The Church of St Mary the Virgin, widely known as St Mary Redcliffe, is the main
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
for the Redcliffe district of the city of
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The first reference to a church on the site appears in 1158,
with the present building dating from 1185 to 1872. The church is considered one of the country's finest and largest
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
es as well as an outstanding example of
English Gothic architecture
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of Gothic cathedrals and churches, cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture, Got ...
.
The church is so large it is sometimes mistaken for
Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bristol. The cathedral was originally an abbey dedicated to St ...
by tourists. The building has
Grade I listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
status, the highest possible category, by
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
.
The church is notable for its many large
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
windows, decorative stone
vaults,
flying buttress
The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of a ramping arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall ou ...
es, rare hexagonal
porch
A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...
and massive Gothic spire. With a height of 274 feet (84 m)
to the top of the weathervane, St Mary Redcliffe is the second-tallest structure in Bristol and the sixth-tallest parish church in the country. The church spire is a major Bristol landmark, visible from across the city and until the completion of
Castle Park View in 2020, it was the tallest structure ever to have been erected in Bristol.
St Mary Redcliffe has received widespread critical acclaim from various architects, historians, poets, writers and monarchs. In 1541 the English topographer and antiquary
John Leland, claimed it was "the most beautiful of all churches" he had seen in England. Queen
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
, on a visit to the church in 1574, was said to have described St Mary Redcliffe as "The fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England".
In 1628
Charles I similarly suggested that the church was "one of the moste famous absolute fayrest and goodliest parish churches within the Realm of England.”
Simon Jenkins
Sir Simon David Jenkins FLSW (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992.
Jenkins chaired the National Trust f ...
gives St Mary Redcliffe the maximum five-star rating in his book England's Thousand Best Churches''
', one of only eighteen to receive such a rating, describing it as a "masterpiece of English Gothic"; and
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
says that "St Mary Redcliffe need not fear comparison with any other English parish church".
History
Name and origins
Though some sources claim a church has been on the site since
Saxon
The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
times, no such church is recorded in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
, meaning that if a church existed, it had been demolished by 1086.
The first recorded mention of a church in present-day Redcliffe is a charter signed by
Henry II
Henry II may refer to:
Kings
* Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014
*Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154
*Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...
in 1158, confirming the endowments of the churches at Redcliffe and
Bedminster to
Old Sarum Cathedral
Old Sarum Cathedral was a Catholic and Norman cathedral at old Salisbury, now known as Old Sarum, between 1092 and 1220. Only its foundations remain, in the north-west quadrant of the circular outer bailey of the site, about north of the centre ...
. This charter implies therefore that a church already existed in Redcliffe during 1158, likely constructed sometime between 1086 and 1158.
The modern-day name of Redcliffe, now a district of Bristol, refers to the position of the church on its prominent red
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
cliff above the
River Avon, which at the time, was the location of the
Port of Bristol
The Port of Bristol comprises the commercial, and former commercial, docks situated in and near the city of Bristol in England. The Port of Bristol Authority was the commercial title of the Bristol City, Avonmouth, Portishead and Royal Portb ...
.
The original church was built and funded by the city's wealthy
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...
s, some of whom may have reached present-day
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
before
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
, sailing from the Port of Bristol. Though the modern Port of Bristol is located further downstream, the original
quay
A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...
side still survives near the church, called Redcliffe Quay, where fragments of the red cliff can still be seen.
Gothic rebuilding
In 1185, a new north porch was constructed
in the
Early English Gothic
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...
style of the
Purbeck subtype, similar to the new east end of
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...
, making this one of the earliest Gothic constructions in England,
Canterbury being the earliest.
Though repairs are recorded in the churchwardens' accounts in 1207, 1229 and 1230, the next major construction would not be undertaken until the end of the 13th century.

In 1292, Simon de Burton,
mayor of Bristol, founded the present church and began an ambitious programme of rebuilding.
This began in 1294 with the construction of the massive northwest tower base and part of the present west wall.
Construction paused until 1320 when the rest of the church was rebuilt into the
Decorated Gothic
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...
style. The earliest work from this phase of construction is the exceptionally rare hexagonal north porch, which was built adjacent to the 1185 Early English porch in 1325, thus forming an inner (1185) and outer (1325) north porch.
The design influence for the unusual hexagonal shape of the north porch is unknown, with historians offering various suggestions. These include the Chapter House and Lady Chapel of nearby
Wells Cathedral
Wells Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Bath and Wells and the mother church of the diocese of Bath and Wells. There are daily Church of England services in ...
, constructed from 1310 onwards, which are the nearest example of similar work.
Pevsner also suggests influences from Chinese and
Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...
and
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
, since frequent voyages were made to the east in this period. Islamic architecture contains frequent
polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain.
The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...
s and it is possible that given the Port of Bristol being amongst the largest and most important in England at the time, inspiration was sought from further afield.
From c. 1330, the south porch and nave aisle began to be rebuilt in the Decorated style, though with notable markings of the future
Perpendicular
In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...
style, which was soon to become the dominant style from the late 14th century onwards. Influences from Wells Cathedral can again be found here, most notably in the south porch, constructed in 1335. Construction continued with the completion of the tower and spire in the first half of the 14th century, followed by the south transept and then the Lady Chapel, the latter completed in 1385.
Though historians do not agree on precisely when it took place, there is a notable change in architectural style when comparing the north and south
transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...
s with the choir and nave. The choir was most likely complete by the time of the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
in 1348 and though the north transept is built on a similar plan to the south transept, its internal features indicate a time when the Perpendicular style had succeeded the Decorated as the dominant style of architecture, most notably in the
clerestory
A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both.
Historically, a ''clerestory' ...
.
15th century
The completion of the nave was the major task left at the beginning of the 15th century. The elevation of the nave walls is of a similar design to that of the choir but the interior vaulting is different, implying it is of a later date. Work continued on the nave and crossing during the first half of the 15th century until it was interrupted in 1445 or 1446 by the fall of the spire.
Though the exact year is uncertain, the top of the spire is recorded to have been struck by lightning in one of these two years. Meteorological records kept at the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...
make reference to storms with thunder and lightning in November and December 1446. This strike caused the top two-thirds of the spire to collapse, leaving St Mary Redcliffe with a stump-like spire, similar to the present-day appearance of
St Mary's Church in nearby
Yatton.
It is unknown whether any damage was caused by the fall of the spire, though it is reported. If the wind had been from the southwest, the spire would have fallen onto the north porches, which show no sign of damage or alteration.
If the wind had been from the northwest, the spire would have fallen onto the south porch, which does show signs of later alteration, with a vault of later design than the exterior elevation.
Surviving evidence in the tower roof shows the spire did not fall down vertically, for the tower roof beams supporting the spire have been dated to the 14th century and they would not have survived such a collapse.
William Worcestre's 1480 inventory states: "the height of the tower of Redcliffe contains 300 feet, of which 100 feet have been thrown down by lightning".
The spire was not rebuilt following the strike; work instead continued to the nave and crossing, completed in c. 1480. The crossing vault bears similarities to that at
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...
, dated to 1479, which given the close relationship between the two churches, likely inspired that at Redcliffe. The work to complete the nave at Redcliffe was largely financed by the Canynges family, who had worked to rebuild the church since the early 14th century.
The final major alteration to the church in the Gothic period was the extension of the Lady Chapel in 1494 by Sir
John Juyn, a wealthy
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
. Though the extension took place over 100 years after the initial completion of the chapel, the extension work is harmonious in design with the original.
16th and 17th centuries
Like many churches in England, substantial damage was done to the internal fittings in the 16th and 17th centuries. During 1547, the
chantry chapels were dissolved, including those founded at the end of the 15th century by
William Canynges. The crown confiscated plates, lamps,
vestment
Vestments are Liturgy, liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christianity, Christian religion, especially by Eastern Christianity, Eastern Churches, Catholic Church, Catholics (of all rites), Lutherans, and Anglicans. ...
s and service books. The
rood screen
The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...
was destroyed in 1548.
Sometime in 1574, Queen Elizabeth I made the first of several visits to St Mary Redcliffe, reputedly describing it as "the fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England", though whether she actually said this is a matter of some debate.
Elizabeth would make several more visits during her reign, most notably in 1588 and 1591 when she restored some of the funds confiscated by her predecessors; this she did by issuing
Letters Patent
Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...
.
More serious damage would come to the church during the 17th century. From 1649 to 1660, during the time of
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
as
Lord Protector
Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...
, the pinnacles were removed, ornaments destroyed, the organ broken and much of the stained glass smashed by artillery fire. Similar damage was done to many churches across the country. The removal of the
pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...
s destabilised parts of the building; as the flying buttresses are not just decorative, but support the vaulting and the upper walls. The east window was bricked up to try to stop the collapse of the quire walls, as were some of the flying buttresses.
Modern history
18th and 19th centuries

In 1763, the chapel of the Holy Spirit, as well as the Churchyard Cross, were both demolished. The chapel of the Holy Spirit was a freestanding building constructed in the mid-13th century by Henry Tussun, who was
Prebendary
A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...
at nearby Bedminster. The chapel stood a short distance southwest of the present tower, and was used as the parish church whilst the present building was under construction. Queen Elizabeth later gave it to the parishioners for use as a
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
but it fell into disuse. Demolition lasted until 1766.
The church was heavily restored again during the latter half of the 19th century. Concerned for the state of the building, which had suffered with decades of decay and misuse, a committee was formed in 1842 under the name of the Canynges Society to restore the building and return it to its original appearance. As part of the restoration, the east window was unblocked and reglazed, the high box pews and galleries of the Georgian era removed and the stonework generally restored. The final step in this restoration was the rebuilding of the spire, which had stood in truncated form above the tower since it was struck by lightning in 1445 or 1446. The spire was rebuilt and the remaining 'stump' restored back to its former height; the Mayor of Bristol completing the work by placing the capstone on 9 May 1872, over 260 feet (79 m) above the ground.
This work which cost over £40,000 (equivalent to £3.4 million in 2022) was designed and overseen by architect
George Godwin.
20th century
In 1912, the present highly acclaimed organ by
Durham-based
Harrison and Harrison was constructed and installed in the church, replacing several earlier instruments by Bristolian organ builders (see Organ, below).
From 1939 to 1941, a new undercroft in the Gothic-style was constructed by
George Oatley underneath the north porch, originally intended to be used as the treasury.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the church, despite its size and height making it an easy target for the
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
, was mostly spared from destruction, unlike many of Bristol's churches. Nevertheless, a team of watchmen were stationed on the church roof at night to put out
incendiary bombs. The church's bells and other treasures were stored under the floor in sandbags to protect them from 1941 to 1944 and minor damage was sustained on a small number of occasions, mostly to the organs and roofs, though the upper (inner) north porch room was burnt out.
The church did however come very close to more significant destruction on
Good Friday
Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...
in 1941, when a bomb dropped on a nearby street threw shrapnel, including a large chunk of tram rail, into the churchyard. The tram rail, which has been left there to this day, is partially embedded in the ground with the force of the explosion and serves to remind local residents of how close the church came to destruction.
In the 1960s, the present vivid stained glass windows in the Lady Chapel were installed and designed by Harry Stammers, and at the same time, £150,000 was spent between 1960 and 1965 on cleaning the external stonework.
21st century
The 21st century has seen much restoration to the exterior stonework, much of it being cleaned, 150 years of pollution having darkened the stonework.
The organ has undergone a significant restoration by its original builders, Harrison and Harrison, and some stained glass commemorating the
Royal African Company was removed in June 2020 following the removal of the Statue of Edward Colston on 7 June. The south nave aisle and lady chapel roofs have been renewed.
A project to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the visit of Elizabeth I in 2024 is underway to make the church more suitable for hosting tourists, events and for supporting the community. In 2016, an architectural competition was run by the church to design a new welcome centre with fresh and modern facilities; the contest was won by
Purcell
Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...
, who received the contract to design the work. Part of the work includes the pedestrianisation of Redcliffe Way, the dual carriageway which runs past the north side of the church. As of 2023, Purcell have departed ways with the church, with
Northern Irish
The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...
architects
Hall McKnight taking over the project. No construction work has so far taken place.
Architecture
Plan
The church has a traditional
cruciform
A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.
Cruciform architectural plan
Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...
plan, with northwest tower,
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
, transepts and
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
, as is common with many parish churches in England.
However, more unusually, the form it takes is more akin to that of a
cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
than a parish church, with
aisle
An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...
s on all four arms of the church, as well as a lady chapel to the east and two porches.
Other parish churches with such an arrangement can be found at
Beverley Minster
Beverley Minster, otherwise known as the Parish Church of Saint John and Saint Martin, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, is a parish church in the Church of England. It is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, larger than one-thir ...
in
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...
,
Christchurch Priory in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
and
Selby Abbey
Selby is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193.
The town w ...
in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
. However, St Mary Redcliffe is unique for its double north porch, with both an inner and outer room, the latter taking a rare polygonal form.
The scale of the building makes it not only one of the primary landmarks for the city of Bristol but also one of the largest parish churches in the country. The church building is 250 feet (76 m) long from east to west
and 117 feet (36 m) across the transepts from north to south, giving it an area of 1,916 square metres (20,620 sq ft). The footprint of the church is amongst the largest of any church in England when cathedrals and other former monastic structures such as
Bath Abbey
The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictines, Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, i ...
are excluded, after only
Great Yarmouth Minster
The Minster Church of St Nicholas is the minster and parish church of the town of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England. It was built during the Norman era and is England's third largest parish church, behind Beverley Minster in East Yorkshir ...
(2,752 sq m),
Hull Minster (2,473 sq m),
Boston Stump
St Botolph's Church is the Anglican parish church of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. It has been referred to as "Boston Stump" since it was constructed in the 16th century. Its tower is tall, and was long used as a landmark for the Boston fish ...
(2,417 sq m) and
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...
(2,010 sq m).
Exterior
Tower
The dominant feature of the church's exterior is the highly decorative and imposing northwest tower, capped by an extremely tall and slender spire.
The earliest parts of the tower which comprise the lowest stage date from circa 1294,
built in the Late Geometrical style.
This part of the tower was an addition to the incarnation of the building begun in c. 1185, and was constructed on a massive scale, with walls 7 feet (2.1 m) thick and 35 feet (11 m) long.
The lower stage, which reaches a height of 34 feet (10 m),
contains a seven-bay
niche-filled
arcade containing fourteen statues by William Rice in the 19th century restoration.
Below this arcade are two large windows, one each on the north and west sides, formed of three and four lights respectively, framed by massive buttresses complete with filleted angle shafts. This lowest stage of the tower partially juts into the north porch, with the 1325 hexagonal outer porch built around one of the tower buttresses.
The second stage of the tower is highly ornate and is almost as tall as the older stage below it, being some 33 feet (10 m) high
from the bottom of the lower stage to the top of the second. This second stage was not begun until the early 14th century and subsequently shows a later period of architecture than the stage beneath it. This stage of the tower, containing the ringing room, has a large blind arcade that runs all the way around the tower, formed of 3 arches with y-shaped
tracery
Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...
in gabled
hoods containing 19th century statues of the
Apostle
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...
s. Each arch has elaborate mouldings punctured with
cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...
rose
A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
s and daisy-like florets on the gables. The central arch on the east, north and west sides contain large glazed window, that of the south side blocked by the nave.
The third and highest stage of the tower contains the belfry and is similar in age to the second, being constructed in the Perpendicular Gothic style. This stage, being some 44 feet (13 m) high contains triplets of huge
louvred belfry openings which take up nearly the entire width and height of each wall, showing the verticality common in the late Gothic period. These louvred windows have
cinque-foil headed lights separated by slender blind arches, all heavily
crocketed. The buttresses which started on the lowest stage also terminate here with crocketed pyramids. The third stage is topped by a pierced stone
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
formed of open triangles and
gargoyle
In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...
s, with octagonal pinnacles rising from it. The parapet of the tower is 111 feet (34 m) above the ground; the octagonal corner pinnacles reach 139 feet (42 m) above the ground.
Spire
The first spire on the tower at Redcliffe was completed by circa 1335, and stood for just over 110 years until it was severely damaged by a storm in either 1445 or 1446, toppling the upper part of it.
To what extent the spire was damaged is unknown, for conflicting accounts appear from its destruction as to how much of it was left. William Worcestre recorded in a visit to the church in 1478 that "the height of the tower at Redcliffe measures 300 feet, of which 100 feet have been thrown down by lightning".
However, this contradicts the images and paintings of the church in the 19th century, which show the tower capped by a short stump, implying it was either taken down or further reduced in height. The tallest medieval work in the present spire is 139 feet (42 m) above the ground, the position of which matches the appearance of the church in the 19th century.
As part of the 19th century restoration of the church by George Godwin, the rebuilding of the spire was undertaken as the final part of the work, from 1870 to 1872. Godwin's design was more restrained than previous architects' drawings for its rebuilding, taking its inspiration from that at Salisbury Cathedral; perhaps ironic, as the original spire may have directly inspired Salisbury's, given the close link between the two churches.
The spire stands 152 feet (46 m) tall
on top of the roof of the tower, giving a total height to the capstone of 262 feet (80 m),
and when the
weathervane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an list of weather instruments, instrument used for showing the wind direction, direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ' ...
is included, 274 feet (84 m).
The spire's height is commonly misquoted as 292 feet (89 m), which comes from an appendix attached to the book Notes on the Church of St Mary Redcliffe''
' by Revd J. P. Norris in 1878. This figure includes the deep foundations as well as the weathervane which has led to St Mary Redcliffe frequently being called the third tallest parish church in England.
Whilst the spire is very large, the church is not the third tallest parish church in England. It ranks as the
15th-tallest church in the United Kingdom, and the 6th-tallest parish church, surpassed in the respect of the latter by the churches of
St Walburge in
Preston,
St James in
Louth,
St Wulfram in
Grantham
Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...
,
St Elphin in
Warrington
Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
and
St Mary Abbots
St Mary Abbots is a Church (building), church located on Kensington High Street and the corner of Kensington Church Street in London W8.
The present church structure was built in 1872 to the designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who combined ne ...
in
Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
. It is also the second tallest church in
South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...
, surpassed only by
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...
.
North porch
The north porch at St Mary Redcliffe is formed of two parts, an earlier 12th century inner porch and a much more elaborate 14th century outer porch.
The outer porch is the only one visible from the exterior and dates from circa 1325. The outer porch is the most celebrated part of the current building as well as one of its greatest treasures, being one of only three medieval hexagonal porches in existence in England.
The exterior is dominated by massive pentagonal turret buttresses with square pinnacles rising the full height of the porch.
The outer porch has three stages of unequal height: the lowest stage contains the main doorway which has a seven-pointed double-
chamfer
A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces.
Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...
ed entrance arch, a feature author Simon Jenkins calls "astonishing".
The arch is inspired by Oriental architecture and features exceptionally intricate decoration of
seaweed
Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...
foliage
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, f ...
.
The second stage has a large row of four blind arcades filled with niches containing 19th century replicas of the original statues, above which are large four-light windows. The upper stage contains the Chatterton Room, and is a low room lit by rows of
mullion
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...
windows. The parapet has open
quatrefoil
A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...
s and is reached by an octagonal stair turret in the southeast corner.
File:St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol-6077887368.jpg, North porch: upper stages
File:St Mary Redcliffe church, Bristol.jpg, Detail on door decoration
File:St Mary Redcliffe 9644.jpg, Door detail
File:The outer north porch (c.1325) of St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, England.jpg, Porch from the north, showing flight of steps and position near tower
Nave, transepts and chancel
The main body of the church generally dates from the late Decorated and early Perpendicular Gothic periods of the mid-14th century and thus presents a unified and consistent style throughout.
The aisles all have blind quatrefoil parapets divided by buttresses, from which rise crocketed pinnacles and 4-light Decorated windows. The clerestory of the main body is supported by massive flying buttresses which spring from the aisle buttresses. Between each buttress are very large 6-light windows filling almost the entire space of the clerestory wall, of the alternating tracery type. The upper walls also have an open parapet but formed of open-
cusped triangles, above which rise thin, crocketed pinnacles.
The south and north transepts are unusually double-aisled, an arrangement scarcely seen outside of cathedral buildings and each one is three bays in length. The two transepts differ slightly in design due to the north transept being a slightly later imitation of the 1335 south transept. The south transept has gabled buttresses to the aisles and flying buttresses to the clerestory, which unlike that of the nave or chancel, is unpanelled. The clerestory windows are smaller than their counterparts in the main body and have a different design to the rest of the church, featuring a central arch of three lights surrounded by a band of glazed quatrefoils. The north transept more closely resembles the nave and chancel, with the same design of clerestory window.
The chancel continues the same design as the nave but the north aisle is partially blocked by the two bay organ chamber, which has mullioned windows with trefoiled heads and a wide
chimney breast. East of the chancel is the two bay lady chapel, built in two sections, firstly at the end of the 14th century from circa 1385 and then extended at the end of the 15th century in 1494. The chapel has a large five-light window in its westernmost bay, corresponding with the earlier period of building, and a smaller four-light window in the eastern bay. The eastern gable of the chapel has a wide but low six-light Perpendicular window.
All four arms of the church have large or very large windows in their gable ends. The west window is a tall five-light construction, divided into two tiers by
transoms, featuring cinquefoil-headed crosses. The north and south transept gable ends have "immensely tall"
four-light windows divided into three tiers by two rows of transoms featuring Y-tracery and reticulated tracery in the arch heads. The chancel gable is filled almost entirely by a substantial seven-light window of the alternate tracery design.
File:St Mary Redcliffe church.jpg, North aspect
File:St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, England-LCCN2002696423.tif, South aspect (1890)
File:Church of Saint Mary Redcliffe - 49890595312.jpg, South transept windows
File:St Mary's Redcliffe.jpg, South nave and porch
File:St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol (2202).jpg, Lady Chapel eastern gable
Interior
Vaults
One of the rare qualities of St Mary Redcliffe is that it is vaulted entirely in stone, which makes it unique; there is no other parish church in England to feature a medieval stone vault throughout.
The earliest vault in the church is that of the inner north porch dating back to circa 1185, taking the form of a simple
ribbed vault
A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a nave, church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Isla ...
, similar to that at
Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...
, in the Transitional/Early English style. The outer porch, built from circa 1325, has a much more elaborate hexagonal vault in the form of a six-sided star.
The main body of the church is vaulted nearly entirely in the
lierne form, with varying rib designs, including
lozenges in the nave, hexagons in the south aisle, squares in the transepts and rectangles in the choir.
These are formed by various combinations of ribs intersecting one another, in a pattern that Simon Jenkins calls "an astonishing maze".
The nave vaulting contains over a thousand carved and
gilded bosses, either 1,100
or 1,200
in number depending on the source. These bosses depict various scenes and objects, including saints, biblical scenes and people associated with the building of the church.
There are two other notable vaults in the church, including the star vault of the Lady Chapel dating from the late 14th century and the five-sided star vault underneath the tower, which an archaeological survey has dated to the late 1460s or early 1470s.
Most of the vaults were repainted in the 1980s and 1990s and have bright shades of green, gold, blue and red.
File:St Mary Redcliffe 9645.jpg, Outer north porch vault (1325)
File:Ceiling of St Mary Redcliffe Church.jpg, Nave vault
File:Ceiling Cat Is Watching You - Flickr - mendhak.jpg, Crossing vault
File:St Mary's ceiling (geograph 7315936).jpg, Quire vault
File:St Mary Redclife December 2018-6.jpg, North transept and vault
Stained glass
The church lost the majority of its medieval stained glass during the damage done by
Parliamentary forces in the 17th century, with fragments confined to the north transept, St John's chapel and lower tower windows.
In 1842, the committee responsible for the restoration of the church were mostly concerned with the condition of the stonework which was estimated to cost some £40,000 to repair, but were determined to have the large east window, which at the time was bricked up, filled with glass.
In 1847, the committee awarded the contract for its design and implementation to
William Wailes of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
, one of the most prolific stained glass designers of the 19th century, who estimated the cost at £330. This window was replaced in 1904 by a design by
Clayton & Bell; Wailes' window being destroyed.
Clayton and Bell provided much of the stained glass for the church following the 1842 decision to restore it, along with works by
Ninian Comper
Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect, one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architects.
His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishm ...
and Joseph Bell of Bristol.
A notable medieval window to survive is in the lowest stage of the tower, featuring eight large figures, including depictions of Archbishop
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...
and the saints
Lawrence,
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* he He ..., a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name
* Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
,
Matthias Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew.
Notable people
Notable people named Matthias include the following:
Religion
* Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Isca ...
,
John the Baptist
John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
and
Elizabeth.
This window was reset and restored by Joseph Bell in the restoration. In the Second World War, incendiary bombs irrevocably damaged the windows of the Lady Chapel, which were replaced by 5 vivid windows designed by Harry Stammers from 1960 to 1965.
In 2020, following the
toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, the church took the decision to remove the lower four panels in the main window of the north transept which paid tribute to him, temporarily replacing them with clear glass. A competition to design new panels to replace these removed windows was launched in May 2022. The winner was announced in September 2022 as being Ealish Swift, a
junior doctor
In the United Kingdom, a resident doctor, previously (until 2024) known as a junior doctor, is a qualified medical practitioner who is either engaged in postgraduate training or employed in a non-training post. The period of being a resident docto ...
in one of the city's hospitals, who designed panels depicting the
Middle Passage
The Middle Passage was the stage of the Atlantic slave trade in which millions of Africans sold for enslavement were forcibly transported to the Americas as part of the triangular slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manu ...
,
Bristol bus boycott, and
Refugee Crisis
A refugee crisis can refer to difficulties and/or dangerous situations in the reception of large groups of refugees. These could be Forced displacement, forcibly displaced persons, internally displaced persons, asylum seekers or any other huge ...
.
As of 2023, the church has a mixture of stained glass and clear glass, with mostly Victorian work in the east end, and clear glass in the clerestory windows of the nave.
File:Bristol, St Mary Redcliffe church, East window (48694712611).jpg, Lady Chapel, east window, Harry Stammers
File:Bristol, St Mary Redcliffe church, Gable east window (48706863157).jpg, Great East Window, Clayton & Bell
File:Bristol, St Mary Redcliffe church, West window (48709967663).jpg, Great West Window, Hardman (1868)
File:Bristol, St Mary Redcliffe church, Moses window (48710339531).jpg, Moses window, Butler & Bayne (1897)
File:Bristol, St Mary Redcliffe church, window (48706603696).jpg, Window marking 100th anniversary of the death of George Frederick Handle
Fittings, memorials and monuments
The church building has numerous monuments and memorials due to its long association with the city of Bristol, its port and Queen Elizabeth I. Notable fittings include the fine ironwork screen designed by William Edney in 1710 intended to divide the chancel and nave, but moved in the restoration to sit under the tower; and the Victorian
reredos
A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...
below the east window. Other fittings of note include the 19th century pews; the 15th century St John's font, the only relic of St John's Church in Bedminster to survive the Blitz and the 15th century choir stalls.
The church also has many memorials, most notably to William Canynges who is buried in a brightly coloured tomb in the south transept, but also to Queen Elizabeth I. Monuments include a model of one of the ships that would sail from the Port of Bristol, and a wall memorial in the memory of the father of
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...
, the founder of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
,
Admiral Sir William Penn. His helm and half-armour are hung on the wall, together with the tattered banners of the Dutch ships that he captured in battle. The church also displays a rib of a whale brought back from one of his voyages by
John Cabot
John Cabot ( ; 1450 – 1499) was an Italians, Italian navigator and exploration, explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England, Henry VII, King of England is the earliest known Europe ...
. There is also a carved medieval cope chest, a wineglass-shaped
pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...
and multiple
misericord
A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a p ...
s.
File:St. Mary Redcliffe Church (37036637866).jpg, Canynges tomb
File:St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol (6088571431).jpg, Coat of arms for King Charles I, located above the porch
File:Sir William Penn's memorial at St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, England.jpg, Penn memorial
File:St Mary Redcliffe's details 03.jpg, Reredos
File:St. Mary Redcliffe Church (37084222731).jpg, Cope chest
File:St. Mary Redcliffe Church (36389687444).jpg, Bedminster font
File:St Mary Redcliffe 9653.jpg, Pulpit
Music
Organ
The earliest record of an organ at St Mary Redcliffe is when a new instrument by John Harris and
John Byfield was installed in the church in 1726. This organ was one of the largest of its time, featuring three
manuals and 26
stops, located on a new western gallery in the nave. This organ was rebuilt by John Smith of Bristol in 1829 and then completely altered by
W. G. Vowles, also of Bristol, in 1867, when it was enlarged, rebuilt and reinstalled in the chancel. The 1867 organ kept the three manuals, but had an increased number of stops, 33 in number.
From 1910 to 1912, organ builders Harrison & Harrison of Durham built and installed a brand new organ for the church, incorporating a small amount of the old pipework. The new organ was much larger, and due to space constraints had to be split between the north and south walls of the chancel. A new stone chamber for the
Swell Organ was built in the angle between the north transept and north chancel aisle. The Great Organ was placed on the north side of the chancel with the remaining parts on the south; the console being placed to the west, near the north transept. This organ had more than twice as many stops as the previous organs, a total of 68 as installed.
In 1941, the Swell Organ was affected by fire and bomb damage and had to be rebuilt in 1947 by Harrison & Harrison with additional pipes. The organ was cleaned and overhauled in 1974 and 1990 with tonal alterations, new equipment and additional stops; two stops were also removed. The 1990 work was never completely satisfactory, and so when the organ approached its next restoration in the early 2000s, a part of the project involved correcting errors from the 1990 overhaul.
The project to restore the organ in time for its 100th birthday was launched in 2007, with a fundraising goal of some £800,000. Half of the money was donated by the Canynges Society and the remaining half raised by the congregation, incorporating an anonymous £100,000 cheque left in the church for the restoration of the organ. The organ was dismantled in 2009 and returned in 2010, with four new blowers and new layout for the swell, new actions for the various keyboards, and cleaned and tuned. The organ as it stands today has 71 stops and 4,327 pipes, making it amongst the largest organs in Southern England. The organ is very well thought of for the quality of its tone, ranking amongst the finest organs in the country.
In 2024 there were plans for churches in Britain, including St Mary Redcliffe, to hold concerts with
doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...
bands and organ, a genre dubbed "organic metal", following a successful event. The St Mary Redcliffe director of music said "Our organ is world-famous –
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.
Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
played it. ... There's a lot of history, so by doing something like a rock concert with an organ follows on in that kind of tradition."
Bells
Early bells
The earliest record of bells at Redcliffe is in 1480, where a very large peal of six are recorded. The founders were not known, as only the number of bells was recorded by William Worcestre.
It is known from the churchwarden's accounts, that the 4th bell was recast by William Jeffers in 1572, and the 5th and 6th by Roger Purdue in 1622.
The Purdue family were one of the most prolific medieval bellfounders in England and were based in
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
and Bristol; 531 of their bells still survive today.
Purdue's tenor was recorded as weighing 42 long
hundredweight
The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and United States customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the United States customary and British imperial sy ...
(cwt) 0 qrs 27 lbs (2,150 kg or 4,731 lb).
In 1626, the bells were rehung in a massive oak frame which was inscribed with "T. Roome, Anno Domini 1626", who was presumably the frame's maker.
In 1698,
Abel Rudhall of
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
augmented the ring of six to eight with two new treble bells. No further work is recorded until 1763, when Thomas Bilbie recast the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th of the eight. The
Bilbie family, like the Purdue family, were a prolific
West Country
The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...
foundry; 734 of their bells survive today. Curiously, Bilbie had to guarantee the recast bells were at least as heavy as the bells they replaced; if they were not, he had to pay 1
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...
per pound of reduced metal.
The first peal in the tower was a few years later, being 5,040
changes
Changes may refer to:
Books
* '' Changes: A Love Story'', 1991 novel by Ama Ata Aidoo
* ''Changes'' (The Dresden Files) (2010), the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series
* ''Changes'', a 1983 novel by Danielle Steel
* ''Chan ...
of
Grandsire
Grandsire is one of the standard change ringing methods, which are methods of ringing church bells or handbells using a series of mathematical permutations rather than using a melody. The grandsire method is usually rung on an odd number of bells ...
Triples on 29 May 1768.
19th century augmentation
In 1823, the bells were augmented to ten with two trebles cast by Thomas Mears II of
Whitechapel
Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...
, though the first peal on the ten would not follow until 1835. The bells were augmented to twelve in 1872 by Mears' successors,
Mears & Stainbank. The augmented bells were the third ring of twelve in the West Country, following
Cirencester
Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...
in 1722 and
Painswick
Painswick is a town and civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. Originally the town grew from the wool trade, but it is now best known for its parish church's Taxus baccata, yew trees and the local Painswick House, Pain ...
in 1821, and the 25th ring of twelve in the country.
By the late 1880s, the ease at which the bells could be rung was deteriorating, and so
John Taylor & Co
John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell (instrument), bell foundry. It is locat ...
of
Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...
were asked to inspect the bells. They reported that the fittings of the 10th and tenor bells were in a bad state, and should be renewed or replaced. They also reported that these 2 bells should be turned so that the clappers would not strike the same point of the bell, to avoid the risk of cracking. They inspected the frame, reporting that the frame timbers were sound, but not massive enough to support such a heavy ring of bells, and thus recommended bolting some cast iron brackets to the corners to make it more rigid. The frame housing the three smallest bells they described as badly designed and too weak; these bells were hung above the other nine. They also recommended the fitting of iron girders across the tower walls from east to west. The cost of all this work was £149, though the fitting of the iron girders is not recorded.
The first peal on the ring twelve was on New Year's Eve 1899, being 5,007 changes of Stedman Cinques in rung 3h 28m, with two men on the tenor. There was a fierce debate in the Bell News magazine for several months afterwards, with some claiming the peal cannot have been rung successfully because the speed of the peal was "impossibly fast" given the weight of the tenor, which was often recorded at anywhere between 48 and 52 long cwt (5,376 kg – 5,824 kg) in ringing magazines.
20th century restoration
In 1902, Taylor's were asked to come again, and this time they found things considerably worse than on their previous visit fourteen years earlier. Some of the frame was no longer sound, with rotten or decaying timbers, and various wedges had been installed in the frame corners to try and give it rigidity. These wedges transferred the forces into the walls of the tower, and whilst it was not currently damaging it, it had the potential to do so. Taylor's advised that the bells should be rehung in a new metal frame, with all twelve bells on one level (unlike the existing frame), and the clock weights being reorganised to pass through one corner of the bell chamber instead of being suspended from the centre of the ringing chamber. They also recommended new fittings throughout. The estimate that the church received from Taylor's for new fittings and a new frame would cost £709. The architect was consulted and following talks with Taylor's, it was agreed to recast the lightest seven bells and the tenor, retuning the other four.
The bells, the frame and the fittings left Bristol for Loughborough in the early months of 1903. The bells were all weighed upon their arrival, where the tenor was found to be only 39 long cwt (4,368 kg), over half a tonne lighter than reputed, which then explained how the peal in 1899 was faster than many thought possible. The lightest seven and the tenor bell were broken up and recast with additional metal, and the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th bells had their canons (ornamental loops of bell metal previously used for attaching bells to their headstocks) removed. The bells were also retuned, the combined action of both removing the canons and retuning reducing the weight of each of these four bells by approximately 2 long cwt (225 kg).
[Taylor's job book, 1903]
The 9th bell, however, for a reason that is unknown was recast later in the same year; according to legend this is because the railway company dropped the 9th on the return to Bristol, and it had to be recast. The logbook housed in the archives at John Taylor & Co's Loughborough foundry shows the arrival weight and post-tuning weights of the former 9th crossed through and a new, heavier weight recorded underneath.
The bells were provided with all new fittings throughout, including Taylor's standard
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...
headstocks, Hasting stays, timber wheels, wrought iron clappers and
plain bearing
file:NYC 100-driving-axle-friction-bearing.jpg, Plain bearing on a 1906 S-Motor locomotive showing the axle, bearing, oil supply and oiling pad
file:Linear-table with detail numbered.png, A sliding table with four cylindrical bearings
file:GWR Spo ...
s. They were hung in a massive new cast iron frame for 12 bells which had been installed in the closing months of 1903, with room left for an additional 13th bell later if required.
When the bells were installed, the new heavier tenor, which weighed 50 long cwt 2 qrs 21 lbs (5,677 lb or 2,575 kg),
made the bells the fourth heaviest in the world hung for change ringing, after
Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The presen ...
,
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
and
Wells Cathedral
Wells Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Bath and Wells and the mother church of the diocese of Bath and Wells. There are daily Church of England services in ...
; but the second heaviest ring of twelve, as Exeter and Wells were both rings of ten. Exeter would later be augmented to 12 in 1922, also by Taylor's. The first peal on the new bells was on New Year's Day in 1904, being 5,085 changes of Stedman Cinques in 4 hours exactly.
The bells would later be relegated to the 5th heaviest ring of bells and the 4th heaviest twelve by the casting of the bells of
York Minster
York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...
in 1925, also by Taylor's, and then relegated again by the ring of twelve at
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Liverpool, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Liverpool and is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, diocese of Liverpool. The church may be formally re ...
, cast by Mears & Stainbank in 1939;
they have remained the sixth heaviest ring of bells in the world since.
With the introduction of
ball bearing
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.
The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...
s to church bells in 1920, Taylor's rehung the bells on ball bearings in 1933. These new ball bearings no longer required regular greasing, unlike the old plain type of bearings and were also self-aligning.
Since WWII
In the spring of 1941, following damage by
Second World War bombing to many towers in London, including the destruction of the ring of twelve at
St Mary-le-Bow
The Church of St Mary-le-Bow () is a Church of England parish church in the City of London, England. Located on Cheapside, one of the city's oldest thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080, by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Rebuilt s ...
, the church removed the bells from the tower and kept them in the undercroft underneath sandbags. The bells were returned to the tower and rehung in November 1944, also by Taylor's.
In 1951, the 13th bell that Taylor's had left the space for in 1903 was ordered, being cast at Loughborough as with the other bells. This bell, called a flat sixth, occupied the position in the frame between the sixth and seventh bells and was used to provide a lighter ring of eight, when bells two to nine are rung with the flat sixth replacing the normal sixth. The ninth weighs 19 long cwt 3 qrs 1 lb (2,213 lb or 1,004 kg),
less than half that of the tenor bell, which makes teaching new ringers easier. To fit this extra bell in, Taylor's provided an additional section of frame. The new bell was provided with all new fittings, identical to those of the other bells.
In 1967, St John's Church in Bedminster, which had been in ruins since sustaining heavy damage in the
Bristol Blitz
The Bristol Blitz was the heavy bombing of Bristol, England by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' during the Second World War. Due to the presence of Bristol Harbour and the Bristol Aeroplane Company, the city was a target for bombing and was ea ...
, was demolished. The font was brought to Redcliffe (see fittings, above), and the only surviving bell was donated to Redcliffe to increase its number of bells to fourteen. This bell, which weighed 8 and a half long cwt (950 lb or 430 kg) was cast by Bristol founder Llewellins and James in 1907. The bell was recast in 1969 by Taylor's to make it better suit the bells at Redcliffe. This fourteenth bell, called an 'extra treble' was provided with fittings to complement the Redcliffe bells and was hung in a new cast iron frame above the existing thirteen bells; its purpose was to augment the light eight to a light ring of ten, utilising the extra treble, the treble bell and bells two to nine with the flat sixth.
Following the bells hundredth birthday in 2003, the bells have received attention several times on both a minor and major basis. In 2009, the 9th bell was rehung on a new and larger wheel to make it easier to ring; the wheel it had been provided with in 1903 appeared to suit better the weight of the old ninth rather than the one that was recast. The frame containing the extra treble was moved slightly to improve the place the rope falls in the circle, and it too was given a new wheel. In 2012, the 8th bell, which had been cast in 1763 by Thomas Bilbie, was retired, being both underweight and poor in tone to the more modern Taylor bells around it. John Taylor & Co were selected to cast a new bell to replace it, and had to scan the surrounding bells with a laser to get an accurate shape, as the 1903 shape Taylor's had used at the time of their recasting was no longer in use.
The new bell was cast to celebrate the
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and following its tuning, it weighed some 15 and a half cwt (790 kg),
over 250 kg heavier than its predecessor, and was hung in the spring of 2013. At the same time, the wheels of the sixth, seventh and eighth were rejigged: the sixth received the wheel that had been on the seventh, the seventh received that of the old eighth and the new eighth received the wheel on the ninth until 2009. The old eighth bell was hung on steel girders above the ringing peal, for chiming. The last major piece of work to the bells in recent times was in 2017, when the fittings were dismantled and, together with the frame, were repainted in Taylor's standard red livery. The bells remain the sixth heaviest ring of bells (but fifth heaviest ring of twelve) in the world. They are also the heaviest ring of bells in a parish church.
The bells are considered one of the finest rings of bells in existence, with visiting bands of ringers coming from across the
British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
and beyond to ring them. There have been more than 300 full peals rung on the bells since the first in 1768; the St Mary Redcliffe Guild of Ringers attempts several full peals on the bells a year, normally to mark national events, most recently, the
State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the List of monarchs in Britain by length of ...
in September 2022.
Location and precincts
Since the construction of Redcliffe Way in the 1960s, the church has sat next to a busy dual carriageway on its north side, whose construction resulted in the demolition of many of the historic buildings that originally faced the church, as well as a gradual blackening of the stone from pollution.
The church has, however, kept its historic south churchyard, which has been described as a "
cathedral close in miniature", with a small group of listed buildings sat around a south-facing lawn. These buildings are a row of terraced houses on Colston Parade, approximately half of those built in the
Stucco style from 1760 to 1762, augmented with four
Victorian terraces; all are Grade II listed.
The south churchyard contains the Redcliffe War Memorial, formed of a large, tapering stone shaft surmounted by a cross, designed by George Oatley in 1921. The memorial was originally designed and constructed to commemorate the fallen of Redcliffe in the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, but it was altered following further loss of life in the Second World War. The memorial is Grade II listed. There are two other parts of the churchyard to achieve listed status, these are the walls on Colston Parade which date to the 18th century, and the
balustrade
A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...
surrounding the west front; both are Grade II listed.
The churchyard also contains the Redcliffe Pipe; a conduit originally given by
Robert de Berkeley in 1190 to supply fresh water to the church. Berkeley was Lord of Bedminster Manor and he granted the construction of a long pipe from Knowle Hill to St Mary Redcliffe. A yearly walk along the route of the pipe continues to this day. Damaged in the Bristol Blitz, the present pipe terminates near the balustrade in front of the west front, featuring a brass drinking fountain from 1823, though the water from the pipe does not actually enter the fountain.
File:War Memorial, St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol - geograph.org.uk - 3779913.jpg
File:Tramway rail embedded in Churchyard.jpg, Tram rail embedded in the churchyard
File:St Mary Redcliffe Bristol - Conduit Drinking Fountain .jpg, Fountain at the end of the Redcliffe Pipe
See also
*
Churches in Bristol
*
Grade I listed buildings in Bristol
*
List of tallest buildings and structures in Bristol
*
List of tallest church buildings in the United Kingdom
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redcliffe, Saint Mary
Churches completed in 1872
12th-century church buildings in England
15th-century church buildings in England
Church of England church buildings in Bristol
Diocese of Bristol
Grade I listed churches in Bristol
Music venues in Bristol
Tourist attractions in Bristol