St Michael and All Angels Church is a

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, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

located within the grounds of the gardens of Howick Hall in the village of Howick, Northumberland, England. The church is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated Grade II

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 ...

, receiving around twenty thousand visitors annually.

History and features

The parish of Howick dates back to 1158 when a priest named Asket is recorded, but there was a church here long before his time. The original temple was built in Norman style, it was destroyed by a fire in 1746 and was replaced by what the church guide calls 'a curious Ionic temple'. That 'Ionic' building burnt down in turn and was replaced by the present church in 1848, which was designed by the architect FJ Francis. This neo-Norman style temple is a typically Victorian building, with round-arched Romanesque windows and doors. Francis extended the church eastward by the addition of a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

, and westward by the bell-cote. The church is closely related to the Greys of Howick Hall, and many of the members of the Grey family are buried in the churchyard. The most famous and important of them was Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, who served as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

between 1830 and 1834. It was during his tenure that the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

was passed, paving the way for

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies func ...

. But today he is best remembered not for his political achievements, but for the tea that bears his name. The Greys did more than just go to church. Maria Copley, 3rd Countess Grey (1803–1879), was a sculptor. She carved the

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

s that decorate the exterior north wall. Mabel Palmer, 5th Countess (1884–1958), commissioned the paintings behind the altar and the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

, and are regarded with mixed feelings. Michael Fisher, the second Anglican Bishop of St Germans, recounts the experience with the family of Charles Grey, 5th Earl Grey in his memoir ''For the Time Being: A Memoir'', he mentions that they were devout

High Church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

Anglicans, but the churchmanship of St Michael's is unclear.

References

External links

A Church Near You entry
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howick, Saint Michael and All Angels 1849 establishments in England Church of England church buildings in Northumberland Grade II listed churches in Northumberland 12th-century church buildings in England 18th-century Church of England church buildings 19th-century Church of England church buildings Sandstone churches in England Churches completed in 1849 Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom Michael and All Angels Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey Burned buildings and structures in the United Kingdom Romanesque Revival church buildings in England