Sts Thomas Minster, Newport Minster or The Minster Church of Sts Thomas, until 2008 Sts Thomas Church, is civically recognised as the main Anglican church on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

. Unusually, it is dedicated to both

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), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

and

Thomas the Apostle Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...

History

The original late 12th-century church was dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury (Thomas Becket) (1118–1170). Later, under the rule of

King Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

(1509–1547), when Becket was declared to have been a traitor, the Canterbury part of the name was dropped. Its name and the ambiguous dedication to ''St Thomas'' was thereafter, over time, assumed by many to refer to

. From the 18th century its deterioration made any renovation futile, and funds were raised for a new church on its site. The new church was built over the years 1854 and 1855 to a design by the architect

Samuel Daukes Samuel Whitfield Daukes (1811–1880) was an English architect, based in Gloucester and London. Family background Daukes was born in London in 1811, the son of Samuel Whitfield Daukes, a businessman with coal mining and brewery interests, who b ...

of Cheltenham. Reflecting the building's history, but arguably unusual, the new church was dedicated on the feast of Thomas the Apostle to both him ''and'' St Thomas of Canterbury. The tower contains a ring of 12 bells. To honour its importance in Island and civic life, but conferring no official status within the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

itself, the church was designated as a Minster at

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

2008 by its diocesan bishop

Kenneth Stevenson Kenneth William Stevenson (9 November 1949 – 12 January 2011) was the eighth Bishop of Portsmouth in the Church of England. Life Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on 19 November 1949. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and the University o ...

, Anglican Bishop of Portsmouth.

Burials

* Princess Elizabeth of England, daughter of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and

Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She was ...

. A memorial was given by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

in 1856 and made by

Carlo Marochetti Baron Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti (14 January 1805 – 29 December 1867) was an Italian-born French sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Britain. He completed many public sculptures, often in a neo-classical style, plus re ...

. *Sir Edward Horsey 1582

Organ

The organ is an architectural pipe organ positioned in the west gallery. The original organ was built in 1870 by

Forster and Andrews Forster and Andrews was a British organ building company between 1843 and 1924. The company was formed by James Alderson Forster (1818–1886) and Joseph King Andrews (1820–1896), who had been employees of the London organ builder J. C. Bisho ...

, and replaced by in 1925 by ''Conacher Sheffield & Co Ltd'' which was rebuilt itself in 1957 by J.W. Walker incorporating some pipework retained from the original Forster & Andrews organ.http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D00003 National Pipe Organ Register

References

External links

Newport ParishIsland Pulse article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newport, Sts. Thomas Church of England church buildings on the Isle of Wight Newport, Isle of Wight