A wool church is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
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
* C ...
financed primarily by donations from rich merchants and farmers who had benefitted from the
medieval wool trade, hoping to ensure a place in heaven due to their largesse.
Wool churches are common in the
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
and in the "
wool towns" of upland
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
, where enormous profits from the wool business spurred construction of ever-grander edifices. A wool church was often built to replace a smaller or less imposing place of worship, in order to reflect the growing prosperity of the community in which it was situated. Many such building projects were undertaken by a small number of families in each village or town, who used the new church building to display their own wealth, status and faith. The building of wool churches largely ended with the
English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
and the simultaneous decline of the wool trade between 1525 and 1600.
Notable wool churches
Long Melford
The
Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford
The Church of the Holy Trinity is a Grade I listed parish church of the Church of England in Long Melford, Suffolk, England. It is one of 310 medieval English churches dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
The church was constructed between 1467 and 14 ...
, Suffolk, is widely regarded as one of the finest wool churches in East Anglia. Built largely from 1467–1497 with funding from local cloth merchants, primarily John Clopton, the structure contains magnificent stained glass from the fifteenth century, the Clopton family chantry chapel and the soaring Lady Chapel, which extends at Holy Trinity's east end. The
Flushwork
In architecture, flushwork is decorative masonry work which combines on the same flat plane flint and ashlar stone. If the stone projects from a flat flint wall then the term is proudwork, as the stone stands "proud" rather than being "flush" w ...
employed by the builders of Holy Trinity is some of the finest in England. The church stands as testimony to the wool business and its dizzying success in medieval times.
Cirencester
The
Church of St. John the Baptist, Cirencester
The Church of St. John Baptist, Cirencester is a parish church in the Church of England in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
The building reflects architectural styles since the 12th century. The chancel ...
is the parish church for Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Dubbed 'The Cathedral of the Cotswolds', it is built of Cotswold stone and is one of the "largest parish churches in England". It contains various tombs and monuments with some fragments of medieval stained glass and wall paintings. In 1508, major reconstruction took place funded by the wool trade making it an excellent example of a Wool church.
Southwold
Another grand Suffolk church is St. Edmunds in
Southwold
Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...
which retains medieval chancel screens.
Cawston
St. Agnes' Church at
Cawston, Norfolk
Cawston is a village and civil parish in the Broadland district of Norfolk, England. The village is approximately north of Norwich on the B1145 road, a route which runs between King's Lynn and Mundesley. Nearby towns are Reepham and Aylsha ...
is also well known as a "wool church." Its fifteenth century nave and western tower were financed by Michael de la Pole,
Earl of Suffolk
Earl of Suffolk is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, in tandem with the creation of the title of Earl of Norfolk, came before 1069 in favour of Ralph the Staller; but the title was forfe ...
, who had grown rich from the wool business. As is typical of a 'wool church,' St. Agnes's scale is far grander than was required by a modest medieval village. And the Earl of Suffolk spared no expense in embellishing the interior: the de la Pole crest is carved above the entrance;
French stone was used for the tower and nave; the roof, although the typical wooden East Anglian style, is an elaborate hammerbeam confection with elaborate angels curving off the beam ends, and a trio of angels on outstretched wings hovering over each clerestory window.
Clearly in East Anglian medieval times, sheep furnished the currency for architectural atonement.
Worstead
At St. Mary's Church at
Worstead
Worstead is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It lies south of North Walsham, north of Wroxham, and north of Norwich. The village is served by Worstead railway station on the Bittern Line. For the purposes of local ...
, Norfolk, the village which gave its name to the cloth, the village church built by local weavers in the fourteenth-century towers over the small community, its tower jutting strikingly above the landscape. In other East Anglian communities, the wealth from wool poured in:
Wymondham
Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, south-west of Norwich, England, Norwich off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The River Tiffey runs through ...
,
Diss,
North Walsham
North Walsham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England, within the North Norfolk district.
Demography
The civil parish has an area of and in the 2011 census had a population of 12,634. For the purposes of local government, the pa ...
,
East Harling
East Harling is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village forms the principal settlement in the civil parish of Harling, and is located east of Thetford and south-west of the city of NorwichOrdnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer M ...
,
Attleborough,
Aylsham
Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, ...
. The churches basked in the refracted glory of wool wealth. Even in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, which boasts more medieval churches than anywhere in Europe, it was wool money that got the stone lifted, the glass stained and the panels carved. Norfolk wool was best suited to heavier cloth, and so Norwich and Norfolk eventually gained almost a complete monopoly on worstead. Those profits fueled an extraordinary ecclesiastical building boom.
Lavenham
At
Lavenham
Lavenham is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Guildhall, Little Hall, 15th-century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walks. In the medie ...
, Suffolk, the striking
Perpendicular church is one of England's largest parish churches. With its monumental flint and limestone tower, the
Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, largely rebuilt in the fifteenth century in the prevailing style, dominates the small weaving village. It was financed largely by donations from two families; the
Springs and the
de Veres.
Winchcombe
St Peter's Church,
Winchcombe
Winchcombe () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the county of Gloucestershire, England, it is 6 miles north-east of Cheltenham. The population was recorded as 4,538 in the 2011 census and estimated at 5,347 in ...
is another fine example of a Cotswold Wool Church. Situated close to the site of the former
Winchcombe Abbey
Winchcombe Abbey is a now-vanished Benedictine abbey in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire; this abbey was once in the heart of Mercia, an Anglo Saxon kingdom at the time of the Heptarchy in England. The Abbey was founded c. 798 for three hundred Benedi ...
, the church is built in Cotswold stone in the traditional Wool Church style.
St Clement's, Ipswich
St Clement's Church, Ipswich
St Clement's Church, Ipswich, is a redundant church. The church is one of twelve medieval churches in Ipswich, six of which had been declared redundant by the 1970s. In the twenty-first century it was taken over by Ipswich Historic Churches Trus ...
was largely funded by the wool trade passing through the
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
. The tower was built by donations from wealthy wool merchants.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wool Church
Architecture in the United Kingdom