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St Mary is the
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
Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...
,
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
. The large medieval church, described as "one of the finest parish churches in Leicestershire", suffered from a poor Victorian restoration, and was left in a poor state of repair and deemed "unfit for purpose". By late 2017, work was completed to make the church more accessible and safe, which included a new floor and underfloor heating, a lighting and sound system and a rebuild of the historic organ; the reordering cost an approximate £2 million.


Features

St Mary's Church is the largest and "stateliest" parish church in Leicestershire, with visible remains dating mainly from the 13th-15th centuries. The stonework in the lowest section of the tower, which has Norman windows, dates from 1170, although there were certainly one or more Anglo-Saxon churches on this site before the Norman one. It is built on a plan more usual for cathedrals and the tower dominates the town, and is a rare example of a parish church with aisled transepts (one of only five in the country) a feature usually found only in a cathedral. It contains a number of notable
monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
including the tomb of
Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray (1254 – 21 November 1297), was an English peer and soldier. The son of another Roger de Mowbray, and grandson of William de Mowbray, he served in the Welsh and Gascon Wars. He was summoned to the Parliamen ...
and others dating from the 14th to the 18th century; also a memorial tablet to equine artist
John Ferneley John E. Ferneley (18 May 1782 Thrussington, Leicestershire – 1860 Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire), was an English painter who specialised in portraying sporting horses and hunting scenes. Although his rendition of horses was stylised, he is ...
(1782 to 1860). The church has a large choir containing around 40 members. It forms part of the
Framland Framland was a hundred in north-east Leicestershire, England, roughly corresponding to today's borough of Melton. It was recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' as one of Leicestershire's four wapentakes. The name remains in use as a deanery of the Dioc ...
church trail along with 14 other churches in the 'Framland area'. Copies of the guide to the church trail are available from Melton Tourist Information Centre.


Bells and carillon

The belfry contains ten bells. The earliest bell (No.6) is by John of York dating from the fourteenth century. Most of the rest have been recast. Until 1802 there were only six bells: then two more were added and in 1894 a further two made the total ten. In addition there is a small sanctus bell which dates from the seventeenth century. The carillon on which the chimes are played three times a day were restored in 1938 through a bequest by Alice Henton. This restoration involved a new clock to replace the previous one dating from the early nineteenth century.


List of rectors

*1562 Miles Bennes *1578 Edward Turner *1599–1613 Isaac Cooper *1613–1659† Zachary Cawdray *1660–1690† John Dowell *1690–1731† Simon Henley *1731–1740† John Hardy *1740–1741† Foulk Myddelton *1741–1773† Thomas Myddelton *1773–1820 Thomas Ford *1820–1832† Thomas Godfrey *1832–1839 John Savile Hallifax *1839–1866† Robert Fleetwood Croughton *1866–1889† William Morris Colles (father of
William Morris Colles William Morris Colles (23 November 1855 – 11 October 1926, Slindon) was an English literary agent, the founder and managing director of The Authors' Syndicate, Ltd. William Morris Colles was the son of Rev. William Morris Colles, Vicar of M ...
)
*1889–1891 Gilbert Karney *1891–1924 ''Canon'' Richard Blakeney (son of
Richard Paul Blakeney Richard Paul Blakeney (1820–1884) was an Irish-born religious writer and cleric. He was well known as a vigorous champion of evangelical doctrines in the Church of England, and was the author of a large number of controversial books and trac ...
)
*1924–1928 John Llewellyn Davies *1928–1937 ''Canon'' Percy Robson *1937 ''Canon'' Harold R. Bates *1946 ''Canon'' Charles Maurice Strettell Clark *1965 ''Canon'' George Herbert Codrington *1981 ''Canon'' Donald Edward Boughton Law *1989 Donald Henry Thorpe *1994–2009 ''Canon'' Charles Jenkin (son of Lord Jenkin) *2009– Kevin Ashby † ''Rector died in post''


Organ

A new organ was installed by John Gray of London was opened on 30 September 1832. It was built in the fashion of two Gothic towers and was intended to stand at the west end of the church allowing a view of the window in the middle. It was enlarged by Groves and Mitchell in 1849 to comprise 27 stops over two manuals and pedals and re-opened on 13 January 1850. In this new incarnation it was moved to a position either side of the chancel. The organ was enlarged again in 1897 by William Hill and Son to become a 3 manual and pedal instrument of 39 stops. In 1929–30, Haydn Morton overhauled the instrument, inserted pneumatic action to the pedal board, and made layout modifications to assist with tuning and maintenance. The console was moved into the north transept. This was rebuilt by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd in 1955. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register
In 2018,
Henry Groves & Son Henry Groves & Son is an organ builder in England.Pipes and Actions. Some Organ Builders in the Midlands and Beyond. Laurence Elvin, 1995. Company The company was established in 1957 by Alvin Henry Groves. He had learned his trade in the company ...
completed a rebuild and re-ordering of the 3-manual Hill/Walker organ, including addition of pedal 32ft Contra Trombone and a 5-rank Great Cornet, 69 stops.


List of organists

Taken from handwritten list in the church on the organ console: *Thomas Hickson 1846 - 1880 *Claude Ferneley 1880 - 1890 *L. Camidge 1890 - 1900 *Percy Jones 1900 - 1914 *
Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...
1914 - 1924 *William Hunt 1925 - 1928 *Percy George Saunders 1928 - 1930 later organist of
Wakefield Cathedral Wakefield Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, is a co-equal Anglican cathedral with Bradford and Ripon Cathedrals, in the Diocese of Leeds and a seat of the Bishop of Leeds. Originally the pa ...
*William Dean Pearson 1930 - 1937Who's who in Music. Shaw Publishing. 1937. p.227 - 1940 *Lt. Col. Skentelbury 1941 *Cecil Clarke 1942 - 1946 *Harold L. Barnes 1946 - 1966 *John A. Bellamy 1966 - 1968 *Eric Bennett 1968 - 1973 * Michael Bryan Hesford 1973 - 1978 *Ian Major 1978 - 1982 *Robert Kalton 1982 - 1987 *Douglas Hollick 1987 - 1988 *John Wilks 1988 - 1991 *John Clark 1991 - 1998 *Anne de Graeve 1998 - 2002 *Keith Morgan 2002-2005 *James Gutteridge 2005 - current


References

* Thompson, Charles Henry (1950). The Story of St Mary's Church Melton Mowbray. Gloucester : British Publishing Co. __FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray Church of England church buildings in Leicestershire Grade I listed churches in Leicestershire