St Stephen's Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

(formerly in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

). The liturgical life of the Church is rooted in the

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

. The Church has a noted Lady Chapel, and celebrates Marian masses,

benediction A benediction (Latin: ''bene'', well + ''dicere'', to speak) is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the expositio ...

and recitation of the Rosary for the Society of Mary. Devotion to

Our Lady of Walsingham Our Lady of Walsingham is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus venerated by Catholics, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Western Rite Orthodox Christians, and some Anglicans associated with the Marian apparitions to Richeldis de Faverches, a pious English peo ...

is also common. The church is close to

Bournemouth Town Centre Bournemouth Town Centre is an area of Bournemouth, Dorset. The town centre is the central business district and is located near the coast between West Cliff and East Cliff. History In 1908 a tramway accident killed 7 people in the Town Cent ...

and Meyrick Park.

Background

John Loughborough Pearson John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency ...

, as a memorial to Alexander Morden Bennett, first vicar of

St Peter's Church, Bournemouth St Peter's Church is a Church of England parish church located in the Bournemouth Town Centre, centre of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. It is a Grade I listed building classed as a 'major parish church', and was completed in 1879 to a design by ...

. The church is constructed with

Purbeck stone Purbeck stone refers to building stone taken from a series of limestone beds found in the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Purbeck Group, found on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset in southern England. The best known variety of this stone is Purbeck M ...

and

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

. Its

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 ...

was built from 1881 to 1883 and the

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

was built from 1896 to 1897. The tower was built from 1907 to 1908. It is a Grade I-

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Vicars

Church of Saint Stephen, Bournemouth (02)

*1881–1911 Fr Alexander Sykes Bennett *1911–28 Fr George Philip Trevelyan *1928–44 Fr Philip Harold Rogers *1944–52 Fr Geoffrey Heald *1952–58 Fr Francis John Michael Dean *1958–62 Fr Charles Edward Burnett Neate *1962–70 Fr George Percy Wilkins *1970–73 Fr Anthony Douglas Caesar *1974–83 Fr John David Corbett *1983–87 Fr John Catlin *1987–94 Fr Paul Hastrop *1994–2012 Fr Robin Harger *2009–present Fr Ian Terry (Rector)

Music

The church has an organ by William Hill dating from 1898. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register
There is also a small 5 stop chamber organ dating from 1870. The specification of the chamber organ can also be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register

List of organists

*1881–93 T.J.Baker *1894–1930 Henry Holloway, D.Mus. FRCO *1930–35

Percy Whitlock Percy William Whitlock (1 June 1903 in Chatham, Medway, Chatham, Kent – 1 May 1946 in Bournemouth), was an English organist and Post-romanticism, post-romantic composer. Percy Whitlock studied at London's Royal College of Music with Charles ...

*1936–66 Cyril Knight, FRCO, FLCM *1967–75 Spencer Fackerell *1976 Roger Hill *1976–82 Cyril Knight *1982–88 Ian Harrison, BA, FRCO, FTCL *1988–94 Anthony Wood, ARCO *1994– Ian Harrison

Gallery

File:Views from the Eye (7) - St Stephen's Church - geograph.org.uk - 1505447.jpg, Viewed from the Bournemouth Eye File:Bournemouth St Stephen's church.jpg, Main entrance File:St Stephens Bournemouth reredos.JPG, Behind the altar File:St Stephen Church.jpg, View from the street File:St Stephen's Church, Bournemouth.jpg, Front door view File:Bournemouth, tower of St. Stephen's from Meyrick Park - geograph.org.uk - 1772602.jpg, Viewed from Meyrick Park File:Bournemouth, looking down on a snow-covered St. Stephen’s church - geograph.org.uk - 2186452.jpg, Snow covered church. File:Bournemouth, St. Stephen’s church in snow - geograph.org.uk - 2183895.jpg, Winter scene.

References