St. Stephen's Church, Sneinton
Encyclopedia
St. Stephen's Church, Sneinton is a parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

.

The church is Grade II listed by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport as it is a building of special architectural or historic interest.

History

The church dates back to medieval times, and was served from Lenton Priory
Lenton Priory
Lenton Priory was a Cluniac house founded by William Peverel in the early 12th century. The exact date of foundation is unknown but 1102 is frequently quoted.-Cluniac Priory:...

. From the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

 the church was served mostly by clergy from St. Mary's Church, Nottingham
St. Mary's Church, Nottingham
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest religious foundation in the City of Nottingham, England, the largest church after the Roman Catholic Cathedral and the largest mediæval building in Nottingham....

 until it became a parish is its own right in 1866.

The current building dates from 1837 and it was designed by Thomas Rickman
Thomas Rickman
Thomas Rickman , was an English architect who was a major figure in the Gothic Revival.He was born at Maidenhead, Berkshire, into a large Quaker family, and avoided the medical career envisaged for him by his father, a grocer and druggist; he went into business for himself and married his first...

 and built by W. Surplice of Nottingham. It was one of the earliest Gothic Revival buildings in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

. It is a Commissioners' church
Commissioners' church
A Commissioners' church is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Act of 1818 and 1824. They have been given a number of titles, including Commissioners' churches, Waterloo churches and Million Act churches...

, having been given a grant towards the cost of its construction by the Church Building Commission; the full cost of the church was £4,511 (£ as of ), towards which the Commission granted £1,303.

The church's early catholic liturgy was noted by Wylie in 1853, and it was the first church in Nottingham to introduce a surpliced choir - There is a male choir, the members of which are dressed in surplices. This is the only Protestant place of worship in the neighbourhood where this and other kindred practices, such as intoning the prayers, prevail.. Compare this with nearby St Mary's Church, Nottingham which did not introduce surplices for the choir until 1868

The church was extended between 1909 and 1912 and G. C. Hare to designs by George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley was an English architect working in the Gothic revival style.-Personal life:Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D. of Edinburgh, physician at Hull Royal Infirmary, Kingston upon Hull, who in 1838 retired to his wife's home town, Brighton, Sussex, England....

.

Following the closure of St. Matthias' Church, Nottingham
St. Matthias' Church, Nottingham
St. Matthias' Church, Nottingham was a Church of England church in Sneinton, Nottingham between 1868 and 2003.It is a Grade II listed building.-History:...

 in 2003 the parish is now known as St. Stephen and St. Matthias.

Features

The reredos to the high altar was designed by George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley was an English architect working in the Gothic revival style.-Personal life:Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D. of Edinburgh, physician at Hull Royal Infirmary, Kingston upon Hull, who in 1838 retired to his wife's home town, Brighton, Sussex, England....

 and carved in Oberammergau
Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The town is famous for its production of a Passion Play, its woodcarvers, and the NATO School.-Passion Play:...

. It features scenes from the life of Christ.

The choir stalls date from the fourteenth or fifteenth century and were originally from St. Mary's Church, Nottingham
St. Mary's Church, Nottingham
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest religious foundation in the City of Nottingham, England, the largest church after the Roman Catholic Cathedral and the largest mediæval building in Nottingham....

. They were acquired by the organist of St. Stephen's in 1848. They contain fine medieval misericords which have carved figures.

Pathe News

The church featured in a 1959 British Pathe newsreel, which showed Reverend John Tyson, the local vicar, encouraging young people back to church. They helped with the cleaning, attended evening service and in return were able to build a cafe and rock 'n' roll club.

External links

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