The Minster Church of St Nicholas is the minster and

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 ...

of the town of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

, in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was built during the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

era and is England's third largest parish church, behind

Beverley Minster Beverley Minster, otherwise known as the Parish Church of Saint John and Saint Martin, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, is a parish church in the Church of England. It is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, larger than one-thir ...

East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to the south-west ...

() and

Christchurch Priory Christchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset (formerly in Hampshire). It is one of the longest parish churches in the country and is as large as many of the Church o ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

(). It was founded in 1101 by

Herbert de Losinga Herbert de Losinga (died 22 July 1119) was the first Bishop of Norwich. He founded Norwich Cathedral in 1096 when he was Bishop of Thetford. Life Losinga was born in Exmes, near Argentan, Normandy, the son of Robert de LosingaDoubleday and Pa ...

, the first

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Norwich, Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. Th ...

,Church website
, retrieved 5 March 2010 and consecrated in 1119. It is cruciform, with a central tower, which may preserve a part of the original structure. Gradual alterations effectively changed the form of the building. Its nave is wide, and the church's total length is . In December 2011, the Bishop of Norwich officially designated it a Minster Church. It is not only used for religious services but is a hub for various other regional and civic events, including concerts by choirs, orchestras and other musical ensembles, art exhibitions and, during festivals and fayres, the church opens permitting stalls and traders inside. It is also a Grade-II* listed building.

The building

The building, very possibly the town's oldest, is also its most visible, historic landmark. It sits in the central area of

, close to the house of

Anna Sewell Anna Sewell (; 30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878)''The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers'' by Joanne Shattock. p. 385, Oxford University Press. (1993) was an English novelist who wrote the 1877 novel '' Black Beauty'', her only published work ...

. The Transitional clerestoried

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, with columns alternately octagonal and circular, was rebuilt in the reign of King John. A portion of the chancel is of the same date. About fifty years later the aisles were widened, so that the nave is now, rather unusually, the narrowest part of the building. Immediately adjacent are two main graveyard areas: the Old Yard lies directly east behind the church, while the very substantial New Yard stretches for about half a mile to the north.

Priory school

Within the confines of the churchyard is the original priory school building now called the Priory Centre, which contains a café, support centre and information point. A new St Nicholas Priory Church of England VA Primary School stands nearby in the town centre.

History

Early history

A grand west front with towers and pinnacles was constructed between 1330 and 1338, but a plague interrupted building extension plans. In the 16th century the ornamental brasses were cast into weights and the

gravestone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

s cut into grindstones. Within the church there were at one time 18 chapels, some maintained by guilds, others by private families, such as the Paxtons. At the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

the chapels were demolished and the building's valuable liturgical vessels sold off, the proceeds spent to widen the channel of the harbour.

Split church

During the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

period, the Independents appropriated the chancel, the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

s the north aisle, while Churchmen were allowed the remainder of the building. The interior brick walls, erected at this time to separate the different portions of the building, remained until 1847. In 1864 the tower was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

, and the east end of the chancel rebuilt; between 1869 and 1870 the south aisle was rebuilt; and in 1884 the south transept, the west end of the nave and the north aisle underwent restoration.

Recent history

During the Second World War, the building was bombed and nearly destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt by the architect

Stephen Dykes Bower Stephen Ernest Dykes Bower (18 April 1903 – 11 November 1994) was a British church architect and Gothic Revival designer best known for his work at Westminster Abbey, Bury St Edmunds Cathedral and the Chapel at Lancing College. As an architec ...

and reconsecrated in 1961. During reconstruction, the church temporarily used St Peter's Church on St Peter's Road. When St Nicholas reopened, attendance at St Peter's declined until the 1960s, when a growing Greek community had use of it, and in 1981 it became St Spiridon's Greek Orthodox Church. On 2 October 2011, the Lord Bishop of Norwich Graham James raised St. Nicholas to the status of a Minster Church, so marked on 9 December 2011 during the town's Civic Carol Service. Its formal title is now the Minster Church of St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth. On 13 October 2014, a memorial stone was unveiled to commemorate the deaths of thirteen people in the

1981 Bristow Helicopters Westland Wessex crash On 13 August 1981, a Westland Wessex 60 was operated by Bristow Helicopters between the Bacton Gas Terminal in Norfolk and Amoco gas platforms in the North Sea. During the flight, the helicopter lost power to the main rotor gearbox, going out o ...

Organ

The current pipe organ, obtained from

St Mary The Boltons St Mary The Boltons is an Anglican church in The Boltons, Brompton, London. It is a Grade II listed building. History The Boltons, a street in Brompton, was farmland until the middle of the 19th century. As part of westward expansion of ...

, in

Brompton, London Brompton, sometimes called Old Brompton, survives in name as a Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, ward in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. Until the latter half of the 19th century it was a scattered vill ...

in 1960, replaced the former organ destroyed in the bombing of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. For its current specifications please refer t
National Pipe Organ Register

List of organists

*Dr. Musgrave Heighington, 1733–1746 (formerly organist of

Holy Trinity Church, Hull Hull Minster is the Anglican minster and the parish church of Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The church was called Holy Trinity Church until 13 May 2017 when it became Hull Minster. History The transepts date ...

, afterwards organist of St Martin's Church, Leicester) *John Christian Mantel, 1748–1761 *Henry Cricheley, 1761–1790 *Richard Eaton, 1790–1793 *Isaac Lewis, 1793–1834 *Joseph Baxfield, 1834–1838 *''Interregnum'' * George Warne, 1843–1856 (formerly organist of

Temple Church The Temple Church, a royal peculiar in the Church of England, is a church in the Inner Temple, Inner and Middle Temple, Middle Temple, London, Temples located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their En ...

) *

Henry Stonex Henry Stonex (18 May 1823 – 10 January 1897) was a composer and organist based in Great Yarmouth. Life He was born in Norwich on 18 May 1823 to Rowland Stonex and Mary Bridgman. He married Mary Tilney Bassett (d. 1882), daughter of Henry Bass ...

, 1856–1895 *

Haydon Hare Haydon William Hare FRCO (2 July 1869 – 22 April 1944) was a composer and organist based in Great Yarmouth. Life He was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, the first child of Thomas and Mary Ann Hare. He was educated at King's School, Peterbo ...

, F.R.C.O., 1895 – 1937 – 1944 (formerly organist of

Bourne Abbey Bourne Abbey and the Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a scheduled Grade I church in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. The building remains in parochial use, despite the 16th-century Dissolution, as the nave was used by the parish, prob ...

Church) *Richard Humphrey *John Farmer, B.A., A.R.C.O., *Paul Winston, 1990–1993 *Benjamin Angwin, M.A., 1961–1972 *David Price, F.R.C.O.(CHM) 1972–1976 *Alan Snow, A.R.C.O. *Barry Waterlow, M.Mus.(Western Washington), A.R.C.C.O., A.Mus.L.C.M., L.Mus.L.C.M.; 2001–2005 *John Stephens, B.A.(Hons), M.Mus.(University of East Anglia), A.T.C.L.; 2006–2017 *Martyn Marshall 2017-

List of assistant organists

*Constance Mary Hinds, 1929–1940 *Peter Angwin, 1964–1966Musicians of the millennium: a biographical guide to members of the Worship Company of Musicians. The Worshipful Company of Musician *Peter Seaman, –1986 *Paul Winston, 1986–1990 *Peter Clifford. 1990– *Christopher Myhill BSc. 1996–1999 *John Stephens, 1999–2001

References

Bibliography

{{coord, 52.6114, 1.7273, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title British churches bombed by the Luftwaffe Great Yarmouth, St Nicholas' Church Buildings and structures in Great Yarmouth John Loughborough Pearson buildings