Church of St James -Great Packington from NW 3a2008

Blickling mausoleum and great packington church plans

St James' Church is an 18th-century chapel situated in the grounds of

Packington Hall Packington Hall is a 17th-century mansion situated at Great Packington, near Meriden in Warwickshire, England and is the seat of the Earl of Aylesford. It is a Grade II listed building. History Packington Hall was built in 1693 for Sir Cl ...

, near Meriden,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. It is a

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 ...

. The church was built in 1789 to a design by Italian architect Joseph Bonomi for the 4th Earl of Aylesford as a private family chapel. It is said to commemorate the recovery of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

from insanity and houses one of the oldest sanctus bells in

. It replaced the old Great Packington parish church. In 1787 it was found that the steeple and building of the old church were both in such a bad condition that it was demolished. During the construction of St James' Church baptisms and marriages were held at St Bartholomew’s Church in the neighbouring parish of

Little Packington Little Packington is a hamlet and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire, England, and is sometimes known by the names Packington Piggott or Packington Parva. The hamlet is situated just to the northwest of ...

. The red brick church, in neo-classical style, has an unusual square plan with four corner turrets topped with domes and

finials A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the apex of a dome, spire, tower, roof, or gable or an ...

. The interior of the church features corner vaults and tunnel vaults. The communion rail is made with white marble. There is a painting of the

Christogram A Christogram () is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbolism, religious symbol within the Christian Church. One of the oldest Christograms is the C ...

IHS in the sky with clouds which was painted by

John Francis Rigaud John Francis Rigaud (18 May 1742 – 6 December 1810) was an eighteenth-century history, portrait, and decorative painter. Of French descent, he was born in Turin and spent most of his career in England. Early life Rigaud was born in Turin on ...

. The painting is set in a white marble altarpiece. It houses an organ built by Thomas Parker, to specifications outlined by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

in 1749, for his librettist

Charles Jennens Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and art patron. As a friend of Handel, he helped author the libretti of several of his oratorios, most notably ''Messiah''. Life Jennens was brought up at Gopsall Hall in L ...

. Jennens' home,

Gopsall Gopsall is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Twycross, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is located between the villages of Appleby Magna, Shackerstone, Twycross and Snarestone. In 1931 ...

Hall, has not survived, but the organ passed to his relatives the Earls of Aylesford. The instrument was filmed and recorded for the documentary '' The Elusive English Organ''.

References

''A History of the County of Warwick, Volume 4'' (1947) pp180-183 from British History Online
* *Stillman, Damie. �
Church Architecture in Neo-Classical England
” ''Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', vol. 38, no. 2, 1979, pp. 103–19. ''JSTOR.'' Retrieved. 6 June 2024. {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Packington, St James' Church Grade I listed churches in Warwickshire 18th-century Church of England church buildings Church of England church buildings in Warwickshire