Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick
Tower and nave of the church as viewed from Warwick Castle
Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick Location in Warwickshire
52°16′56″N 1°35′17″W / 52.28222°N 1.58806°W / 52.28222; -1.58806
Location	Old Square
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	High Church
Website	website
History
Founded	1123-?
Dedication	Blessed Virgin Mary
Administration
Parish	Warwick, St Mary
Deanery	Warwick & Leamington
Archdeaconry	Warwick
Diocese	Coventry
Province	Canterbury

The Collegiate Church of St Mary is a Church of England parish church in Warwick, Warwickshire, England. It is in the centre of the town just east of the market place. It is Grade I listed, and a member of the Major Churches Network.

The church has the status of collegiate church as it had a college of secular canons. In governance and religious observance it was similar to a cathedral (although not the seat of a bishop and without diocesan responsibilities). There is a Bishop of Warwick, but this is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Coventry.

History

Foundation and early years

The church foundations date back nine hundred years, being created by Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick, in 1123. In addition to founding the church, de Beaumont established the college of dean and canons at the church. The only surviving part of the Norman church which de Beaumont had built is the crypt.

The chancel vestries and chapter house of the church were extensively rebuilt in the 14th century by a later Earl of Warwick, Thomas de Beauchamp (died 1369, later pronounced Beecham), in the Perpendicular Gothic style. Between c. 1370 and 1394, the chancel, transept, nave and aisles were rebuilt, then forming a basilica with wooden roofs. Thomas Beauchamp's descendants built the Chapel of Our Lady, commonly known as the Beauchamp Chapel. It contains the effigial monuments of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, and Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. Buried in the chancel of the church is William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton, the brother of queen consort Catherine Parr.

Sixteenth century onwards

The college was dissolved in 1546, and the church was granted by the Crown to the burgesses of Warwick. Before their destruction in the Civil War, Wenceslaus Hollar copied many of the stained glass windows in the Beauchamp Chapel, showing heraldry of the Beauchamp family.

The church, along with much of Warwick, was devastated by the Great Fire of Warwick in 1693. The nave and tower of the building were completely destroyed. In 1704, the rebuilt church was completed in a Gothic design by William Wilson (appointed by the Crown Commissioners). Sir Christopher Wren is also said to have contributed to the design, but that is disputed. The tower rises to the height of 130 feet (40 m). The design was described by John Summerson as being "as remarkable for its success as for its independence in style from other seventeenth-century English Gothic".

The church has been undergoing significant maintenance for renovation since early 2023 and is expected to be complete by the end of 2023. At a cost of GB£1.4 million, the renovation was planned after a piece of masonry fell from the church's tower.

Deans of the College

Music

Organs

There are two organs in St. Mary's, the transept organ and one at the west end. The specifications of both organs can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Organists (prior to 1976)

(The position of Organist was replaced with that of Director of Music from 1976)

Directors of Music

Assistant Organists

(The position of Assistant Organist was replaced with that of Organist from 1989)

Organists (from 1989)

• Kevin Bowyer 1989
• Christopher Monks 1998

(from 1999 the position of Organist was combined with the new post of assistant director of Music)

Organists and assistant directors of Music

• Christopher Monks 1999 (originally appointed as Organist in 1998)
• Luke Bond 2002 (assistant director of Music, Truro Cathedral from 2008 to 2017, then at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle)
• Ruaraidh Sutherland 2006 (Organist at Christ's Hospital from 2019)
• Mark Swinton 2011

Image gallery

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  The tower in 2016

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  From Northgate Street

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  Beauchamp Chapel

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  Beauchamp Chapel west wall

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  Church Nave Altar

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  The Crypt

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  Dean's Chapel

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  Interior looking east

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  Interior looking west

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  The view from within the Beauchamp Chapel

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  The entrance to the Beauchamp family chapel in St Mary's

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  Effigy of Ambrose Dudley on his tomb in the Beauchamp Chapel

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  Bear at feet of Ambrose Dudley on his tomb

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  Effigies of Robert Dudley and Lettice Knollys on their tomb in the Beauchamp Chapel

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  Effigy of Lettice Knollys.

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  Lion rampant queue-fourché, emblem of the Dudley family, on the Dudley/Knollys tomb

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  Inscription on rear panel of tomb of Robert Dudley and Lettice Knollys

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  Coat of Arms of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester

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  Bear and ragged staff, emblem of the earls, city and county of Warwick. Tomb of Robert Dudley and Lettice Knollys

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  Effigy of Richard Beauchamp

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  Effigy of Robert Dudley, son of Robert Dudley and Lettice Knollys, known as the "Noble Impe", on his tomb in the Beauchamp Chapel

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  Tomb of Robert Dudley, the "Noble Impe"

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  Inscription on tomb of the "Noble Impe"

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  Scaffolding on the tower during maintenance works in 2023 from Castle Street