Saint Mary's Church, is the civic church for the city of Southampton, Hampshire, England. Originally founded in circa 634, St Mary's has been the mother church of Southampton since its inception. The present building, now the sixth incarnation of a church on this site, dates mostly to a rebuilding from 1954 to 1956, following its destruction in the Southampton Blitz, except for the notable Grade II listed tower and spire, which date from 1912 to 1914.
Being the mother church of the city, it is both the tallest and the largest church in Southampton, making it a local landmark, after which another landmark, St Mary's Stadium, is named. The church is notable for its tall tower and spire, which survived the Blitz, stained glass windows, post-war architecture and fine Willis organ, which is amongst the largest of any church on the South Coast. The church is also notable for the sound of its bells, which inspired the song "The Bells of St. Mary's", originally recorded in 1919 by Frances Alda and later sung by Bing Crosby in a film of the same name.
History
First church The foundation of the first church on the site is believed to coincide with the visit of Saint Birinus to the port town of Hamwic in circa 634, on his mission to reconvert England to Christianity. This first church was a small, Saxon building that nevertheless controlled a large swathe of the town, from the River Itchen to what is now present-day Northam. The early history of this church is not well known, but it is believed by historians that during the reign of King Canute (1016–1035), the ancient town of Hamwic was moved to sit on the site of modern-day Southampton, close to the confluence of the Test and Itchen. The Saxon port town was abandoned, St Mary's Church with it.Coles, R.J. (1981). Southampton's Historic Buildings. City of Southampton Society. p. 6.
Second church The story of the rebuilding of the church in the 12th century comes from Leland's chronicle of 1546, where he explains that its reconstruction was ordered by Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I, owing to its poor condition. By this time, the first church had fallen into disrepair, except for a small chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas, which was kept in use. This second incarnation of the church was dedicated to 'Our Lady Blessed Virgin Mary', and was known as the 'great church', signifying its significance as the mother church of the town despite being located outside the city walls.
There was, however, some dispute about its status. In 1281(??), a dispute emerged between the Precentor of St Mary's and the priests of the other churches in the town about whether the church should be the town's principal place of worship. The dispute was settled by the Bishop of Winchester, who sent his representative, Adam de Hales, to conduct an enquiry on the status of the various churches in the town. The result was that the churches of St Michael, Lawrence, John, Andrew, All Saints, and the Holy Trinity, took an oath stating St Mary's was the mother church.
In 1549, just three years after Leland's visit, much of the church was destroyed by order of the government commissioners, most likely as a punitive measure against the rector, William Capon, who went against the commissioners decision to confiscate the lands of the church. The Court Leet of 30 April 1549 stated that the rubble of the church should be used to create a new road from Bargate. The chancel was left intact.
In 1551, the remaining parts of the church's land and estates were, together with the church itself, leased to Robert Reniger, a former Sheriff of Southampton. One condition of the lease, which later passed to the Lambert family, was that the rector should receive £18 per year from use of the lands. The Lambert family occasionally gave towards the upkeep of the chancel, where services were still held.
Third and fourth churches
By the turn of the 18th century, the church of St Mary was in poor and dilapidated condition. The incumbent, Doctor Clutterbuck, tried for several years to have the church rebuilt, but was unsuccessful. It fell to his successor, Ralph Brideoake, to rebuild the church. In this he succeeded, instigating of the building of a new nave in 1711 in the Georgian style, which cost £920. This was followed by the rebuilding of the chancel in 1723, at a cost of £400.
At the end of the 18th century, Southampton's population grew considerably, surpassing 10,000 by the time of the 1801 census. Consequently, the church building was remodelled, expanded and in places, rebuilt, under the auspices of Francis North, who became rector in 1797. Aisles were added to the nave externally and galleries added internally to cope with the growing population; the church was reconsecrated in 1833 by Charles Sumner, Bishop of Winchester.
A description of the church appeared in Picture of Southampton in 1850:Brannon, Philip (1979) [First published 1850]. Picture of Southampton (reprint ed.). Alresford: Lawrence Oxley. pp. 44–45. .
The population continued to expand with the opening of Southampton Docks in 1838, which required houses to be built on church land. In 1831, the population reached over 22,000, and by 1861, it had almost tripled, to over 60,000. The church, although much rebuilt and restored in 1833, was beginning to show its age; the construction was of poor quality. This, combined with the rapidly expanding population, prompted the Bishop of Winchester, Samuel Wilberforce, whose son was also the rector, to strongly campaign for its replacement.
Fifth church
In 1871, Bishop Wilberforce died unexpectedly, and thus the idea of rebuilding the church gained some momentum, with suggestions that it could be a memorial to Wilberforce. Consequently, William Wilberforce, his son, instructed the eminent architect of the age, George Edmund Street, to survey the church. Street's conclusion was damning: he condemned the entire structure. Street was employed as the architect of the new building.
Following fundraising efforts, the foundation stone was laid by Edward, Prince of Wales (later to be Edward VII), Alexandra, Princess of Wales, and their children on 12 August 1878, which became part of the north chancel aisle. The partially completed church was consecrated by Harold Browne, Bishop of Winchester, on 21 June 1879.'Southampton: Churches, public buildings and charities', in A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London, 1908), pp. 524-537. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol3/pp524-537 The ceremony featured sermons by both the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald Campbell Tait, in the morning service, and the Archbishop of York, William Thomson in the evening; believed to be the only time in the history of the Church of England that both Archbishops have preached in the same church on the same day.
Construction continued until 1884, when the church was completed, save for the upper parts of the tower and spire, which had been designed but not constructed. Street himself died in 1881, but construction continued to his plan until it was completed. The church would not be fully completed for another 30 years, when under the auspices of the rector, Canon Lovett, the tower and spire were constructed, to Street's design, from 1912 to 1914. Lovett himself placed the weathervane on top of the spire on 5 January 1914; the completion had cost £2,562. The church, as completed, was in the High Gothic Revival style, with 13th century influences. The church had an aisled nave, north and south transepts, and chancel, with a high southwest tower, topped with a spire.
Sixth church Southampton, due to its importance as a port city, was one of the prime targets by the Luftwaffe as part of the Blitz. Though the city was targeted by 57 separate raids, that on the night of 30 November 1940 was the most severe. St Mary's Church was hit several times by incendiaries, which started a fire that consumed most of the structure, despite the efforts of the rector and his team. When morning broke, the church was virtually ruinous, save for the tower, spire, and conical baptistery, which survived, albeit gutted internally. The lower walls also survived but most of the treasures, stained glass, roofs and fittings were destroyed.
When the war ended, much of the parish, and indeed the city, lay in ruins. It was felt by the council that the residential properties in the parish were more important. An offer of a new site to rebuild the church in East Park Terrace by the council in 1946 was turned down, and the diocese had reservations about funding such a large building when much of the country was still under rationing. It was decided by the church council, led by rector Canon Spencer Leeson, to restore the tower and spire, which were the only part of the church to remain standing, albeit in damaged form, to give hope for rebuilding in the future. The tower and spire were restored from 1945 to 1948 when the recast bells rang out once more. A service to dedicate the bells and the restored tower was held in the ruins in 1948.
The decision to rebuild the body of the church was not taken until the early 1950s. Construction took place from February 1954 to June 1956, retaining the overall ground plan of the church, as well as the lower walls and window designs, but with modern influences, under the design of architect Romilly Craze. The church was rededicated at a service on 12 June 1956, led by the Bishop of Winchester, with a congregation of 1,400 worshippers.
Modern history In 2018, it was announced that the church would undergo an £800,000 renovation and a change in leadership, in order to modernise it and better attract a younger congregation. The internal alterations included the installation of a kitchen and servery, new lighting and sound systems, refurbishment of toilets, and a stage in the centre of the church. Many of the 1950s internal fittings were replaced, and a new font installed in the east end, as well as the restoration of the roof. As part of the modernisation, a church plant took place, with Holy Trinity Brompton installing a new vicar; the churchmanship also changed to Charismatic Evangelical.
Architecture
Exterior and plan Externally, the church follows the traditional cruciform plan, with an aisled nave and chancel, intersected by north and south transepts. There is also a small, conical baptistery at the west end of the north nave aisle, a tower at the same end of the south nave aisle, and vestries east of the chancel. The church building has a footprint of , which according to the Church of England, makes it a "very large" church building.
The exterior is constructed mostly from Purbeck stone and ashlar, with Bath stone for decoration. Owing to being the work of three different architects, the exterior can best be described as "Neo-Cistercian", incorporating the lower walls of Street's church, the upper walls by Craze, and the tower and spire by Street's son, Arthur Edmund Street, based on his father's design. The dominant feature of the exterior is the massive tower and spire, which reach a height of , making St Mary's the tallest church in Hampshire. Whilst Nikolaus Pevsner was critical of the body of the church following its rebuilding, he praised the tower and the spire, making a "splendid composition", calling it "one of the finest Victorian steeples in England".