Parish of Southampton (City Centre) Reg. Charity No. 1126950 St Mary's Church 1000 more years of service to Southampton

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The present church is the sixth on the site of the Saxon town of Hamwic (Hamtun).  Early records are sketchy, but the first church was thought to have been built around AD 634 during the time when St Birinus arrived at the port on his evangelistic mission to this country.  Documentation refers to a ‘manorial church’ assumed to be St Mary’s, and the first recorded priest and holder of the benefice was named as Richerius (1086).  The Saxon town survived many invasions and ravages by the Danes but eventually fell into decline and in the time of King Canute in the 11th century the population moved to the safety of the Norman medieval settlement to the west.  However, St Mary’s continued to be of significant importance as the Mother Church, with its claims to tithes, burial rights and privileges reflecting its status.

The historian Leland writes in 1546 of the rebuilding in the 12th century of the ancient church of St Mary on the instruction of Queen Matilda on account of its poor and inadequate state.  This, the second church, served for four hundred years and was the principal place of worship in spite of being outside the walled town.  Around 1550 St Mary’s was in ruins, or possibly could have been pulled down because the spire was considered a landmark for French invaders.  Many records were destroyed by fire in later years but it is known that rubble from the building was used to make the highway from the Bargate via East Street to the Chantry.  The remaining chancel continued to be repaired spasmodically and used up to 1711 when Archdeacon Brideoak instigated the building of a new church by adding a nave, but eventually in 1723 the chancel was also replaced.

Although continuing to retain its status, St Mary’s was still a church somewhat detached from the main town of Southampton.  However, on becoming a fashionable spa the population grew and spread to the outlying areas by the end of the 18th century, so benefiting the church also.  On the arrival of Francis North, Rector, the building was enlarged and altered substantially and re-consecrated in 1833.  In 1838, at the commencement of the building of the docks, there was an influx of labourers anxious to be near their place of work, so the land surrounding the church was used to build houses so there was a further increase in population.  Meanwhile, poor construction of the 1833 church alterations revealed considerable deterioration, and in the 1870’s Bishop Samuel Wilberforce sought advice from the eminent architect G.C. Street who condemned the building.

On the death of the Bishop, the subsequent re-building under the Rectorship of his son, Canon Basil Wilberforce, was destined to become his memorial, and in 1878 the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) consented to lay the foundation stone.  The church was then consecrated in 1879 and completed in 1884, with the exception of the tower and spire which were added in 1912-1914.

On November 30th 1940 incendiary bombs destroyed the church leaving a damaged tower, bells and Baptistry.  At the end of the War Canon Spencer Leeson (1946-1950) and the church council took the decision to restore the bells - “thus giving encouragement and visible witness of the determination to rebuild once again”.  A delay in finalising  a decision to complete the rebuilding of the entire church was not made until the early 1950’s.  The town was in ruins and this was not deemed to be a priority as worship was being maintained in the Chantry Hall.  An offer from the town council to allocate a new site for a town church in East Park Terrace had been turned down in 1946 and the diocese had reservations about the viability of such a large building, and money was being directed towards the construction of new churches in growing outlying areas of the town.  Consequently, the tower was restored and the bells re-dedicated in 1948.  The Bishop of Salisbury, the Right Reverend Neville Lovett, who as Rector had urged forward the completion of the tower and spire in 1912 - 1914, and who placed  the cross on top of the spire at that time, returned to participate in the restoration service.

The rebuilding of the sixth church was finally begun in February 1954 and completed and consecrated in June 1956.  The Rector, the Revd H.C.N. Williams, was the driving force throughout this period and he re-established the church in the life of Southampton. However, by the mid sixties changes within city centres were being considered by the Diocese.  Population movements and the introduction of light industry in the St Mary’s district meant that there was not sufficient need for the six churches in relatively close proximity.  Re-organisation and re-assessment of the ministry of the church eventually led to the setting up of the Southampton Team Ministry and the formation of the City Centre Parish in 1973.   The new Parish Council eventually agreed to maintain the two historic buildings, St Mary’s and St Michael’s, as their parish churches. There are now four members of the Team Ministry: two working in the central neighbourhoods, a non-stipendiary minister and the Team Rector, whose ministries are city-wide. A commission to develop the Church’s ministry with the communities and organisations of the City Centre has led to many innovative partnerships in a rapidly changing city.

The Parochial Church Council and Team Ministry welcome you to St. Mary's, and invite you to explore its representation of the Christian faith and the heritage of Southampton.

A more extensive historical article can be downloaded here

Services

Visitor's Guide
As you enter the main (West) door you will pass through a new construction which houses a kitchen area on your right and a storage area on your left.

Stop here and look around you. You can see straight ahead all the way to the chancel and the High Altar, with the Nave Altar and the chancel steps in between.

Over on the left is an archway which leads to the small Baptistry. This is the oldest part of the present church and largely survived the bomb destruction in 1940. At present it is used for small-scale services and as a quiet place for prayer. Over on the far right is the area under the tower and the entrance to the tower which the bellringers use.

The large nave area lends itself to many kinds of functions. The Church is used on occasion for exhibitions, particularly of art and photography.

As you walk towards the nave altar past the hangings you will become aware of some flags mounted on the wall of the transept on your left. This area is the entrance to the Seafarers’ Chapel, which houses many reminders of the close links with the Port of Southampton, including the stained glass window at the east end of the chapel. Also here are the steps which lead up to the Organ loft.

If you return to the nave altar and face the high altar you will see the organ console high on your left and the large organ pipes on your right. You can also see the choir stalls on either side and the altar rail surrounding the Sanctuary. Take some time to look at the East Window over the High Altar. Then turn and look at the beautiful West Window. On the far right in the transept area there is an interesting carving which is well worth inspection.

We hope you will enjoy your visit to St Mary’s Church. If you are interested there are many more details in the printed booklet which you can purchase for a small sum at the back of the church.

Schematic Plan of St Mary's Church (not to scale)

Floodlighting

The floodlit Church lights up a dark area of the City and makes the Church prominent on the city skyline. As Christ is a light to the world, so the floodlighting symbolises God's presence in the City.

The floodlighting was installed in the early part of 2000 by Prestech. It was paid for by generous grants from the Millenium Floodlighting Trust and the SRB, and was inaugurated by on 27th April 2000 by John Denham MP. We are also grateful to the following commercial sponsors, whose generosity paid for the running costs for the first year: Bond Pearce, The Royal Yacht Club, Skandia Life, Associated British Ports.

Individuals can sponsor the floodlighting for a night at a cost of £15, maybe to commemorate an anniversary, a wedding or a birthday or some other event or occasion. Please get in touch with the Parish Office, letting them know the date and the reason, so that a notice can be put in the Church's weekly bulletin.

The Willis Organ

Among the largest church organs along the South Coast, the instrument was built by Henry Willis III, and designed in consultation with D Cecil Williams, organist at the church. It was completed in 1956, and incorporates some "Father Willis" pipework from the former Albert Hall organ in Stirling
Installed some two years after the opening of London's epoch-making Festival Hall organ, it is interesting to see , by contrast, that the Southampton instrument had, indeed still has, some three Open Diapason stops of 8' pitch on the Great organ; that the Great and Swell chorus reeds were on 7" wind, and that the Pedal Tubas at 32', 16' and 8' were on 15" wind.
This is a major and impressive instrument in the Willis III tradition. It is perhaps significant that it has remained basically unaltered since 1956, though Great, Choir and Pedal organs were overhauled following a roof leak in 1994. It has received regular tuning and maintenance and is currently maintained by Griffith & Cooper, the firm responsible for the partial overhaul of 1994.
In a seven page article about this organ in The Organ Vol 27 No 146 in October 1957, the late Dr William Sumner gives it high praise: he did "not know a better instrument in the south of England"

Many internationally known organists have given recitals on the Willis organ, including Ian Tracey, Carlo Curley and Wayne Marshall, who recorded the cover CD for the BBC Music Magazine in March 1998.

A specification of the organ can be downloaded here
 

The Bells of St Mary's

Yes, these are the bells which inspired the song made famous by Bing Crosby in the film The Bells of St Mary's. The tune was originally written by the Australian composer A Emmett Adams and the lyrics by Douglas Furber, when they heard the bells ringing during 1914. It was introduced into the United States in 1917 and ever since has been the college song of the New York State Maritime College.

The peal now consists of ten bells. Originally it was an octave, cast at John Taylor's Foundry in Loughborough, given in memory of Robert Wingrove by his widow Mary Ann Wingrove in 1913, and a further two were added in 1934.  They were brought to St Mary's from the Docks railway station in a horse-drawn procession. The bells were severely damaged in the air raid on Southampton in June 1940, and had to be recast and rehung in a new frame. The new ring of ten bells was consecrated in 1948.

A much more detailed history and technical description of the bells can be downloaded here

If you are interested in bellringing you can find out more from the bellringers' website

The Battle of Britain Lace Panel   [now in Southampton Museum of Aviation]

The Lace panel, Commemorating the Battle of Britain, is one of six similar panels made by the Nottingham lace-makers. It was presented to the Borough of Southampton in 1952 by Messrs. Plummer Roddis Ltd. In 1956 it was offered to St Mary's Church for safe-keeping, and its placing in the Church was finally made possible by the generosity of John Thornycroft & Co Ltd, who had the panel framed and glazed. At the time of refurbishment to the west end of the church it was placed in storage. It is now in the city's Museum of Aviation for all to see.

The panel, which is 16ft long and 6ft wide, depicts the ruins of St. Clement Danes and the dome of St. Paul’s, the ruins of the City Temple, the bomb damaged House of Commons, and many types of British and German aircraft. The words of Winston Churchill - "never was so much owed by so many to so few" - can be seen across the bottom. The panel is similar to one which the Lord Mayor of Nottingham presented to St. Clement Danes as a Battle of Britain memorial in 1956.

It was unveiled by the Mayor, Alderman Mrs K. Cawte, on 19th May 1957. The Rector of St Mary's, the Revd H C N Williams, said in his address that the panel would take its place with other memorials in the church as a treasure and reminder of the events which affected the life of this "front line town in the last war". Recalling the presentation of the panel to the town and then it's placing in St Mary's by the Council, the Rector said "You will see in it a symbol of civic unity for which we must pray and work. It is a symbol of unity of purpose, of brotherhood, commerce, industry and administration within our common faith in God."

It has now been placed in the Southampton Museum of Aviation, ensuring that it is widely accessible to the public.