St Mary's Church, Woburn, is a

Grade II* listed 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, H ...

parish church in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Woburn, Bedfordshire Woburn (, meaning twisted or crooked stream) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, about southeast of Milton Keynes and south of junction 13 of the M1 motorway. At the 2011 census, it had a populat ...

History

The church, on Park Street, Woburn, was built to the designs of the architect

Henry Clutton Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , was an English architect and designer. Life Henry Clutton was born on 19 March 1819, the son of Owen and Elizabeth Goodinge Clutton. He studied with Edwa ...

between 1865 and 1868 and paid for by

William Russell, 8th Duke of Bedford William Russell, 8th Duke of Bedford (1 July 1809 – 27 May 1872) styled Marquess of Tavistock from 1839 to 1861, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He was the son of Francis Russell, 7th Duke of Bedford and his w ...

. It replaced the old parish church in the town which, except for the tower, was demolished when the new church opened. The tower was equipped with a monster bell (said to be the largest in a parish church at the time) of 55 cwt (), cast in C by Mears and Stainbank of London. On opening the church tower was surmounted by a spire which reached to a height of 181 ft. This was itself crowned with a copper cross at its summit, which took the total height to . However, structural problems caused the removal of the spire in 1890. The church was consecrated on 23 September 1868 by the Rt. Revd. Harold Browne,

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

. The east window was inserted in 1894 as a memorial to

George Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and is by

Charles Eamer Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lychg ...

Organ

The original organ of 1868 by T.J. Robson was replaced in 1904 by a new instrument by

Norman and Beard Norman and Beard were a pipe organ manufacturer based in Norwich from 1887 to 1916. History The origins of the company are from a business founded in Diss in 1870 by Ernest William Norman (1851–1927). In 1876 he moved to Norwich where he wen ...

. A specification of the organ can be found on the

National Pipe Organ Register The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woburn Woburn Woburn St Mary's Church Henry Clutton buildings