Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted
Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted | |
---|---|
St Albans | |
Deanery | Berkhamsted |
Parish | Great Berkhamsted |
Clergy | |
Vicar(s) | The Revd Stuart Owen |
The Parish Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted, is a
The building is
Because of its proximity to
The church today has lost its direct royal ties and now functions as the main parish church of the town of Berkhamsted. The feast of St Peter is celebrated annually with the Petertide fair.
History
It is not known exactly when the first church was built on the site of St Peter's, but it is not the oldest church in the area; the church of St Mary in
Foundation
The date of foundation of a church in Berkhamsted town is uncertain; a chapel certainly existed within the walls of Berkhamsted Castle from the 11th century, rebuilt around 1250 by
It is thought that this chapel of St James stood on the present site of the town Post Office.The foundation date of St Peter's is also uncertain, but historians assume it to be around 1222, the year that Robert de Tuardo, the first known rector, was instituted by the
Medieval St Peter's
A brass plaque can be seen inside the church today which lists all the rectors from the 13th century to the present day. The turnover of rectors was especially high in the 14th century, probably due to their lives being cut short by the bubonic plague; between 1369 and 1386, St Peter's had eight successive rectors, the shortest being Thomas Payne, whose tenure lasted only nine days. John de Waltham was rector of St Peter's from 1379 along with a large number of other parishes, as was common at the time. He left after 16 months in office, and was later ordained Bishop of Salisbury in 1388. Waltham enjoyed an especially close relationship with King Richard II[10] such that, after his death, Richard honoured him with a tomb in Westminster Abbey in the Chapel of Edward the Confessor, the only person not of royal blood to be buried in the royal chapel.[11]
16th and early 17th centuries
Brass memorials in the church commemorate Katherine and Robert Incent, two 16th-century parishioners. Robert was the secretary to Cicely, Duchess of York at Berkhamsted Castle.[12] Their son, John Incent, was Dean of St Paul's Cathedral 1540–1545, and in 1541 he founded the Berkhamsted School. The Incent family house, which still stands on the High Street opposite the church, is today known as "Dean Incent's House".
One rector noted for his long tenure was Rev. Thomas Newman, who was rector for over 40 years from 1598 to 1639.[9] Newman served for a time as a Chief Burgess of Berkhamsted and mayor in 1631.[13] According to parish records, Newman was the second husband of Bridget (Dryden) Marbury, who was mother of Anne Marbury Hutchinson by way of her first husband Francis Marbury.[14] Despite being a staunch Anglican, by 1645 Newman fell into political disfavor by being barred from the rectory of St. Peter's by Act of Parliament for a payment delinquency.[15]
The Civil War
Newman's successor, Rev John Napier, was instituted as rector of St Peter's in 1639 but ejected by
Another long-standing rector was Napier's successor, Rev Robert Brabant, whose ministry also lasted over 40 years (1681 to 1722). He was also the vicar of Hemel Hempstead and chaplain to Queen Anne.
After the
William Cowper
From 1722 to 1756, Rev John Cowper served as rector of St Peter's; he is noted because he was the father of the poet and
19th century
Charles de Guiffadière, who was rector from 1798 to 1810 and also served as vicar of Stoke Newington, was a reader to Queen Caroline and a popular figure of fun who featured in the humorous journal The Diary of Fanny Burney as the character "Mr Turbulent".[11]
In the 19th century, the Rev John Wolstenholme Cobb documented much of Berkhamsted's past when he wrote his History and Antiquities of Berkhamsted during his time as curate of St Peter's (1853–55). He then went on to become rector of the parish from 1871 to 1883.[11]
St Peter's has also counted among its congregation members of the Dorrien-Smith family who are commemorated by various memorials around the church.[20] Augustus John Smith became the first Lord Proprietor of the Scilly Islands in 1834, and was succeeded by Dorrien-Smiths; George Dorrien was Governor of the Bank of England 1818–1820; and several members of the Dorrien-Smith family saw active service in the Second Boer War of 1899–1902.
Royal patronage
From the installation of Robert de Tuardo, the
Architecture
The church is in a
Additions and alterations
The architecture of St Peter's belongs to no single period, but extends over about 350 years. Many additions have made to the church over the centuries and subsequent Victorian restorations have changed the fabric of the church substantially.
Expansion 1230–1546
In the 13th century, construction progressed rapidly westwards, with the nave, transepts and crossing being added in the first few years after the construction of the chancel. In 1230, north and south aisles were added to the nave and the north transept was extended on the eastern side; this extension was later used partly as a vestry, and today serves as the Lady Chapel. On the south side of the Chancel, the chapel of St Catherine was added in 1320, and in 1350 the irregularly angled St John's Chantry was built onto the south aisle for worship by the boys and masters of Berkhamsted School. In 1450 a clerestory was added to the nave, raising its height, and a large timber pillar added to the middle of the St John Chantry. Expansion of the church culminated in 1545-6 when the tower was raised to its current height of 85 feet (26 m), and the church reached its present size.[21]
Decay
Over the years the fabric of the building decayed. On one occasion in the 1700s, the boys and masters had a narrow escape when, moments after they had left the chantry to go into the main body of the church, the main beam gave way and the ceiling collapsed. The event was recorded by one Nathaniel Salmon, who also reported that the disaster had uncovered a set of painted figures on the pillars, possibly medieval in origin, of the
Wyattville's restoration
The structure of the church continued to evolve; doors were added and blocked up, fittings were installed and moved around and monuments resited and removed. In the 19th century there were major restorations of St Peter's church; the first in 1820, led by
Butterfield's restoration
In 1870–71 another restoration programme was carried out by William Butterfield, a Gothic Revival architect whose works included churches such as All Saints, Margaret Street in London as well as an array of church restorations. Butterfield's restoration of St Peter's Church is more positively assessed, although his work also involved the removal of some original features, including the obliteration of the paintings on the pillars. The most substantial structural changes involved raising both the roof and the floor of the chancel, raising the roof of the south transept to its original pitch, removing the vestry, incorporating the south porch into the south aisle and removing the door, re-flooring the nave, installing new oak benches and replacing Wyattville's gallery. Butterfield also installed clear windows in the clerestory, allowing more light to enter the nave. He extended the aisles by knocking down the dividing walls of two chambers at the west end; one of these chambers, in the south-west corner of the nave, was used to house the town fire engine. A door to the right of the great west door had "Engine House" painted above it on the outside; Butterfield blocked up this door. The flint from these alterations was kept in storage and was later used in the construction of Sunnyside Parish Church in 1909. On the exterior of the church, Butterfield removed Wyattville's crumbling plaster and re-faced the church walls with flint flushwork.[21][25]
20th-century re-ordering
Between 1956 and 1960 St Peter's underwent further restoration in which the tower and nave were re-roofed. St Catherine's Chapel and the nave were refurbished and a large mural of the
The late
In the north aisle stands the Parish Chest, a finely carved 17th century wooden chest which contained parish documents. By the corner of the north transept stands the marble tomb of Sir
Sanctuary
The high altar, located under the tower crossing since 1960, is on a raised white marble floor. The gilded reredos, a reworking of the 15th-century rood screen presents the figures of twelve saints. To the left of the sanctuary is the long brass plaque listing the rectors of Great Berkhamsted from 1222 to the present day. Brass memorials on the walls commemorate Rev JW Cobb and his wife.
St John's Chantry
This chantry chapel was used for worship by the boys and masters of Berkhamsted School until the 19th century, when the school built its own chapel, and was physically separated from the nave by a dividing wall.
The chantry is now used for the choir stalls and organ. The present organ was built by
The chantry contains
Lady Chapel
The
The Lady Chapel also contains some notable memorials, including the marble tomb of John Sayer, inscribed with the date 1682. Next to the old chancel (now the wooden steps into the vestry) lies a stone tomb which is thought to be that of Henry of Berkhamsted and his wife; the tomb has lost its inscription and the identity of the persons interred within has been in dispute for many years. The tomb has two stone
St Catherine's Chapel
St Catherine's Chapel, dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria, lies to the south of the old chancel adjoining the south transept. Dating from around 1320, it contains two recessed medieval tombs in the south wall, one of which contains a tomb slab decorated with a carved
Chancel
The old chancel is used today as a vestry for the choir and clergy. The area still contains fixtures from its days as the sanctuary before the church was re-ordered in 1960, including a large mosaic reredos by Alfred Hoare Powell with a painted crucifixion scene by Burrows. There also several memorials to past worshippers, including one to Ann Cowper, wife of the Rector John Cowper and mother of William Cowper; valedictory lines by the poet in tribute to his mother are engraved on the memorial, ending "These lines, though weak, are as herself sincere".
Tower
The 85 feet (26 m) clock tower was finished in 1546 and contains a peal of eight bells with a combined weight of 3.5 long tons (3.6 t). The bells were re-cast in 1837 from the bells dating from 1553 with additional metal by Mears and Stainbrook of Whitechapel. At the same time, a new clock was installed. [25]
Windows
The windows in St Peter's include some lancets surviving from the 14th century, along with much notable stained glass from renowned Victorian glass makers Heaton and Butler, Clayton and Bell, Charles Eamer Kempe, Nathaniel Westlake and James Powell and Sons.[28]
- West window: Perpendicular style tracery, thought to date from the reign of James I, although the glass was replaced after General Faifrax's intrusion during the Civil War.[22] The present stained glass dates from 1866, designed by Heaton and Butler, for which they were awarded a bronze medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1867.
- East Window: stained glass in memory of William Cowper, Clayton and Bell, 1872.
- Chancel Windows: date from c.1420, featuring with England.
- St John's Chantry windows: arms of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, 15th century; other windows are 1865–69 by Heaton and Butler.
- St Catherine's Chapel: one of the windows is signed by TF Curtis of Curtis, Ward and Hughes; windows date from the 1900 restoration work on the chapel.
- North transept windows: Dorrien Memorial, Powell, 1852.
- South transept windows: Curtis Memorial (1872) and Mary window (1874), both Clayton and Bell.
- North aisle windows: the windows in the north aisle were 14th-century in origin, and the tracery typifies the transitional style between the Decorated and Perpendicular styles.[22] They now contain Victorian stained glass, including the ubiquitous stained glass copy by Heaton & Butler of William Holman Hunt's painting The Light of the World which now hangs in St Paul's Cathedral, London.
A three-light window by Westlake, installed in 1885 in memory of the Berkhamsted
Churchyard and cemetery
The graveyard around St Peter's Church contains many old gravestones, most of which were laid flat in the late 19th century, and it now serves as a green. One remaining memorial is a large stone cross at the north-east corner of the church, the Smith-Dorrien Monument, which was erected in 1909 in memory of Mary Ann Smith-Dorrien, wife of
A new detached cemetery was opened in 1842 behind the Elizabethan manor,
By the late 1940s the Rectory Lane Cemetery was filling up and a new civic cemetery was opened at nearby Kingshill.
The church today
The Parish of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted continues today as an active
St Peter's is affiliated with two Church of England schools in Berkhamsted, Victoria Infant School and the Thomas Coram School.[40]
References
- ^ a b Historic England. "Church of Saint Peter (1342174)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ^ "Hertfordshire HER & St Albans UAD: St Peter's Church, Berkhamsted". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
- ^ a b William Page, ed. (1908). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2. pp. 162–171. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-905313-95-2. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ Birtchnell, p 21
- ^ a b Birtchnell, p 29
- ^ Birtchnell, p 30
- ^ "History of St Peter's". St Peter's website. Parish of Great Berkhamsted. 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ a b c Cobb, p114
- Robert de Vere
- ^ a b c d e Birtchnell, p 34
- ^ "Places of Historical Interest – Dean Incent's House". Dacorum Borough Council. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
- ISBN 0-8195-6014-6
- ^ p. 32 In: Colket, Meredith Bright, Jr. and Edward N. Dunlop. (1936). The English Ancestry of Anne Marbury Hutchinson and Katherine Marbury Scott: Including their Descent and that of John Dryden, Poet-Laureate, from Magna Charta Sureties with Notes on the English Connections of the Settlers William Wentworth and Christopher Lawson of New Hampshire and Francis Marbury of Maryland. Magee Publishing Company, Philadelphia. 60pp.
- ^ pp. 373-376. In: Urwick, William (1884). Nonconformity in Herts: Being Lectures upon the Nonconforming Worthies of St. Albans, and Memorials of Puritanism and Nonconformity in all the parishes of the County of Hertford. Hazell, Watson, and Viney Publishers, London. 875pp.
- ^ Birtchnell, p 101
- ^ Pepys, Samuel (9 September 1661). "The Diary of Samuel Pepys". Retrieved 13 December 2010.
- ^ Hastie, p.56
- ^ Cowper, William (1924) [1906]. "332: There is a Fountain Filled with Blood; 445: O for a closer walk with God". In Percy Dearmer & Ralph Vaughan Williams (ed.). The English Hymnal. Oxford University Press.
- ^ "Inscriptions in St Peter's Berkhamsted". St Peter's Berkhamsted website. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Birtchnell, pp 30–32
- ^ a b c Cobb, p.53
- ^ "The Church Building". St Peter's Church website. Parish of Great Berkhamsted. 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ Cobb, p.56
- ^ a b c Hastie, pp 100–102
- ^ Cobb, p.132
- ^ "The Berkhamsted Organ". Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
- ^ Cobb, p.130
- ^ "Interactive guide: The Cooper Window". The Parish Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
- ^ Norris, page 37
- ^ "Inscriptions in St Peter's Berkhamsted Churchyard". St Peter's Berkhamsted website. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
- ^ "Heritage Statement: Rectory Lane Cemetery" (PDF). Friends of St Peter's Berkhamsted. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted". www.rectorylanecemetery.org.uk. Countess of Bridgewater Commemoration Stone. 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Great Berkhamsted (St. Peter) Church Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
- ^ "Remembering General Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien". The Western Front Association. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
- ^ "The Story so Far". The Friends of St Peter's Berkhamsted. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ^ "The Choir". St Peter's website. Parish of Great Berkhamsted. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ "Concerts". St Peter's website. Parish of Great Berkhamsted. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ "Your Berkhamsted magazine". St Peter's website. Parish of Great Berkhamsted. Retrieved 24 April 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Our Church Schools". St Peter's website. Parish of Great Berkhamsted. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
Bibliography
- ISBN 1-871372-00-3.
- Cobb, John Wolstenholme (1988) [originally published by Nichols & Sons, 1855 & 1883]. Two Lectures on the History and Antiquities of Berkhamsted. Biling & Sons. ISBN 1-871372-03-8.
- Tout, Mary (1885–1900). Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. .
- Hastie, Scott (1999). Berkhamsted: an Illustrated History. King's Langley: Alpine Press. p. 177. ISBN 0-9528631-1-1.
- Norris, R.A. (1923). Parish Church of Berkhamsted, St. Peter, Hertfordshire. T. W. Bailey.
External links
- St Peter's website
- St Peter, Berkhamsted (Church of England listing)
- St Peter's (Parish of Great Berkhamsted) (Find a Church website)