The Minster Church of St Nicholas is the minster and

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...

of the town of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England. It was built during the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

era and is England's third largest parish church, behind

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-third ...

East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to th ...

(3489 m²) and

Christchurch Priory Christchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset (formerly in Hampshire). It is one of the longest parish churches in the country and is as large as many of the Church of E ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

(2815 m²). It was founded in 1101 by

Herbert de Losinga Herbert de Losinga (died 22 July 1119) was the first Bishop of Norwich. He founded Norwich Cathedral in 1096 when he was Bishop of Thetford. Life Losinga was born in Exmes, near Argentan, Normandy, the son of Robert de LosingaDoubleday and Page ...

, the first

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in the ...

,Church website
, retrieved 5 March 2010 and consecrated in 1119. It is cruciform, with a central tower, which may preserve a part of the original structure. Gradual alterations effectively changed the form of the building. Its nave is wide, and the church's total length is . In December 2011, the Bishop of Norwich officially designated it a Minster Church. It is not only used for religious services but is a hub for various other regional and civic events, including concerts by choirs, orchestras and other musical ensembles, art exhibitions and, during festivals and fayres, the church opens permitting stalls and traders inside. It is also a Grade-II* listed building.

The building

The building, very possibly the town's oldest, is also its most visible, historic landmark. It sits in the central area of

, close to the house of

Anna Sewell Anna Sewell (; 30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878)''The Oxford guide to British women writers'' by Joanne Shattock. p. 385, Oxford University Press. (1993) was an English novelist. She is known as the author of the 1877 novel ''Black Beauty'', her ...

. The Transitional clerestoried

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 ...

, with columns alternately octagonal and circular, was rebuilt in the reign of King John. A portion of the chancel is of the same date. About fifty years later the aisles were widened, so that the nave is now, rather unusually, the narrowest part of the building. Immediately adjacent are two main graveyard areas: the Old Yard lies directly east behind the church, while the very substantial New Yard stretches for about half a mile to the north.

Priory school

Within the confines of the churchyard is the original priory school building now called the Priory Centre, which contains a café, support centre and information point. A new St Nicholas Priory Church of England VA Primary School stands nearby in the town centre.

History

Early history

A grand west front with towers and pinnacles was constructed between 1330 and 1338, but a plague interrupted building extension plans. In the 16th century the ornamental

brasses A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the pavem ...

were cast into weights and the

gravestone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

s cut into grindstones. Within the church there were at one time 18 chapels, some maintained by guilds, others by private families, such as the Paxtons. At

the Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

the chapels were demolished and the building's valuable liturgical vessels sold off, the proceeds spent to widen the channel of the harbour.

Split church

During the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

period, the Independents appropriated the chancel, the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

s the north aisle, while Churchmen were allowed the remainder of the building. The interior brick walls, erected at this time to separate the different portions of the building, remained until 1847. In 1864 the tower was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

, and the east end of the chancel rebuilt; between 1869 and 1870 the south aisle was rebuilt; and in 1884 the south transept, the west end of the nave and the north aisle underwent restoration.

Recent history

During the Second World War, the building was bombed and nearly destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt by the architect

Stephen Dykes Bower Stephen Ernest Dykes Bower (18 April 1903 – 11 November 1994) was a British church architect and Gothic Revival designer best known for his work at Westminster Abbey, Bury St Edmunds Cathedral and the Chapel at Lancing College. As an architect ...

and re-consecrated in 1961. During reconstruction, the church temporarily used St Peter's Church on St Peter's Road. When St Nicholas re-opened, attendance at St Peter's declined until the 1960s, when a growing Greek community had use of it, and in 1981 it became St Spiridon's Greek Orthodox Church. On 2 October 2011, the Lord Bishop of Norwich Graham James raised St. Nicholas to the status of a Minster Church, so marked on 9 December 2011 during the town's Civic Carol Service. Its formal title is now the Minster Church of St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth. On 13 October 2014 a memorial stone was unveiled to commemorate the deaths of thirteen people in

1981 Bristow Helicopters Westland Wessex crash G-ASWI was a Westland Wessex 60, operated by Bristow Helicopters operating between Bacton Gas Terminal, in Norfolk, and Amoco gas platforms in the North Sea. On 13 August 1981 the helicopter lost power to the main rotor gearbox, going out of co ...

Organ

The current pipe organ, obtained from

St Mary the Boltons St Mary The Boltons is an Anglican church in The Boltons, Brompton, London. It is a Grade II listed building. History The Boltons, a street in Brompton, was farmland until the middle of the 19th century. As part of westward expansion of Lo ...

, West Brompton in 1960, replaced the former organ destroyed in the bombing of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. For its current specifications please refer t
National Pipe Organ Register

List of organists

*Dr. Musgrave Heighington, 1733 – 1746 (formerly organist of

Holy Trinity Church, Hull Hull Minster is the Anglican minster and the parish church of Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The church was called Holy Trinity Church until 13 May 2017 when it became Hull Minster. History It is the largest pa ...

, afterwards organist of St Martin's Church, Leicester) *John Christian Mantel, 1748 – 1761 *Henry Cricheley, 1761 – 1790 *Richard Eaton, 1790 – 1793 *Isaac Lewis, 1793 – 1834 *Joseph Baxfield, 1834 – 1838 *''Interregnum'' * George Warne, 1843 – 1856 (formerly organist of

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

) * Henry Stonex, 1856 – 1895 *

Haydon Hare Haydon William Hare FRCO (2 July 1869 – 22 April 1944) was a composer and organist based in Great Yarmouth. Life He was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, the first child of Thomas and Mary Ann Hare. He was educated at King's School, Peterb ...

, F.R.C.O., 1895 – 1937 – 1944 (formerly organist of

Bourne Abbey Bourne Abbey and the Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a scheduled Grade I church in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. The building remains in parochial use, despite the 16th-century Dissolution, as the nave was used by the parish, probably ...

Church) *Richard Humphrey *John Farmer, B.A., A.R.C.O., *Paul Winston, 1990 – 1993 *Benjamin Angwin, M.A., 1961 - 1972 *David Price, F.R.C.O.(CHM) 1972 - 1976 *Alan Snow, A.R.C.O. *Barry Waterlow, M.Mus.(Western Washington), A.R.C.C.O., A.Mus.L.C.M., L.Mus.L.C.M.; 2001 - 2005 *John Stephens, B.A.(Hons), M.Mus.(University of East Anglia), A.T.C.L.; 2006 – 2017 *Martyn Marshall 2017 -

List of assistant organists

*Constance Mary Hinds, 1929 – 1940 *Peter Angwin, 1964 - 1966Musicians of the millennium: a biographical guide to members of the Worship Company of Musicians. The Worshipful Company of Musician *Peter Seaman, -1986 *Paul Winston, 1986 – 1990 *Peter Clifford. 1990 - *Christopher Myhill BSc. 1996-1999 *John Stephens, 1999 – 2001

References

Bibliography

{{coord, 52.6114, 1.7273, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title British churches bombed by the Luftwaffe Great Yarmouth, St Nicholas' Church Great Yarmouth J. L. Pearson buildings