Roman bricks and tiles,
with limestone dressings. (fn. 30) The church was ruined in the siege of 1648. (fn. 31)
The repair of
the church may have been mooted in 1679 when a new bell was cast, but it was
not until 1709 that steps were taken to rebuild the church by brief. (fn. 32) In 1713 the remains of the chancel, nave, and porch
were demolished, and a new brick church, designed by John Price, was built
immediately east of the stump of the medieval tower. It comprised an aisled
nave with a west gallery, a small chancel, and the tower whose the upper stage
was rebuilt in brick in 1729. (fn. 33) Plans to crown the tower with four stone pineapples
and a cupola may not have been carried out. (fn. 34) In 1853 the western gallery was removed, revealing the
tower arch. (fn. 35) A south-east vestry, in imitation of Price’s style,
was added c.
1859. (fn. 36)
In 1872 the
church, except the tower, was rebuilt in red and black brick to the designs of
Arthur Blomfield. The chancel with south chapel and north organ chamber was
built first as an extension to the existing church, but as funds increased the
nave and aisles were rebuilt on the 18th-century foundations, the columns of
the arcades being of cast iron. A clerestory and north and south porches were
added. (fn. 37) In 1911 the tower battlements, damaged in the
earthquake of 1884, were repaired and a chancel screen and choir stalls were
built; the iron columns of the nave arcades were clad with light ochre
terracotta and their capitals decorated. (fn. 38) In 1922 an apse was added to the south chapel which
was refitted as a war memorial. (fn. 39) A rood and beam were erected in 1931. In 1936 vestries
were added to the north-east end of the church, (fn. 40) and in 1937 the interior walls of the church were
plastered and whitened, covering Blomfield’s patterned brickwork. (fn. 41) In 1980 the building was converted to an arts centre. (fn. 42)
The church
had one bell of 1679, which was moved to St. Leonard Colchester museum
includes a chalice of 1633, apparently made for the friary of Ross (Ireland Christ Church
In 1714 the
churchyard was levelled, tree-lined paths were laid round the church, and the
place became a fashionable resort of the gentry. (fn. 50) The paths and lime trees survived in 1988 with some
18th- and 19th-century monuments.
