St Nicholas Church, commonly known as St Nics, is a
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 Britain ...
place of worship located on
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
marketplace and is the city's civic church. The church stands in the
open evangelical An open evangelical attempts to uphold evangelical doctrines, morality, and spirituality, while also being inclusive of others. It is a term which is commonly used in the United Kingdom in reference to both individuals and institutions.
Uses
Open ...
tradition of the Church of England.
History
Old St Nicholas' Church
The original St Nicholas' Church is thought to have been founded in the early 12th century by
Ranulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard ( c. 1060 – 5 September 1128) was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government minister of King William Rufus of England. Ranulf was the son of a priest of Bayeux, Normandy, and his nickname Flambard ...
, Prince Bishop of Durham. He cleared
Palace Green
Palace Green is an area of grass in the centre of Durham, England, flanked by Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle. The Cathedral and Castle together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Although initially not part of the site itself, Palace Green ...
, between
the cathedral and
his castle, and established the current marketplace below the castle, with the church of
St Nicholas, patron saint of merchants, beside it.
This church had a buttressed nave and chancel, and a square tower with battlements. Its north wall formed part of the city walls, and abutted the ancient
Clayport Gate on one side until the gate's demolition in 1791.
A graveyard lay between the church and the marketplace, and another behind the church.
The building was extensively modified over the centuries, including shortening of the east end to allow widening of the road, and in the 19th century a market piazza was built against its south wall.
It was described in 1803 as "very ruinous".
1858 rebuilding
In 1854, a competition was held to secure an architect to renovate the church, which was won by 24-year-old
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
-based architect
James Pigott Pritchett junior.
However, when the market piazza was demolished, it was found that the church was beyond repair, and Pritchett was engaged instead to design and build a new church. The incumbent, George Townshend Fox, gave an initial donation of £1000 () towards the cost of rebuilding.
The old church was demolished in June 1857.
Almost all that remains from it is its font, dating from 1700, and its five
bells, dating from 1687 and therefore the oldest ring of bells in the diocese. Though the bells were not rung from the 1970s onwards due to fears for the safety of the tower, ringing resumed in 2000 and the 17th-century bells, along with a sixth added in 1889, are now rung frequently.
Pritchett's new church, in the
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, was estimated to cost £3600 () and was opened with great ceremony in December 1858.
The building was described by the ''
Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...
'' at the time as "the most beautiful specimen of church architecture in the north of England", and was considered by
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
to be one of Pritchett's best.
It was the first church in Durham to have a spire; which had not been part of Pritchett's original plan, but was added at the behest of Fox, who paid the £400 cost himself.
It is 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 ...
.
Reordering and later
George Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
During his time as archbishop the C ...
, later
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, was vicar of St Nicholas from 1975 to 1982. During that time he led a project, supervised by ecclesiastical architect Ronald Sims, in which the pews and the majority of the
Victorian interior features of the church were removed to allow the church to be used more flexibly for worship and community activities.
Carey's book ''The Church in the Marketplace'' describes the process and its impact on the life of the parish.
[
]
Parish and population
The parish is small (covering only the area around the Market Place, Claypath and The Sands) and is bounded by the parishes of Durham's three other ancient city churches -
St Giles',
St Oswald's and
St Margaret's. Historically the parish was densely populated; however,
slum clearance
Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
in the 1920s (as well as commercial development of previously residential areas) greatly reduced the population of the parish, and though more recent building has increased this a little, the church draws the majority of its congregation from outside its own parish. It has a large student population, and is classified by the
Diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, pro ...
of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
as its own locality, meaning that its mission is recognised as distinctly different from those of other city centre churches. The church has a long tradition of
evangelicalism
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
, and its
patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
has been held by the
Church Pastoral Aid Society
The Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is an Anglican evangelical mission agency. It was founded in 1836.
History of the Society
The CPAS was founded in 1836 in the midst of the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution to take 'the gospel t ...
since the mid-19th century.
Outreach
One notable feature of the reordered church is the ''Gateway World Shop'', which occupies the south-east corner of the church, having its own outside entrance, and sells
Fair trade goods. The shop reflects the church's long involvement with the fair trade movement;
Richard Adams, founder of
Traidcraft
Traidcraft is a UK-based Fairtrade organisation, established in 1979. The organisation has two components: a public limited company called Traidcraft plc, which sells fairly traded products in the United Kingdom; and a development charity c ...
, was a member of the church.
St Nics has a long history of supporting overseas mission. The first bishop of Uganda,
Alfred Tucker, left his curacy at St Nics to bring Christianity to Uganda. This support is currently expressed by the church's financial support of the
Church Mission Society,
South American Missionary Society, the
Bible Society
A Bible society is a non-profit organization, usually nondenominational in makeup, devoted to translating, publishing, and distributing the Bible at affordable prices. In recent years they also are increasingly involved in advocating its credibi ...
,
Spanish Outreach Ministries and the
Diocese of Lesotho
The Diocese of Lesotho is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It comprises the entire nation of Lesotho. It is divided in three archdeaconries, Central Lesotho, Northern Lesotho and Southern Lesotho. The former bishop is Adam Taas ...
.
Notable clergy
*
Arun Arora
Arun Arora (born 10 October 1971) is a British Anglican bishop and solicitor. Since, 2022 he has served as Bishop of Kirkstall in the Diocese of Leeds. From 2012 to 2017, he served as Director of Communications of the Archbishops' Council of th ...
, previously Director of Communications for the Church of England and subsequently
Bishop of Kirkstall
__NOTOC__
The Bishop of Kirkstall is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Leeds, in the Province of York, England. It is the suffragan see serving the episcopal area of Leeds, and takes its ...
, was vicar 2017-2022
*
Pete Broadbent
Peter Alan Broadbent (born 31 July 1952), known as Pete Broadbent, is an English Anglican bishop. He served as the Bishop of Willesden, an area bishop in the Church of England Diocese of London for twenty years, 2001–2021. During the va ...
, later
Bishop of Willesden, served his curacy here in the late 1970s.
*
George Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
During his time as archbishop the C ...
, later
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, was vicar of St Nicholas from 1975 to 1982.
*
David V. Day, former Principal of
St John's College, Durham
St John's College is a University of Durham#Colleges, college of the University of Durham, United Kingdom. It is one of only two "recognised colleges" of the university, the other being St Chad's College, St Chad's. This means that it is financial ...
, was a
non-stipendiary minister
Self-supporting ministers (SSMs), previously called non-stipendiary ministers or non-stipendiary priests (NSMs), are religious ministers who do not receive a stipend (i.e. payment) for their services and therefore financially support their own mi ...
from 1999 to 2007, and remains part of the ministry team as of 2021.
*
Alistair Magowan
Alistair James MagowanUsually spelled "Alistair" but also seen spelled as "Alastair". (born 10 February 1955) is a British retired Anglican bishop. He served as the Bishop of Ludlow — the sole suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese ...
, later
Bishop of Ludlow
The Bishop of Ludlow was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford, which is within the Province of Canterbury, England.
The See of Ludlow was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by ...
, was curate here 1984–9.
*
George Marchant
George Marchant (17 November 1857 – 5 September 1941) was a soft-drink manufacturer and philanthropist in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Early life
Marchant was born in Brasted, Kent, England, the son of a builder and hotel keeper. As a b ...
, later
Archdeacon of Auckland
The archdeaconry of Auckland is a post in the Church of England Diocese of Durham. It was created from the Archdeaconry of Durham by Order-in-Council on 23 May 1882, when the Diocese of Newcastle was created from Durham's other two archdeaconries. ...
, was vicar of St Nicholas from 1954 to 1974.
*
Maeve Sherlock
Maeve Christina Mary Sherlock, Baroness Sherlock, (born 10 November 1960) is a Labour Party life peer.
Biography
Born in Finsbury Park, north London, Sherlock was educated at Our Lady's Abingdon in Abingdon on Thames before going on to study ...
, Baroness Sherlock, became curate here in 2018, and Associate Minister in 2022.
*
Alfred Tucker, later
Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa
The Anglican dioceses of Buganda are the Anglican presence in the Central Region, Uganda (equivalent to the old Buganda kingdom); they are part of the Church of Uganda. The remaining dioceses of the Church are in the areas of Eastern Uganda, of ...
, served his curacy here in the 1880s.
*
John Wenham
John William Wenham (1913 – 13 February 1996) was an Anglican biblical scholar, who devoted his professional life to academic and pastoral work. Two of his four sons, Gordon Wenham and David Wenham, are also noted theologians.
Career
Wenham wa ...
, Biblical scholar, was vicar 1948–1953.
*
Frank White, later
Bishop of Brixworth
The Bishop of Brixworth is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Peterborough, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the village of Brixworth in Northamptonshire and ...
, served his curacy here in the 1980s.
References
External links
St Nicholas Church, DurhamGateway World Shop at St. Nicholasby the
Ship of Fools
The ship of fools is an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato's ''Republic'', about a ship with a dysfunctional crew. The allegory is intended to represent the problems of governance prevailing in a political system not based on expert kn ...
' Mystery Worshipper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Nicholas Church, Durham
Churches completed in 1858
19th-century Church of England church buildings
Churches in Durham, England
Durham, St Nicholas
Evangelicalism in the Church of England
Durham, St. Nicholas