St Mary's Parish Church, Slough facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Mary Parish Church, Slough |
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| 51°30′24″N 0°35′40″W / 51.50676°N 0.59455°W | |
| Location | Slough |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | http://www.stmarys-slough.org.uk/ |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Mary |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Architectural type | Gothic |
| Completed | 1876 - 1878 |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Upton cum Chalvey |
| Diocese | Oxford |
St Mary's Parish Church is a beautiful red brick church in Slough, England. It belongs to the Church of England. The church was built between 1876 and 1878. It was designed in a style called Gothic Revival, which looks like old European cathedrals.
A very important person, Queen Victoria, even helped pay for part of the church! It was made bigger between 1911 and 1913. St Mary's Church is a very special building. It is protected as a Grade II* listed building. This means it's an important historical place.
Right outside the church, near the west door, there is a war memorial. It lists over 300 names of people from Slough who died in the First and Second World Wars. The walls and gates around the church are also protected historical features.
St Mary's Church is right in the middle of Slough. It works closely with two local schools: Saint Mary's Church of England Primary School and Slough and Eton Church of England Secondary School. The church often hosts music concerts, sometimes with its amazing organ.
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The Church Organ
St Mary's Church has a fantastic pipe organ. It was built in 1912 by a company called Norman and Beard. This organ is in the English Romantic style. It has three keyboards, called "manuals," and 37 "stops." Stops are like different sets of pipes that make various sounds. The organ has more than 2,400 pipes! When it was first used, a famous organ player named Sir Walter Parratt played it.
The Church Bells
The church tower holds a set of ten bells. This is called a "ring of bells." The biggest bell, called the "tenor," weighs about 17 and a half cwt (which is about 890 kilograms or 1,960 pounds). The oldest bell was made in 1619. The other nine bells were made much later by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The last two bells were added in 1949 as a special memorial.
Interesting People Connected to St Mary's
- In 1915, a special stained glass window was designed for St Mary's Church. It was created by an artist and poet named Alfred Wolmark.
- The funeral of a famous performer, Letty Lind, was held at the church in 1923.
- A lost piece of music by Eric Fogg, called The Seasons, was found and played again at St Mary's Church. This happened on September 13, 2003, to celebrate 100 years since Fogg was born.
St Mary's and Its Parish
St Mary's Church is part of a larger church area called the parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey. It is connected to two other churches in this parish. One is St Laurence's Church, which is also a very old and important building. The other is the church of St Peter in Chalvey.
