Doncaster Minster

Doncaster Minster, formally the Minster and Parish Church of St George, is the Anglican minster church of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It is a grade I listed building and was designed by architect designer George Gilbert Scott. The church was built in 1854–1858 to replace an earlier building destroyed by fire. It is an active place of worship, and has a Schulze organ, a ring of eight bells, and a celebrated clock by Dent. The church is one of two parish churches to have minster status in South Yorkshire. The other is the minster church of Rotherham.

Pevsner described the church as being the most "cathedral-like" of all of Scott's parish churches.

History

The original 13th-century Early English building burnt down on the last day of February 1853.Doncaster Minster website This fire resulted in the loss of the medieval library which was above the south porch. The old church had some Norman remnants left over in the walls from the church previous to that, which also burnt down at the start of the 13th century.

The current building was designed by architect Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1853, and the foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop of York Thomas Musgrave on 24 February 1854. Construction took between 1854 and 1858 at a cost of £43,126 4s 5d. It was consecrated by the Archbishop of York on 14 October 1858. Nikolaus Pevsner described the church as the "..proudest and most cathedral-like of this fabulously busy and successful architect's parish churches." The church is laid out like a "massive cruciform" and has a central Perpendicular tower which reaches ; the rest of the church is in the Decorated style. The church extends to in length and is wide in the nave including the aisles.

A time capsule was placed underneath the church containing documents, coins and other artefacts of the time. A vellum sheet was included with the names of various benefactors, the churchwardens and the clergy.

One of the quirks of the old church that was carried on into the new building, was the ringing of the church bells during St Leger race at Doncaster Racecourse. The Reverend Vaughan ceased this tradition in the first year that the race was held during his tenure by locking the tower and going for a walk.

The Minster today The Minster is one of Doncaster's most architecturally important buildings evidenced by its Grade I listing and was described by Sir John Betjeman as "Victorian Gothic at its very best". It was given minster status as the Minster and Parish Church of St George by the Bishop of Sheffield on 17 June 2004. It is an active place of worship with regular services and is also used for civic services, arts events and other celebrations. The Minster is a member of the Major Churches Network, successor to the Greater Churches Network.

Amongst its treasures are a clock by Dent (the designer of the Palace of Westminster Clock, more usually known as Big Ben) and a spectacular five-manual organ by the renowned German organ builder Edmund Schulze (1824–1877).

The minster has eight bells with a tenor of . The tower was repaired between 1925 and 1926 at a cost of £2,000, allowing the bells to ring again after being silent for a year.

Vicars

John Sharpe: 1817 to 1860Morning Chronicle, 6 March 1822.Mentioned as vicar from 1822 to 1859, the name John Sharpe given in Hull Packet, 17 March 1829, list of donations to York Minster Charles John Vaughan: 1860 to 1869Leeds Mercury 18 August 1860, "Dr Vaughan, the new vicar of Doncaster..."Derby Mercury, 15 September 1869 "Dr Vaughan, the vicar of St. George, Doncaster, preached his farewell sermon on Sunday September 5th" Francis Pigou: 1869 to 1875Leeds Mercury 18 August 1869Hull Packet, 15 October 1875, p. 6 Edward Carr Glyn: 1875 to 1878Birmingham Daily Post 8 June 1886 "Canon Wright.. succeeded the Hon. and Rev. E. Carr Glyn at Doncaster in November 1878 Charles Sisum Wright: 1878 to 1886And mentioned in Leeds Mercury, 14 August 1885Derby Mercury, 16 June 1886 Henry Tebbutt: 1886 to 1894Bristol Mercury 23 July 1886mentioned as vicar of Doncaster in Northern Echo 11 October 1894, and referred to as Bishop of Hull in Leeds Mercury 16 January 1895 John Nathaniel Quirk: 1901 to 1905 (simultaneous with being Bishop of Sheffield) rootsweb YORKSGEN-L Archives Re: Bishop of Sheffield F.G. Sandford: 1905 to 1928www.doncaster.gov The Mayoress's Drawing Room (refers to portrait of him) Richard Brook: 1928 to 1935 Michael James Jackson: 1969 to 1973 Geoffrey Lawn: 1974 to 1982 John Bird: 1982 to 1985 Christopher Smith: 2002 to 2010 Paul Shackerley: 2010 to 2014The Diocese of Sheffield David Stevens: 2015 to 2024

Organs and organists

Organists and choirmasters

1862 Schulze Organ

Rising from the ashes

The medieval Parish Church of St George possessed a fine Harris organ of 1739–40. This instrument was praised by John Stanley, who declared "every pipe in the reed stops to be worth its weight in silver". It grew from an original specification of some 24 stops to one of 51 stops and was reputed to be the largest organ in England except for York Minster, due to the efforts of Jeremiah Rogers (organist 1835–1879), who paid for much of the work himself. The organ had just been relocated from the west gallery to the chancel and its pedal extended to 32 ft pitch, when it was consumed by fire, along with the entire building, on 28 February 1853.

The leading architect of the day, Sir George Gilbert Scott, was commissioned to rebuild the church, a task which he completed in only four years. Consecrated in 1858, the new church is the most cathedral-like of Scott's parish churches and is crowned by a bell tower 170 feet high.

Jeremiah Rogers was desirous of commissioning an organ worthy of Scott's new church and set out to acquire "the best organ that could be obtained anywhere in the world". Rogers made many visits around Europe inspecting famous organs, often in the company of his friend E. J. Hopkins (organist of the Temple Church).

Specification The organ contains 93 speaking stops, five manuals, eight pedals, 12 combination pistons and eight combination pedals, detailed as follows; + I Choir 1 Lieblich Bourdon 16 2 Geigen Principal 8 3 Viol de Gamba 8 4 Flauto Gamba 2 ranks 8 5 Gemshorn 8 6 Salicional 8 7 Flauto Traverso 8 8 Lieblich Gedackt 8 9 Flauto Traverso 4 10 Lieblich Flute 4 11 Geigen Principal 4 12 Quintaten 4 13 Flautina 2+ II Great 14 Sub Bass (c) 32 15 Double Open Diap. 16 16 Bourdon 16 17 Open Diapason No. 1 8 18 Open Diapason No. 2 8 19 Stopped Diapason 8 20 Hohl Flute 8 21 Stopped Flute 4 22 Principal 4 23 Gemshorn 4 24 Quint 25 Twelfth 26 Fifteenth 2 27 Mixture V 28 Cymbal III-V 29 Cornet (c) IV 30 Double Trumpet 16 31 Posaune 8 32 Trumpet 8 33 Clarion 4+ III Swell (enclosed) 34 Bourdon 16 35 Open Diapason 8 36 Terpodian 8 37 Echo Gamba 8* 38 Voix Celeste (c) 8* 39 Harmonic Flute 8 40 Rohr Flute 8 41 Harmonic Flute 4 42 Stopped Flute 4 43 Principal 4 44 Viol d'Amour 4 45 Mixture V 46 Scharf III 47 Cornet IV 48 Double Bassoon 16 49 Trumpet 8 50 Horn 8 51 Hautboy 8 52 Clarion 4 53 Vox Humana 8 Tremulant+ IV Solo (enclosed) 54 String Gamba 8* 55 Harm. Claribel Flute 8* 56 Concert Flute 4* 57 Clarinet 8 58 Orchestral Oboe 8* Tremulant 59 Tuba (unenclosed) 8*+ V Echo 60 Tibia Major 16 61 Harmonica 8 62 Vox Angelica 8 63 Flauto Amabile 8 64 Flauto Traverso 8 65 Celestina 4 66 Flauto Dolcissimo 4 67 Harmonic Ætheria II+ Pedal 68 Sub Principal 32 69 Major Bass 16 70 Principal Bass 16 71 Open Bass 16 72 Violone 16 73 Sub Bass 16 74 Major Bass 8 75 Flute Bass 8 76 Violoncello 8 77 Octave Bass 8 78 Quint Bass 79 Great Tierce 80 Quint 81 Fifteenth Bass 4 82 Tierce 83 Mixture II 84 Cymbal II 85 Contra Posaune 32 86 Posaune 16 87 Bombarde 16 88 Contra Fagotto 16 89 Trumpet 8 90 Horn 8 91 Fagotto 8 92 Clarion 4+ Couplers Solo to Pedal Swell to Pedal Choir to Pedal Great to Pedal Solo to Choir Swell to Choir Solo to Great Swell to Great Choir to Great

Gallery

Doncaster Minster

Bron en licentie