St Mary's Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in the city of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. 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 Irel ...

, it stands on Bridge Gate overlooking St Alkmund's Way. The church was designed by architect

A. W. N. Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

and according to

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins (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 from 20 ...

, it is one of Pugin's "few complete works".

History

The church was designed by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

in 1837 to replace a small Gothic building in nearby Chapel Street. It was Pugin's first expression of his

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. He originally planned for the tower to have a spire, but budget restrictions prevented this from being implemented. His final design was presented on 17 March 1838, and construction began that same year, with the foundation stone being laid in July 1838.A Walk Round Guide to the Catholic Church of St Mary, Derby. ''St Mary's Rectory, Bridge Gate'' Building was completed by 9 October 1839, when the dedication service took place with Cardinal

Nicholas Wiseman Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. Born ...

preaching. The cost of construction had been £1,400. The wood

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

in the sanctuary was donated to the church by Pugin. Eight years later, the Anglican St Alkmund's Church was re-built on a site directly opposite St Mary's. The position of the larger St Alkmund's was such that the view of St Mary's from King Street was obscured. In 1850, a chapel was added dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. Later a floodlit statue of Mary was placed on the tower, forming a landmark, although it has been removed. The church was partially restored in 1927 when it was discovered that damp had taken hold on much of the plasterwork. St Mary's was enlarged slightly in 1932 with the building of the Lady Chapel and several pieces of stonework were added to both the interior and the exterior of the building. The late 1960s brought sweeping changes to the Derby landscape. St Alkmund's Church and its churchyard were demolished in order to make way for the inner ring road, exposing St Mary's to full view for the first time in 120 years. A new set of bells was added during a facelift which took place between April 1988 and September 1989, during which the church was closed. A second restoration was undertaken in the late 1990s. This included re-roofing of the Lady Chapel and extensive cleaning of the interior and exterior of the church. In 2007 the

Saint Alkmund's Way Footbridge Saint Alkmund's Way Footbridge is a replacement cycle and footbridge in Derby, England over the A601 (St Alkmund's Way). The 2007 design includes sculptures of silk bobbins at its entrance and exit that are inspired by the nearby Silk Mill mus ...

that allows pedestrians to cross the inner ring road, the A601 (St Alkmund's Way) was replaced with a wider design at a cost of £1.3m.

Interior

File:St Marys Church Derby.jpg, The Nave File:St Marys Church Lady Chapel.jpg, The Chapel

References

External links

*
St Mary's Parish official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derby, Saint Mary Churches completed in 1839 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

Grade II* listed churches in Derbyshire Roman Catholic churches in Derbyshire Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham Grade II* listed Roman Catholic churches in England Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Derbyshire

History

Interior

See also

References

External links