St Mark's Church in central Swindon,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England is an active Anglican

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, ...

in the deanery of Swindon, the archdeaconry of Malmesbury, and the

diocese of Bristol The Diocese of Bristol is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire, as far east ...

. Its benefice is united with those of St Aldhelm, Swindon, St Luke, Swindon, and St Saviour, Swindon, to form the benefice of Swindon New Town. The church is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

History

St Mark's was built to serve workers of the Great Western Railway, whose

Swindon Works Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...

were nearby. George Henry Gibbs, the head of the merchant bank Anthony Gibbs & Sons who died in 1842, bequeathed £500 towards building a church and a school in the town. In February 1843, the railway company appealed for contributions from the public, and a total of £6,000 (equivalent to £ in ) was raised to build the church. The church was designed by George Gilbert Scott and

William Moffatt William Bonython Moffatt (1812 – 24 May 1887) was an architect, who for many years was a partner with Sir George Gilbert Scott at Spring Gardens, London. Moffatt was the son of a small builder and pupil of James Edmeston. He was originally take ...

, and built between 1843 and 1845. It was dedicated to St Mark on 25 April 1845, St Mark's Day. In 1897

Temple Moore Temple Lushington Moore (7 June 1856 – 30 June 1920) was an English architect who practised in London. He is famed for a series of fine Gothic Revival churches built between about 1890 and 1917 and also restored many churches and designed ch ...

added a north

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

. The parish is within the

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

of the Church of England, and rejects the ordination of women as priests and bishop. It has passed Resolutions A and B of the

Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 The Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 is a Church of England Measure passed by the General Synod of the Church of England enabling the ordination of women in the Church of England. Both Queen's Consent and Prince's Consent were required t ...

(meaning women cannot preside at Mass at the church), and it receives

Alternative Episcopal Oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...

from the Bishop of Ebbsfleet.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

with roofs of tiles and lead. Its plan consists of a five- bay

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 a clerestory, a north aisle and a south aisle with a three-bay chapel, a south porch, a three-bay

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

with a south chapel and a north vestry, and a north steeple opposite the porch. It is in

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 ar ...

style. The tower is in four stages, and has a north door, angle

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es, and two-light louvred bell openings. It is surmounted by a

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of crockets to a bishop's crosier. Description ...

ted spire with

lucarne In general architecture a lucarne is a term used to describe a dormer window. The original term french: lucarne refers to a dormer window, usually set into the middle of a roof although it can also apply to a façade lucarne, where the gable of t ...

s rising to . At the west end of the nave is a doorway and a window with five lights containing curvilinear

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 the ...

. Along the sides of the aisles are two-light windows with tracery in varying styles. The east window in the chancel has three lights.

Interior

Inside the church, the arcades are carried on quatrefoil

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

. The nave has a hammerbeam roof, and the roof of the chancel is barrel vaulted. The stained glass includes windows by Kempe. The pipe organ was built in 1922 by Jardine of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. It was rebuilt in 1961 by Percy Daniel of

Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 ...

. In 1973 the organ was destroyed by fire and Persy Daniel replaced it with a three- manual organ moved from a

redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a "closed church", is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused church ...

in the north of England. There is a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of eight bells. Six of these were cast in 1904 by Llewellins and James, and the other two in 1927 by Mears and Stainbank of the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

Musical tradition

St Mark's has a long tradition of performing choral music in the style of an English cathedral. The choir sings at the weekly Parish Mass and at other services, has a repertoire of over 30 masses, and has recorded two CDs. In 1944

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

composed his '' Festival Te Deum'' for the centenary of the church, where it was first performed on 24 April 1945.

Churchyard

The churchyard contains several notable memorials and notable burials.

The Gooch Tomb

Monument to Emma Brent Gooch (1872) and her husband William Frederick Gooch (1915). William was the youngest brother of Sir Daniel Gooch, trained as an engineer under him, and became manager of the GWR Works. He died in 1915 and is buried elsewhere, but is commemorated by the addition of an inscription to his wife's monument. In 2016, the tomb which had been lost beneath undergrowth was uncovered and cleaned as part of the Swindon 175 commemorations.

Armstrong monument

Polished pink

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

to Joseph Armstrong, 1877, later inscribed to his wife and children Sarah, George and Joseph, and to John Burdon. Armstrong was Superintendent of the GWR Works. His funeral was held in the church on 9 June 1877, and on that day shops closed, special trains were put on and a temporary platform was built. Over 6,000 mourners attended the service.

Frederick Hawksworth

Frederick William Hawksworth was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway. He died in 1976 and his ashes were buried in the churchyard.

References

External links

Church website

A church near you
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swindon, St Mark's Church Grade II listed churches in Wiltshire Church of England church buildings in Wiltshire Saint Mark's Church Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Wiltshire George Gilbert Scott buildings Temple Moore buildings Great Western Railway Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Wiltshire Swindon