St. Gregory and St. Martin (Wye / Kent)

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St. Gregory and St. Martin Congregational Church in Wye
View from the medieval main nave to the east choir from the early 18th century
The 18th century choir
Baptismal fonts in St. Gregory and St. Martin

The St Gregory and St Martin's Church in Wye , Kent is an Anglican parish church.

location

Wye is about 12 miles from Canterbury and is the capital of the civil parish of Wye with Hinxhill. 75.2 percent of the 2,405 inhabitants (2001) of Wye belong to Christian churches, mainly the Anglican church. Their sacred building is located in the middle of the village at the end of Church Street and is surrounded by a cemetery.

Previous buildings

A church dedicated to St. Gregory had stood in Wye since the time of the Saxons (around the 6th century) . It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. After the Norman conquest, Wye was declared a Trutz Abbey by William the Conqueror . A new church dedicated to St. Consecrated to Gregory; it was also dedicated to the patron saint of the Normans, St. Martin .

Today's church

John Kemp , the Archbishop of York and later of Canterbury , who was born in Wye / Olantigh , founded a seminary in his hometown in 1431 and a Latin school for poor youth in 1447. He had the church converted into a cruciform basilica . This church in the Perpendicular style had a square central tower with attached tip. It was repaired after a lightning strike in 1572, but collapsed in 1686, destroying the crossing, the transept and the choir, including its art monuments. The temporarily restored choir was rebuilt during the reign of Queen Anne (1701-14). The current church tower also dates from this time (1706). On January 18, 1943, the west window from 1878 was destroyed by the war.

Furnishing

  • The current west window, designed by Gerald Smith from Johnson & Pawle, was installed in 1951. It shows, among other things, Cardinal John Kempe holding a model of his Latin school in Wye (based on a model in the Zouch Chapel in York Cathedral), and otherwise makes reference to Wye College , now the Agriculture Department of the University of London .
  • The baptismal font probably dates from the 15th century.
  • The two heraldic glass windows in the north aisle were saved from the west window from 1878.
  • The lectern is a monument to teachers and students of the Wye College, in the First World War have fallen.
  • An ebony sculpture depicting St. James of Compostela and was created by John Forsyth of Dover, was stolen in 2009.
  • St. James of Compostela, a yew wood sculpture
  • The Australian John Miller painted a crucifixion picture.
  • A bronze sculpture "Mother and Child" by the Lady Chapel was created in 1987 by Neil Godfrey from Surrey and donated by Alan Ridout . The church chair cushions represent the life of Mary.
  • Another work of art from the 20th century is a statue of St. James by John Forsyth.
  • The church houses the Sawbridge family and Palmer Brasses family coats of arms (brass tombstones).
  • A church model shows the sacred building before the disasters of 1572 and 1686.
  • Ten bells hang in the church tower, the oldest from 1774, the youngest from 1991.
  • On the outside you can see grimaces carved in stone, which are supposed to keep evil from the holy place.

organ

The organ was built in 1928 by the organ builder Albert Keates (Sheffield) for Wesley Hall in Sheffield. In 1974 the instrument was reorganized by the organ builder Peter Hutchins (Coleford) and installed in St. Gregory and St. Martin. A small instrument, a neo-classical positive that was built for the church in 1959 by an unknown organ builder, was attached to the organ. The organ has 33 registers on three manuals and a pedal . The action actions are electro-pneumatic, the stop actions are electric.

I positive C-c 4
Pipe flute 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Tapered flute 4 ′
Twelfth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Octave 2 ′
Mixture II
II Great C – c 4
Double Open Diapason 16 ′
Large Open Diapason 8th'
Small open diapason 8th'
Clarabella 8th'
Dulciana 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Harmonic flute 4 ′
Fifteenth 2 ′
Trumpet 8th'
III Swell C-c 4
Open diapason 8th'
Gedact 8th'
Gamba 8th'
Voix Celeste 8th'
Gemshorn 4 ′
Fifteenth 2 ′
Mixture III
Contra fagotto 16 ′
Cornopean 8th'
oboe 8th'
Vox Humana 8th'
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
Open diapason 16 ′
Bourdon 16 ′
Echo Bourdon 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Bass flute 8th'
Flood 4 ′
Bassoon 16 ′

Others

The church's baptism and death register goes back to 1538, the marriage register to 1545.

literature

  • Hardric Morphyn: Wye Church, Kent . In: Notes and Queries. 1873
  • Simon Jenkins: England's Thousand Best Churches . London: Penguin Books 1999/2009, pp. 391f.
  • The Parish Church of St. Gregory and St. Martin Wye, Kent . (Leaflet, German). OJ

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on organ

Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′ 4 ″  N , 0 ° 56 ′ 16 ″  E