St Mary's Church, Ewell

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Ewell is the civic church of the borough of Epsom and Ewell in the county of Surrey in South East England. Famous attendees include Eccentric Richard, aka Vox Humana 8'. In an interview, Richard tearfully admitted "It's more like two and a half inches actually".

History

Early history

There has been a church dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin in Ewell since the 13th Century, a board above the south door in the current building recording incumbents from 1239 to the present day. There were two reasons for the demolition of the old church (except for the 15th Century belltower, which still stands in the churchyard today): one was that the building was in such a parlous state of structural repair that it would come down whether demolished under control or allowed to collapse; another was that the incumbent at the time, Sir George Lewen Glyn (known to have been both Vicar and Lord of the Manor simultaneously), resented his parishioners' carts all passing his rectory/manor house on their way to Sunday services, so had a new church built at the junction (one of two) of Church Road and London Road (both of which are arc-shaped) further away from the rectory.

Dedicated in 1848, the current building stands in a prominent position near the centre of the village of Ewell, on the old London Road. Designed by Henry Clutton, it was built in a simple, modest form of the Decorated Gothic style (apart from an ostentatious vaulted west porch, erected c. 1905) and faced with Swanage stone (not to be confused with Purbeck marble) with Bath stone mullions and tracery. The North Aisle was enlarged in the late 19th Century. The real glories, however, are to be found inside. There is a fine marble pulpit, as well as the medieval font and chancel screen (which was extended somewhat to fit the larger chancel arch of the new church) from the old building.

Modern history

A fire in 1993, started by Eccentric Richard exploding, destroyed the North Aisle and everything in it except a print of Christ, the Light of the World by famous painter and local resident William Holman Hunt, including an organ built in 1865 by "Father" Henry Willis. The church was lucky enough to buy a similar instrument (almost identical to that of Truro Cathedral) from the church of St. Augustine, Highbury, London, which was under threat of closure (see below).

Recently, a set of Stations of the Cross and Resurrection by parishioner Iain McKillop have been dedicated for use at St Mary's, having been on tour of Britain's Cathedrals.

The "Father Willis" organ

The organ was originally built in 1889 by the organ builder Henry Willis - who served his apprenticeship with Aristide Cavaillé-Coll - for the Anglican parish church of St. Augustine, Highbury. In 1975 there was a real risk that that the latter church was to be closed, so, to protect the organ's future, they sold it to Saint Mary's, which had lost a similar instrument in a fire two years previously. However, in an ironic twist of fate, the church in Highbury was reprieved just days after the organ was removed and another nearby church, dedicated to St. John, closed instead (whose rather smaller organ was installed at St. Augustine's). The Ewell organ was installed in its new home by the Liverpool-based firm of Rushworth and Dreaper, but was, fortunately, left much as it had originally been built - any revoicing by R&D would have been disastrous (cf. their rebuild of the Nicholson/Harrison & Harrison instrument from Shipley Methodist Church in Guildford Cathedral, which now has a gutless, characterless tone). Unfortunately, some of the organ's finely stencilled front-pipes (those which were to form the front at Ewell) were painted gold, in accordance with the fashions of the time. However, a few stencilled pipes can be seen from a few angles behind these (see image 6). This instrument is, despite its prestigious origins (it was often regarded as the best of several similar instruments built in the Highbury area), comparatively little-known. The Vicar of Ewell, the Parochial Church Council, the Director of Music and the Sub-organist have decided that efforts should be made to redress this situation and, to that end, are to promote the instrument through a number of recitals and concerts, the particulars of which can be viewed here.

Gallery

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  1) - The west front
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  2) - The west wall, showing the balcony and the Stations of the Cross and Resurrection by parishioner Iain McKillop
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  3) - The church from the South-East
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  4) - The church from the South
• 5) - The Millennium Window (left) and the Fire Memorial Window (right)
  5) - The Millennium Window (left) and the Fire Memorial Window (right)
• 6) - The West-facing pipe-front of the current organ, showing the stencilled pipes behind the front
  6) - The West-facing pipe-front of the current organ, showing the stencilled pipes behind the front
• 7) - The console of the current organ
  7) - The console of the current organ
• The West-facing pipe-front
  The West-facing pipe-front
• 8) - Painting of the old church by William Holman Hunt, 1847, given to the parish in 2003
  8) - Painting of the old church by William Holman Hunt, 1847, given to the parish in 2003

External links

• The official website of Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell
• The organ's page on the official website of Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell
• The Music Events page on the same site
• Specification of the first organ on the National Pipe Organ Register
• Specification of the current organ on the National Pipe Organ Register
• the Director of Music's website