St Michael's Church, Sutton Bonington facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St. Michael's Church |
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The church as seen from Main Street
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| Location | Main Street, Bonington |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| History | |
| Status | parish church (United with St. Anne's) |
| Dedication | St. Michael |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* Listed building |
| Designated | 13 Oct 1966 |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Sutton Bonington (pre-1923: Bonington) |
| Diocese | Southwell and Nottingham |
| Province | York |
St. Michael's Church is a historic parish church for the Church of England in the village of Sutton Bonington, Nottinghamshire. A parish church serves the local community, known as a parish.
This beautiful church was built in the 13th century. It is a Grade II* Listed building, which means it is a particularly important building of more than special interest and is protected by law.
Contents
History of the Church
A fun fact about Sutton Bonington is that it has two churches from the Middle Ages. This is because the village was once two separate villages: Sutton and Bonington. Each village had its own church.
St. Michael's was the church for Bonington, while St Anne's Church was for Sutton. St. Michael's is the taller and larger of the two.
Joining the Villages
The two church communities, or parishes, were officially joined together in 1923. Since 1950, one priest has been in charge of both churches.
The old house for the priest of St. Michael's, called the Rectory, is now used by the University of Nottingham. The university has a large campus nearby and houses students there. Even though the villages joined, they are still considered separate manors, which are historic areas of land. Each manor is named after its church.
The Church Today
Both St. Michael's and St. Anne's still hold regular church services. The priest in charge looks after these two churches and also the church in the nearby village of Normanton on Soar.
The Famous Church Bells
The tall tower of St. Michael's holds a peal of six church bells. A "peal" is a set of bells tuned to each other. Originally, there were only three bells made in a workshop in Nottingham.
Two of these original bells are still in the tower. The oldest one was made in 1579, making it the second oldest bell in the whole county of Nottinghamshire!
Adding More Bells
Two more bells were added around 1850. A sixth bell was added in 1977 to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. This bell was bought from a church in Hertfordshire.
The bells vary in weight. The lightest bell (the treble) weighs about 211 kilograms, while the heaviest (the tenor) weighs about 900 kilograms! The bells were recently restored by John Taylor & Co, a famous bell-making company in the nearby town of Loughborough.
You can hear the bells being rung for Sunday morning services and during practice sessions.
See also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Nottinghamshire
- Listed buildings in Sutton Bonington
