St Mary Magdalene Church, Newark-on-Trent facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids St Mary Magdalene Church Newark-on-Trent
St Mary Magdalene Church, Newark on Trent
St Mary Magdalene Church Newark-on-Trent Location in Nottinghamshire
53°04′36″N 00°48′30″W / 53.07667°N 0.80833°W / 53.07667; -0.80833
Location	Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Previous denomination	Roman Catholicism
Churchmanship	Broad church
Website	stmnewark.org
History
Dedication	St Mary Magdalene
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I listed
Specifications
Length	215 feet (66 m)
Width	116 feet (35 m)
Nave width	73 feet (22 m)
Spire height	232 feet (71 m)
Bells	10
Administration
Parish	St Mary Magdalene with St Leonard
Deanery	Newark and Southwell
Archdeaconry	Newark
Diocese	Southwell and Nottingham
Province	York

St Mary Magdalene Church is a very old and important church in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. It's named after Mary Magdalene and is the tallest building in the town!

People have worshipped on this spot for about 1,000 years. The church you see today is built in the Gothic style, with some parts dating back to the 1100s. It's one of the biggest and most beautiful parish churches in England. Because of its special history and design, it's listed as a Grade I listed building.

St Mary Magdalene's is still a busy church today. It holds many services each week and runs programs for young people and children. The church has a set of ten bells, a wonderful organ, and a choir that started way back in 1532!

The writer Simon Jenkins gave the church four stars in his 2009 book England's Thousand Best Churches. He said it was "exhilarating" and praised its "rich furnishings."

History of the Church Building
Church Architecture and Design
The Magnus Bequest
Music at St Mary Magdalene Church
Images for kids
See also

History of the Church Building

The church building you see now is actually the third one built on this site.

Around 1180, the church was largely rebuilt. It even had a crypt (an underground room) that is still there today. The main supports and the west tower were built around 1220. The tall spire was added about 100 years later. Most of the church, like the main hall (nave) and the area around the altar (chancel), was built in the 1400s. The side sections (transepts) and chapels were added in the early 1500s.

In the mid-1800s, the church was carefully restored by a famous architect named Sir George Gilbert Scott. More restoration work was done in the 1900s by Sir Ninian Comper and others.

Church Architecture and Design

St Mary Magdalene Church in Newark is a large Gothic building. It has a main hall (nave) with side aisles and high windows (clerestory), a chancel (area around the altar), and side sections (transepts). There's a single tower with a spire at the west end. On the south side, there's a two-story porch with a library above it. The outside walls have decorative battlements, and the building is made from smooth stone blocks.

The Tall Tower and Spire

The west tower stands at the end of the nave. It was built around 1220 in the Early English Gothic style. It has simple, tall, narrow windows. The tower is 115 feet (35 meters) high. On top of it is a tall, eight-sided spire, which is about 117 feet (36 meters) high. This makes the total height of the church, up to the base of the weather vane, 232 feet (71 meters)! There's a small hole in the spire that people say was made by a musket ball during the English Civil War.

The tower holds a set of ten bells made in 1842. The largest bell weighs over 3,500 pounds (1,592 kg)!

For many years, the church clock was the only way to tell the time in town. In 1898, a new clock was given to the church. It has three 7-foot (2.1-meter) wide dials and one 9-foot (2.7-meter) wide dial. The clock plays the famous Westminster Quarters tune. In 1971, it was changed to run on electricity.

Inside the Church

The central supports inside the church are from the older building, dating back to the 1000s or 1100s. The top parts of the tower and spire were finished around 1350. The main hall (nave) was built between 1384 and 1393, and the chancel (area around the altar) was finished in 1489.

A look inside the church's main hall (nave).

On either side of the altar area are two special chapels. One of them has a unique painting called the "Dance of Death." You can also find some old memorials and a very beautiful brass plaque from the 1300s.

The library above the south porch was given to the church in 1698. On the north wall, there's a large oil painting called The Raising of Lazarus by William Hilton. It used to be the altarpiece for the main altar.

The church was officially named a Grade I listed building on September 29, 1950. This means it's considered a building of outstanding architectural or historical importance.

Church Restoration Work

The roofs of the south aisle, nave, and chancel were repaired between 1850 and 1852.

The church underwent a major restoration from 1853 to 1855, led by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Old plastered ceilings were removed and replaced with oak. Galleries and pews were taken out, and the stone parts were cleaned. The floor was leveled and covered with black and red tiles. A new decorative screen behind the altar (reredos) was added. The organ was moved to the south chancel aisle. The church reopened for services on April 12, 1855.

In May 1894, the spire was hit by lightning. The weather cock was put back on August 22, 1894, with many people watching. The nave roof, south porch, and spire were restored again in 1913.

The Magnus Bequest

The church gets support from something called the Magnus Bequest. This is a special fund started in the early 1530s by Thomas Magnus. He gave farms and land in different parts of England to help the church and the town. The money from these lands was meant for four main things:

To start and support a free grammar school.
To create and support a song school, to make sure the church always had high-quality music.
To cover the costs of managing the fund and keeping the farms in good condition.
To provide extra money for the general well-being of the church or the town, if there was any left over.

Music at St Mary Magdalene Church

The Organ

The church's impressive organ.

At the start of the 1800s, a new organ was installed. It cost £1,300 and was opened on November 11, 1804.

The organ was first placed in the west gallery, where the choir sang. In 1814, it was moved to the screen in front of the chancel. In the 1850s, the organ was rebuilt and moved to its current spot in the south choir aisle.

In 1866, the organ was rebuilt and made much bigger by Henry Willis. He almost doubled its size, creating a large, powerful instrument. The organ was rebuilt several more times in the 1900s.

Today, the organ is controlled by an electrical system. This allows the organ console (where the organist sits) to be moved around, so the organist can be closer to the congregation or choir. It's the first four-manual organ in the country to have this feature!

The Choir

The choir stalls and the main altar.

The church's choir was started by Thomas Magnus in 1532. It was said to be one of the only choirs from before the Reformation (a big change in the church) that still existed outside of cathedrals and famous universities. Girls joined the main choir starting in 2008.

After a short break, the choir was restarted in 2015. It focuses on training young people, with support from the Magnus Bequest.