St. Alphege's Church, Solihull
Coordinates: 52°24′38″N 01°46′33″W / 52.41056°N 1.77583°W
| St. Alphege's Church, Solihull | |
 St. Alphege's Church, Solihull
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| Denomination | Church of England |
|---|---|
| Churchmanship | High Church |
| Website | www.solihullparish.org.uk |
| History | |
| Dedication | Alphege |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Solihull |
| Diocese | Birmingham |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | Canon Fr Tim Pilkington |
| Vicar(s) | Fr Patrick Taylor |
| Curate(s) | Fr Gareth Powell |
| Laity | |
| Organist/Director of music | Nigel Stark |
St. Alphege's Church, Solihull is a parish church in the Church of England in Solihull, West Midlands.
Contents |
[edit] History
The church is medieval.[1] The previous spire was 59m and collapsed in 1757: the current spire is 57.34m[2]
The Church, dedicated to St. Alphege, is a large cruciform structure, partly in the later and partly in the early styles of English architecture, the tracery mouldings and corbels in the interior are extremely elegant; there are also some fine specimens of tabernacle and screen work: it consists of nave, chancel, aide aisles, and gallery, with embattled tower, surmounted by an octagonal spire, and contains a peal of eight good bells; the vestry was formerly a chapel, dedicated to St. Thomas Becket.[3]
The bells were all recast and re-hung in 1932 by Taylor's of Loughborough, and the church registers date from 1538.[4]
The church is part of a group of parishes which includes
Up until 2004, there was another Church dedicated to St Francis of Assisi and in 2010, St Catherine’s Church, Catherine-de-Barnes, was closed.
In 2012, St Alphege's Church will celebrate the millenium of the martyrdom of St Alphege, who was martyred in 1012.
[edit] Description
The church is of cross-shaped plan with a chancel having a two-storied chapel north of it, a central tower, north and south transepts, a nave with north and south aisles, and a north porch. There was originally a late 12th century church on the site, of which the only evidence of this is the east end of the south wall of the nave with a blocked window, and the marks of its steeply pitched roof on the west face of the tower. It would have been shorter and slightly narrower than the present nave. The church was enlarged in around 1290 by Sir William de Oddingeseles with the addition or rebuilding of the central tower, the upper part of the chancel, and a vaulted chamber and chapel dedicated to St. Alphege to the north of it. A 13th century north aisle with a chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr was added to the nave and some remains of an arch between the two still exist. This was followed in the 14th century by the addition of the transepts, with the insertion of side-arches in the tower and the enlargement of those in the east and west walls. The rebuilding and widening of the north aisle followed, alongwith with the north porch. A little later in the 14th century the aisle was continued westwards, beyond the original west end. The present aisle was added in 1535, when both arcades were rebuilt and the nave lengthened.[4]
The top section of the tower was constructed much later on than the lower part, probably near the date of other 16th century work, likeley undertaken before the nave and aisles were completed. The original stone spire collapsed in 1757 and was rebuilt soon afterwards to a lesser height. The south aisle, owing to a structural weekness in the arcade and the pressure of the nave roof, collapsed in 1751 and was again rebuilt almost immediately afterwards, but the arcade and aisle again failed to resist the thrust of the roof in 1939 were heavily shored with timber until the work of restoration was again be undertaken.[4]
There have been several restorations. In 1879 the west window was renewed and other repairs executed, including work to the roofs of the nave and aisles, which were stripped and rebolted. The chancel roof, which had suffered severely from the ravages of the death watch beetle, was reconstructed in 1933. At the apex of the spire is a weather-vane.[4]
[edit] Organ
The church has a historic pipe organ dating from the seventeenth century. It has had substantial restoration work by Elliot, Brosswood, Hill and Nicholson. The organ case came from St Martin in the Bull Ring Birmingham around 1820.
A specification and pictures of the pipe organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register
[edit] List of organists
- 1773 Mr Joseph/Joshua? Weston[5]
- 1804 Mr Moore
- 1820? Miss Jane Fletcher
- 1847 Dr Stephen Hatherley
- 1856 Mr Thomas Anderton[6]
- 1879 Mr Bond
- 1880 Mr DeLancy
- 1886 Mr Courtenay Woods[7]
- 1936 Mr Monk
- 1942 Dr Richard Wassell (formerly organist of St Martin in the Bull Ring)
- 1949 Mr O'Feeley
- 1951 Mr Colin Mann
- 1970 Mr Paul Hammond
- 1971 Mr Peter M Gregory
- 2002 Mr Nigel A Stark
[edit] References
- ^ The Buildings of England, Warwickshire, Nikolaus Pevsner
- ^ Skyscrapernews.com
- ^ History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Warwickshire By Francis White & Co. 1850
- ^ a b c d A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 4: section: Parishes: Solihull, Hemlingford Hundred (1947), pp. 214-229. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42685; Date accessed: 23 February 2012.
- ^ The Year Book of Daily Recreation and Information By William Hone
- ^ British Musical Biography By James D. Brown
- ^ Dictionary of Organs and Organists. Second Edition. 1921
