St Martin's Church stands in the centre of the town of

Bowness-on-Windermere Bowness-on-Windermere is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It lies next to Lake Windermere and the town of Wind ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 ...

in the deanery of Windermere, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the

diocese of Carlisle In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. 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, ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building 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 ...

. Its

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

is united with that of St Anne's Church,

Ings ''Ings'' is an old word of Old English origin referring to water meadows and marshes. The term appears in place names in Yorkshire (such as Hall Ings, Bradford, Fairburn Ings RSPB reserve, Clifton Ings in York, Derwent Ings, Sutton Ings, Acast ...

; St Cuthbert's Church,

Kentmere Kentmere is a valley, village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Lake District National Park, a few miles from Kendal in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in We ...

; St James' Church, Staveley; Jesus Church, Troutbeck and St Mary's Church,

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

History

A church has been present on the site since at least 1203. This was originally a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

to the mother church at

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

, becoming a parish in its own right in 1348 at which time the churchyard was consecrated. The church burnt down in 1480, only the

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

, the base of the tower, and one door surviving. A new church was built and was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

in 1483. Amongst the benefactors was a local carrier named Bellman, who is said to have provided the lead for the roof. The church at this time had a simple plan, consisting of a

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

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, and a west tower. It contained

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in c ...

s, a

rood loft 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, or ...

, a three-decker

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, by 1812, a west gallery. On the walls and roof beams were

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s and painted biblical texts. In 1870 the church was

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

by the

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

architects

Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, England, Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, whi ...

. The benefactors at this time included the local industrialist and politician Henry Schneider. Paley and Austin extended the

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 ...

, raised the tower, to which they added a

saddleback roof A saddleback roof is usually on a tower, with a ridge and two sloping sides, producing a gable at each end. See also * List of roof shapes Roof shapes encompass a broad range of designs, including flat (or shed roof, shed), gabled, hip roof, h ...

, and replaced the seating. During the restoration, painted inscriptions that had been covered in whitewash were rediscovered. Around this time murals were painted on the walls by Henry Hughes of London, who also restored the east window. In 1911 a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

was added at the northeast, designed by W. L. Dolman. It was made into a memorial chapel in 1922 by Dolman to commemorate the 71 men from the parish who died in the First World War and as a thanksgiving for those who returned. The fund-raising for this was led by Sir William Forwood. Later in the 20th century, pews were removed from the back of the church to make a social area, and the choir vestry was made into a children's wing. At the turn of the millennium a glass screen was inserted in the tower arch, creating the Tower Room.

Architecture

Exterior

St Martin's is constructed in

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

with

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 ...

dressings. It is roofed in lead. Its plan consists of a nave and chancel with a

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' ...

, north and south aisles running the whole length of the building, a south porch, a northeast chapel, and a west tower.

Interior

Hyde and Pevsner, in the ''

Buildings of England The ''Pevsner Architectural Guides'' are four series of guide books to the architecture of the British Isles. ''The Buildings of England'' series was begun in 1945 by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, with its forty-six original volumes pub ...

'' series, describe the interior of the church as being "a strange sight", because it is constructed entirely in thickly plastered, white-painted, rubble. The piers have a square cross section, are

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, and are "markedly tapered". The font, a survivor from the original church, is made in sandstone. It consists of a small octagonal bowl, the corners of which are carved with heads. This may date from the 12th century, but its stem and base are later. At the base of the tower is a wooden statue of Saint Martin and a beggar, dating from the 17th century. The

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 ...

dates from 1870, is made from

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

, and contains

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s that depict the

symbols A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise different concep ...

of the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

and the Passion; it is by Bell and Almond. In front of the

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

is a display case made by Arthur Simpson in 1907 in memory of the artist Dan Gibson. It contains books, including a copy of the Breeches Bible and two 16th-century chained Bibles. All the furnishings in the northeast chapel were designed by Dolman. In the southeast vestry/office is a memorial to Richard Watson,

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's cathedra, seat is in the Llandaff Cathedral, Cathedral Chu ...

, who died in 1816, by

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...

. On the south wall of the church is a wall memorial dated 1631. The memorials elsewhere include one to members of the Fleming family. The east window contains stained glass from many periods. The oldest piece is believed to date from 1260. Much of the rest is from the 1460s. The central three windows depict the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

, and this is flanked by windows containing saints. Below these are kneeling figures that include benefactors,

Augustinian canons The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religio ...

, and the

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

of Cartmel Priory. It is thought that these pieces were transferred from the priory. During the 1870 restoration by Henry Hughes, new pieces of glass were added, each of which is inscribed with the initials "HH". One of the older features of the window, at the top, is the

coat of arms of George Washington The first coat of arms of a member of the Washington family is first documented in the 14th century, borne by one of the male Washington family members of Washington Old Hall in County Durham, England. The design (three red stars over t ...

, whose ancestor, John Wessington, owned land at nearby Warton. In the north aisle is the Carriers Arms window. It incorporates pieces of ancient glass depicting the

emblem An emblem is an abstract art, abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a monarch or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and ''symbol'' ...

s of a carrier, and commemorate the carrier Bellman who supplied the lead for the roof. Elsewhere there is stained glass by

Ward and Hughes Ward and Hughes (formerly Ward and Nixon) was the name of an English company producing stained-glass windows. History Ward and Hughes was preceded by the company Ward and Nixon, whose studio was at 67 Frith Street, Soho. They created a large w ...

from 1881, and by Powell's and by A. K Nicholson, both dated 1915. The glass in the northeast chapel, dating from the 1920s, is by Shrigley and Hunt. On the walls of the nave and on the beams are inscriptions. In the

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame, between the tops of two adjacent arches, or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...

s of the arches are catechetical texts believed to be from a book by Robert Openshawe published in 1590. On an arch facing the lectern is a thanksgiving poem dated 1629 for deliverance following the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...

. Elsewhere there are biblical texts. In the chancel and nave are murals in

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

and

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

by Henry Hughes. The screen to the southeast vestry/office was moved here from St John's Church, Windermere, when it closed in 1995. This was designed by Dan Gibson and carved by the vicar and parishioners of St. John's. It is in

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

style, and contains openwork panels. The screen in the tower arch, dating from 2000, consists of etched glass panels standing on a wood and glass base. The etchings were executed by Sally Scott, and depict angels and music. The three- manual organ was built in 1922 by Jardine and Company, and rebuilt in 1964 by J. H. Cowan of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. It was restored in 1999. There is a

ring (The) Ring(s) 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 Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

of eight bells, all cast in 1872 by John Warner and Sons. The interior is also home to several historic books dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries that are on display.

External features

In the churchyard is a tomb with a headstone dated 1822 inscribed to the memory of a freed slave named Rasselas Belfield, who is described as "A Native of

Abyssinia Abyssinia (; also known as Abyssinie, Abissinia, Habessinien, or Al-Habash) was an ancient region in the Horn of Africa situated in the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian independence, ...

". It is thought that he had been a valet to Peter Taylor of Belfield house. The tomb is listed at Grade II. Against the wall of the south aisle is a white veined marble slab to John Bolton, a slave trader and plantation owner who died in 1837. Also in the churchyard is a

South African War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

memorial dated 1903.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowness-on-Windermere, St Martin Church of England church buildings in Cumbria English Gothic architecture in Cumbria Gothic Revival architecture in Cumbria Diocese of Carlisle Paley and Austin buildings Grade I listed churches in Cumbria St Martin