St Wulfram's Church, Grantham Explained

St Wulfram's Church, Grantham
Pushpin Map:Lincolnshire
Map Caption:Location within Lincolnshire
Coordinates:52.9148°N -0.6407°W
Location:Grantham, Lincolnshire
Country:England
Denomination:Church of England
Churchmanship:Broad Church/Inclusive catholic[1]
Website:stwulframs.org.uk
discoverstwulframs.org.uk
Dedication:Wulfram of Sens
Heritage Designation:Grade I listed
Capacity:Seating for 700, room for a further 200 standing
Length:196feet
Width:75feet
Bells:14
Bells Hung:1676:1946:2000:2012
Bell Weight:32cwt 1qtr 11lbs in C#
Parish:Grantham
Deanery:Grantham[2]
Archdeaconry:Boston
Diocese:Lincoln
Province:Canterbury
Rector:Fr Stuart Cradduck, Fr Clay Roundtree (assistant rector)
Curate:Fr James Titley
Archdeacon:Dr Justine Allain Chapman
Director:Dr Tim Williams
Organist:Dr Andrew Wyatt
Warden:Mr Andrew Gregory : Mrs. Jan Burrows
Verger:Mr David West

St Wulfram's Church, Grantham, is the Anglican parish church of Grantham in Lincolnshire, England. The church is a Grade I listed building and has the second tallest spire in Lincolnshire after St James' Church, Louth.

Vicars

The Reverend William Glaister was the curate and later vicar of the church in 1876. His sister Elizabeth Glaister was a novelist with an interest in embroidery. She created ecclesiastical embroideries for the church.

The spire

In his book England's Thousand Best Churches, Simon Jenkins begins his description of St Wulfram's: "Here is the finest steeple in England",[3] and in 2020 an online contest run by poet Jay Hulme named it as the finest non-cathedral English church.[4]

The spire, at, is the sixth highest in the country (Salisbury, Norwich and Old Coventry Cathedrals' are higher), and third highest of any parish church, after the Church of St Walburge, Preston, and St James' Church, Louth. It is the second highest of any Anglican parish church in the UK, after St James', and second highest in Lincolnshire, after St James'.

In 2013 an appeal was launched to save the spire.[5]

Music

A set of chimes which had been disused for years, and also some quarter jacks, were re-instated during 1877.[6] The new clock and chimes by Gillett and Bland were started on 16 February 1877.[7] On 5 November 1877 the new clock was inspected by Sir Edmund Beckett, who assessed that it was one of the best turned out by Gillett and Bland.[8]

The present organ by John Harris and John Byfield dates from 1735. It was rebuilt by George Pike England in 1809 and 1833, by Forster and Andrews between 1845 and 1868, by Norman and Beard in 1906 (producing the organ that may be heard today), by Rushworth and Dreaper in 1952, by Cousans of Lincoln in 1972, and by Phillip Wood and Sons of Huddersfield in 1993–94 when a fourth manual was added.[9] The case designed by Sir Walter Tapper RA took eight years to complete. The old organ case now encloses the choir vestry in the north west corner of the church. The specification for the organ, regarded as one of the finest in Lincolnshire, can be found at the National Pipe Organ Register.

Organists

See also

Sources

Harris, John; The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, Penguin (1964), revised by Nicholas Antram (1989), Yale University Press.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: St Wulfram’s Church, Grantham: Assistant Master of the Music Application Pack . pathways.churchofengland.org . The Church of England . 28 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220528174541/https://d1x8239b43517c.cloudfront.net/media-uploads/3/6/job/41337/Assistant%20Master%20of%20the%20Music%20-%20further%20particulars%20(May%202022)%20(JAM%2C%20TW%2C%20SWC%2027.5.22).pdf . 28 May 2022 . pdf . May 2022.
  2. Web site: St Wulfram, Grantham . . A Church Near You . The Church of England. 23 August 2017 .
  3. Book: Jenkins, Simon . Simon Jenkins . England's Thousand Best Churches . 1999 . London . Penguin Books . 978-0-14-103930-5 . 436–437.
  4. News: St Wulfram's Church named as 'finest church in England' in national competition. Tracey. Davies. Grantham Journal.
  5. Web site: Saving the Spire . savegranthamsspire.org.uk/ . 2014 . 2 January 2014.
  6. News: . 9 March 1877 . Grantham . Stamford Mercury . England . subscription . 23 August 2017 . British Newspaper Archive.
  7. News: . 17 February 1877 . St Wolfran's (sic) Clock and Chimes . Grantham Journal . England . subscription . 23 August 2017 . British Newspaper Archive.
  8. News: . 10 November 1877 . The Church Clock and Chimes . Grantham Journal . England . subscription . 23 August 2017 . British Newspaper Archive.
  9. http://www.stwulframs.org.uk/?page_id=738 "The Organ" at stwulframs.org.uk
  10. Norfolk Chronicle – Saturday 01 December 1832
  11. Morris' Directory and Gazetteer 1863
  12. Grantham Journal – Saturday 24 April 1886
  13. Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1909, p. 230