Friday, October 11, 2013

Stoke Minster - Part Two

Thank you for all your interest and comments on part one of the visit to Stoke Minster.  It is now time for part two which, as you probably guessed, is about the interior.   As I mentioned in part one this is the third church building on or near this site.  The corner stone of the new church was laid on 26th June 1826 and the building completed in 1829 at a cost of over £14,000 pounds. The architects and builders were Trubshaw and Johnson of Haywood and the church was built with stone from nearby Hollington where there is still a large stone works today.  It was consecrated on 1st August 1830.

The date of 1st of August was chosen because of the church's dedication to St Peter ad Vincula whose festival falls on that day which is also the  festival of Lammastide.  As industry, in particular the pottery industry, grew in Stoke and the surrounding areas the festival was celebrated for a week and even up until the 1970s it was known as Stoke Wakes week.

The growing population were catered for in the addition of the galleries.  The old church could seat about 640 people the new one could accommodate over 1,500 people.

Above on the balcony over the nave you can see the church's organ and below the floor of the chancel is covered with Minton tiles

Either side of the nave and in the foyer are also Minton Hollins tiles.  Each one is a memorial tile and they give a fascinating insight into the ages and occupations of the people they are dedicated to.  


One of the dedications I noticed was to 'Samuel and Jane Stevens and Sarah Ann Evans, their niece who perished on the Anglo Saxon near Cape Race, Newfoundland on April 27th 1863' - here is a link to more information.  The Anglo Saxon was a steam ship which was headed for Quebec with passengers from both Liverpool and Londonderry.

The font is Anglo Saxon and belonged to the old church.  When this was demolished it was moved to the home of one of the patrons a Mr John Tomlinson who for many years used it as a plant container in his garden.    It was returned  in 1876 and finally restored in 1932 and placed back within the church.  There is evidence on the font that it had been given a hinged and lockable lid at some point probably when in 1236,  Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury gave out instructions that all font lids must be firmly secured.

In the chancel are many memorials to the famous pottery families like the Wedgwood, Spodes and Couplands.   Above is the memorial to Josiah Wedgwood I and next to that a memorial to his wife Sarah.  Also on the memorial is a dedication to one of their sons Tom Wedgwood who was an early pioneer in the science of photography.  Here is a link to a little more about him.



The crucifix above was donated by the family of the legendary local footballer Sir Stanley Matthews after his death in 2000.  It belonged to his wife Lady Mila into whose family it was given for protection from looting during the second world war.  The crucifix went with the Matthews to Malta and then came back to England to Sir Stanley's home in Penkull in the city.

Up on the balcony is a chapel, formerly known as the Warrior's Chapel, which commemorates all those who were lost in the Great War. The chapel is now known as the Peace Chapel.


Opposite the chapel is a most amazing window created by artists from the Burslem School of Art.


I've been trying to find out more about the window but can't seem to find  anything on line.  The church guidebook, written by local historian Richard Talbot states that the chapel 'consists of a stained glass window, carved oak panelling for the walls and a screen to divide the chapel from the rest of the church'  he also says that the chapel was 'desgined by one of the church wardens and the City Arts Director' in 1921. I'm not sure whether this includes the window.

28 comments:

  1. Gosh those tiles on the floor at beautiful, well all of it is actually! Xxx

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    1. They were a very attractive colour they shimmered in the light:)

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  2. What a fascinating building! I've always loved churches with galleries. And so many interesting local connections.

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    1. The galleries do make it special I think! Apparently the pews used to have doors too:)

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  3. A fascinating building with so many riches. I can't imagine a church adding galleries to accomodate a growing population! I love the stories about the font and the crucifix. So much history contained just within one building. x

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    1. We were very lucky to get up to the galleries - one of the church wardens was there and very kindly gave us they key to get in to see the Peace chapel and window:)

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  4. I'm so pleased I've found your interesting blog. I look forward to reading more about places you visit and books you enjoy.

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    1. Welcome Elizabeth, I'm so glad you have enjoyed reading some of my posts. I look forward to you visiting again:)

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  5. I don't think I have ever seen an Anglican church with non-conformist type galleries before. Was it musty? I feel I can almost smell the Minster and as for the story about the Anglo-Saxon font, beautiful for its simplicity, a similar story is told about the Norman font in Lenton's 19th century parish church. It comes from the old Cluniac Lenton Priory (1109-1533) and was found in a Lenton back garden. I look forward to a visit with you before too long. Love R xx

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    1. Thank heavens for the enthusiastic gardeners who kept these fonts in their gardens! We were allowed upstairs by one of the churchwardens who kindly let us have the key to get into the galleries. I didn't notice a musty smell as the lights and heating were on but some of the wood did look as if it would become musty if left in the cold it had a sort of grey tinge to it:)

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  6. I love the Anglo-Saxon font and it's fascinating that galleries were added for an increasing population. The tiles are amazing, too.

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    1. That font is so old but it somehow looks quite modern as well. I like to see the galleries and I'm sure they are safe but I can't imagine being up there with loads of other people without feeling they may collapse:)

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  7. What a lovely interior so unusual - if I didn't visit your blog I would never get to see these wonderful churches - thank you

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed the visit, Elaine:)

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  8. What an amazing place! The balconies are magnificent, and I love the tiles.

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    1. Because the church is well used it was clean and warm inside and the wood was well polished and cared for:)

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  9. Really interesting post Rosie. The balconies are something special, as are those wonderful Minton tiles. x

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    1. Those tiles were very attractive and made such an impact in the chancel:)

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  10. What a lovely post. I love Minton tiles and like to see them as they were intended. I noticed a lot of the house up the Hartshill road still have them in the entrances. Also the little cottages just before you get to Hartshill church.

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    1. I love the Minton cottages on Hartshill Road and I'd love to see what they are like inside! I think there are 9 of them:)

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  11. What an interesting interior - those Minton tiles are really beautiful. Amazing that the Anglo saxon font has survived too.

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    1. Thank goodness someone saved the font even though it was used as a planter. The tiles were a beautiful colour:)

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  12. what an interesting building, so much history. Those tiles are fascinating and how great that the font is so old and still in good condition.

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    1. It is wonderful that the font survived - I was fascinated by all the historical connections that the church highlighted:)

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  13. Thank you for this post with so many interesting details. It was good you could go up into the galleries, visit the Peace Chapel and see the nave from the perspective of someone sitting there. We had a small gallery built at the back of our parish church a few years ago, but the only times I've been in ones such as at Stoke Minster were in Baptist churches, so fascinating. I'm sure you could spend a lot of time studying the social history from the details on the memorial tiles. Thanks for all of your follow-up links, too.

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    1. The churchwarden very kindly let us go up in the upper story as it isn't always open. So we were quite lucky. The memorial tiles were fascinating as you could see family connections and occupations:)

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  14. Thank you! Wonderful photographs + interesting comments about this very special church in relation to The Potteries and especially some of those giants responsible for the city's important tile industry.

    www.thepotteriestiletrail.org
    twitter: @potteriestiles

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    1. Glad you enjoyed my post - most people did seem to love the tiles in the chancel floor. I've taken a look at your website - very interesting - I've dowloaded the Longton Trail to follow one day - thanks:)

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