Church of St Mary the Virgin, Wellingborough

Church in Northamptonshire, England

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Church of England parish church in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. The church is a Grade I listed building.^[1]

History

The church was built from 1908 to 1930, and was designed by Sir Ninian Comper.^[1] It is in the Perpendicular Gothic style.^[1] The design and interior of the church was influenced by the Oxford Movement and the Victorian revival of ritualism^[2] Financing of the work was largely due to the Misses Sharman of Wellingborough.

On 9 June 1970, St Mary's Church was designated a Grade I listed building.^[1] It is one of only a few Grade I listed buildings built in the 20th century.

Present day

Baptistry

The parish of St Mary the Virgin Wellingborough is in the Archdeaconry of Northampton in the Diocese of Peterborough.^[3]

St Mary's stands in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England.^[3] As the parish has passed a resolution to reject the ordination of women, it receives alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Richborough (currently Norman Banks).^[4] It is also affiliated with Forward in Faith and The Society.^[5][6]

Notable clergy

• Michael Bent, later Archdeacon of Taranaki in New Zealand and Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Fiji, served his curacy here from 1955 to 1960.^[7][8]

List of vicars

• 1905-1928: Fr Thomas Watts
• 1929-1946: Fr Conrad Radford
• 1947-1952: Fr Rowland Taylor
• 1952–1966: Fr Raymond Brown
• 1967–1988: Fr Thomas Finch SSC
• 1990–1994: Fr Alan Robinson (priest in charge) (now Rector of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Maiden Lane - the Diocesan Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament for the Diocese of Westminster)
• 1996–present: Fr Robert Farmer SSC (priest in charge, 1996–2000)

References

1. Historic England. "Church of St Mary the Virgin (1371787)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
2. Howse, Christopher (14 October 2006). "On the altar of function and beauty". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
3. "St Mary The Virgin, Wellingborough". A Church Near You. Archbishops' Council. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
4. "St Mary". See of Richborough. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
5. "Our parishes". Forward in Faith Peterborough. Forward in Faith. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
6. "Diocese of Peterborough: Parishes of the Society". The Society. Forward in Faith. 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
7. "Michael Charles Bent". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
8. Birch, Mark (22 March 2016). "Priestly Man of Action". Taranaki Cathedral. Retrieved 15 March 2017.

External links

• Parish website
• A Church Near You entry

52°18′11″N 0°40′47″W / 52.3031°N 0.6796°W / 52.3031; -0.6796