St Peter Mancroft

St Peter Mancroft is a parish church in the Church of England, in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. After the two cathedrals, it is the largest church in Norwich and was built between 1430 and 1455.[1] It stands on a slightly elevated position, next to the market place.[2]

St Peter Mancroft, Norwich
St Peter Mancroft.
St Peter Mancroft, Norwich
52°37′40″N 1°17′33″E
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipCentral
Websitewww.stpetermancroft.org.uk
History
DedicationSaint Peter
Administration
ParishNorwich, St Peter Mancroft
DioceseNorwich
ProvinceCanterbury
Clergy
Vicar(s)The Rev'd Edward Carter
Assistant priest(s)The Rev'd Dr Fiona Haworth
Curate(s)Graham Kirk-Spriggs
Laity
Organist/Director of musicJody James
Organist(s)Julian Haggett

St Peter Mancroft is a member of the Greater Churches Group.

Description

The present building was begun in 1430, on the site of an existing church, and consecrated in 1455. It is an ambitious building, 180 feet long and ashlar faced with a tower at the west end.[2] It is a Grade I listed building.[3]

It has a Norman foundation dating from 1075, a 1463 font, a 1573 Flemish tapestry and medieval glass. The North transept displays a remarkable collection of church silver (one of the finest of any parish church in the country) including the Gleane and Thistle cups, as well as memorabilia associated with its most famous parishioner, the physician-philosopher Thomas Browne, author of Religio Medici (1642).[4] The small lead-covered spire with flying buttresses was added by A.E. Street in 1896.[2]

In 1850 two L-shaped trenches accommodating a number of acoustic jars were discovered beneath the wooden floor on which the choir stalls had previously stood. The earthenware jars were built into its walls at intervals of about three feet, with the mouths facing into the trenches.[5]

Bells

St Peter Mancroft has a ring of fourteen Whitechapel bells in the western tower, eleven of which date from 1775 and the latest of which dates from 1997. St Peter Mancroft is important in the history of change ringing because in 1715, 5040 changes of Plain Bob Triples were rung for the first time, in 3 hours and 17 minutes, as recorded in an inscription in the tower. Subsequently, the first complete peals to the change ringing systems known as Grandsire and Stedman were also rung in St Peter Mancroft.

Supernatural folklore is linked to the bells in St Peter Mancroft. In the story "Our Bells" authored by Mark Knights, which featured in the undated booklet (circa 1894) "Norfolk Stories", Knight writes:

This story was suggested by a visit to the steeple of St Peter Mancroft many years ago - when Mr P. Back was churchwarden - on the invitation of the late Mr Potter, father of Mr Potter, the present sexton.

The story tells of how a nobleman, fallen upon hard times, unwittingly tries to rob his own brother, but stays his hand after hearing the moving and beautiful Christmas Eve peal of bells. He subsequently assists in the ringing of the New Year's Eve peal, and bequeaths a sum of money to ensure that a jug of spiced ale is made available to future bell-ringers on that date. The story is recounted by a ghostly descendant of the sexton who was in residence when these events occurred.

In 2018 the Mancroft Ringing Discovery Centre was opened, to promote the history of the bell-tower and to train a new generation of bell-ringers.

Incumbents
Nave and chancel
  • Hugh Casselton 1572 - 1588[6]
  • William Wells 1598 - 1620[7]
  • Thomas Tenison 1670 - 1680
  • John Connould 1683 - 1708[8]
  • John Jeffrery 1714 - 1723[9]
  • Charles John Chapman 1805 - 1826
  • John Watson Bowman 1826[10] - 1848[11]
  • Charles Turner 1848[12] - 1878[13]
  • Sidney Pelham 1879 - 1881
  • Henry Neville 1881 - 1884
  • Frederick Baggalley 1884 - 1890[14]
  • William Pelham-Burn 1890 - 1901
  • Frederick James Meyrick 1901[15] - 1929
  • H McMullan 1929 - 1940[16]
  • Vacant 1940 - 1945[17]
  • John Waddington 1945 - 1958
  • Kenneth Wilkinson Riddle 1959 - 1960[18]
  • Frank Sydney Jarvis 1960 - 1965[19]
  • William John Westwood 1965 - 1975
  • David Sharp 1975 - 1998
  • Peter W Nokes 1999 - 2015
  • Robert Avery 2015 - 2017
  • Ian Bentley 2017 - 2018
  • Edward Carter 2018 – present

Choir

There was once a large male voice choir which disbanded in 2000, though music is still an essential part of worship with the majority of the services being sung by one of the choirs at the Church. The baroque style organ, one of the finest of its kind, means that St Peter Mancroft is also an exceptional concert venue with many concerts being held all the year round.

Organ
Organ by Peter Collins of 1984

A new organ by Peter Collins was installed in 1984. The specification can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.[20]

Organists

Assistant organists
  • Charles Robert Palmer 1899 - 1901[24]
  • W. Percy Jones 1910 - ca. 1921 - ????
  • Andrew Benians
  • Roger Rayner
  • Tim Patient 1990 - 2005

References
  1. "St Peter Mancroft: 360° panorama". BBC. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  2. Wilson, Bill; Nikolaus, Pevsner (2007). Norfolk 1: Norwich and North- East. Buildings of England (second ed.). Yale University Press. pp. 247–50. ISBN 0-300-09607-0.
  3. Historic England. "CHURCH OF ST PETER MANCROFT (1210490)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  4. "The Historic Churches of Norwich". Norwich Historic Churches Trust. Archived from the original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  5. Phipson, Makilwane (1863). "Acoustic Pottery". The Builder: 893.
  6. {{Cite web|url=https://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2018.pl?sur=&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=Mancroft&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50%7Ctitle=Venn's Alumni of Cambridge: Mancroft|access-date=29 December 2020}
  7. The New York genealogical and biographical record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. 1897
  8. {{Cite web|url=https://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2018.pl?sur=&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=Mancroft&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50%7Ctitle=Venn's Alumni of Cambridge: Mancroft|access-date=29 December 2020}
  9. {{Cite web|url=https://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2018.pl?sur=&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=Mancroft&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50%7Ctitle=Venn's Alumni of Cambridge: Mancroft|access-date=29 December 2020}
  10. The Clergy list for 1841
  11. "Venn's Alumni of Cambridge: John Bowman". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  12. The Clergy list ... containing complete lists of the clergy in England. 1866
  13. "Venn's Alumni of Cambridge: Charles Turner". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  14. Biographical History of Gonville and Caius College 1349-1897. p.413
  15. Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 9 November 1901. p.10
  16. "Church Times: Clergy Appointments, 23 August 1929, p 209". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  17. "Church Times: Clergy Appointments, 24 August 1945, p 482". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  18. Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1973-74, 85th Edition, p 810.
  19. "Church Times: Obituary, The Rev Frank Jarvis, 19 March 1965, p 19". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  20. National Pipe Organ Register
  21. Restoration cathedral music, 1660-1714 By Ian Spink
  22. Norfolk Chronicle, 18 November 1780, p2, column 4
  23. Norfolk Chronicle, 16 March 1837
  24. Who's Who in Music. Shaw Publishing Co. Ltd. London. First Post-war Edition. 1949/50
  25. http://www.kennethryderfund.org/
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