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St Mary Redcliffe
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, widely known as St Mary Redcliffe, is the main Church of England parish church for the Redcliffe district of the city of Bristol, England. The first reference to a church on the site appears in 1158, with the present building dating from 1185 to 1872. The church is considered one of the country's finest and largest parish churches as well as an outstanding example of English Gothic architecture. The church is so large it is sometimes mistaken for Bristol Cathedral by tourists. The building has Grade I listed status, the highest possible category, by Historic England.
The church is notable for its many large stained glass windows, decorative stone vaults, flying buttresses, rare hexagonal porch and massive Gothic spire. With a height of 274 feet (84 m) to the top of the weathervane, St Mary Redcliffe is the second-tallest structure in Bristol and the sixth-tallest parish church in the country. The church spire is a major Bristol landmark, visible from across the city and until the completion of Castle Park View in 2020, it was the tallest structure ever to have been erected in Bristol.
St Mary Redcliffe has received widespread critical acclaim from various architects, historians, poets, writers and monarchs. In 1541 the English topographer and antiquary John Leland, claimed it was "the most beautiful of all churches" he had seen in England. Queen Elizabeth I, on a visit to the church in 1574, was said to have described St Mary Redcliffe as "The fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England". In 1628 Charles I similarly suggested that the church was "one of the moste famous absolute fayrest and goodliest parish churches within the Realm of England.”
Simon Jenkins gives St Mary Redcliffe the maximum five-star rating in his book 'England's Thousand Best Churches', one of only eighteen to receive such a rating, describing it as a "masterpiece of English Gothic"; and Nikolaus Pevsner says that "St Mary Redcliffe need not fear comparison with any other English parish church".
Though some sources claim a church has been on the site since Saxon times, no such church is recorded in the Domesday Book, meaning that if a church existed, it had been demolished by 1086 (or had been accidentally omitted). The first recorded mention of a church in present-day Redcliffe is a charter signed by Henry II in 1158, confirming the endowments of the churches at Redcliffe and Bedminster to Old Sarum Cathedral. This charter implies therefore that a church already existed in Redcliffe during 1158, likely constructed sometime between 1086 and 1158.
The modern-day name of Redcliffe, now a district of Bristol, refers to the position of the church on its prominent red sandstone cliff above the River Avon, which at the time was the location of the Port of Bristol. The original church was built and funded by the city's wealthy merchants, some of whom may have reached present-day North America before Christopher Columbus, sailing from the Port of Bristol. Though the modern Port of Bristol is located further downstream, the original quayside still survives near the church, called Redcliffe Quay, where fragments of the red cliff can still be seen.
In 1185, a new north porch was constructed in the Early English Gothic style of the Purbeck subtype, similar to the new east end of Canterbury Cathedral, making this one of the earliest Gothic constructions in England, Canterbury being the earliest. Though repairs are recorded in the churchwardens' accounts in 1207, 1229 and 1230, the next major construction would not be undertaken until the end of the 13th century.
In 1292, Simon de Burton, mayor of Bristol, founded the present church and began an ambitious programme of rebuilding. This began in 1294 with the construction of the massive northwest tower base and part of the present west wall. Construction paused until 1320 when the rest of the church was rebuilt into the Decorated Gothic style. The earliest work from this phase of construction is the exceptionally rare hexagonal north porch, which was built adjacent to the 1185 Early English porch in 1325, thus forming an inner (1185) and outer (1325) north porch.
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St Mary Redcliffe
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, widely known as St Mary Redcliffe, is the main Church of England parish church for the Redcliffe district of the city of Bristol, England. The first reference to a church on the site appears in 1158, with the present building dating from 1185 to 1872. The church is considered one of the country's finest and largest parish churches as well as an outstanding example of English Gothic architecture. The church is so large it is sometimes mistaken for Bristol Cathedral by tourists. The building has Grade I listed status, the highest possible category, by Historic England.
The church is notable for its many large stained glass windows, decorative stone vaults, flying buttresses, rare hexagonal porch and massive Gothic spire. With a height of 274 feet (84 m) to the top of the weathervane, St Mary Redcliffe is the second-tallest structure in Bristol and the sixth-tallest parish church in the country. The church spire is a major Bristol landmark, visible from across the city and until the completion of Castle Park View in 2020, it was the tallest structure ever to have been erected in Bristol.
St Mary Redcliffe has received widespread critical acclaim from various architects, historians, poets, writers and monarchs. In 1541 the English topographer and antiquary John Leland, claimed it was "the most beautiful of all churches" he had seen in England. Queen Elizabeth I, on a visit to the church in 1574, was said to have described St Mary Redcliffe as "The fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England". In 1628 Charles I similarly suggested that the church was "one of the moste famous absolute fayrest and goodliest parish churches within the Realm of England.”
Simon Jenkins gives St Mary Redcliffe the maximum five-star rating in his book 'England's Thousand Best Churches', one of only eighteen to receive such a rating, describing it as a "masterpiece of English Gothic"; and Nikolaus Pevsner says that "St Mary Redcliffe need not fear comparison with any other English parish church".
Though some sources claim a church has been on the site since Saxon times, no such church is recorded in the Domesday Book, meaning that if a church existed, it had been demolished by 1086 (or had been accidentally omitted). The first recorded mention of a church in present-day Redcliffe is a charter signed by Henry II in 1158, confirming the endowments of the churches at Redcliffe and Bedminster to Old Sarum Cathedral. This charter implies therefore that a church already existed in Redcliffe during 1158, likely constructed sometime between 1086 and 1158.
The modern-day name of Redcliffe, now a district of Bristol, refers to the position of the church on its prominent red sandstone cliff above the River Avon, which at the time was the location of the Port of Bristol. The original church was built and funded by the city's wealthy merchants, some of whom may have reached present-day North America before Christopher Columbus, sailing from the Port of Bristol. Though the modern Port of Bristol is located further downstream, the original quayside still survives near the church, called Redcliffe Quay, where fragments of the red cliff can still be seen.
In 1185, a new north porch was constructed in the Early English Gothic style of the Purbeck subtype, similar to the new east end of Canterbury Cathedral, making this one of the earliest Gothic constructions in England, Canterbury being the earliest. Though repairs are recorded in the churchwardens' accounts in 1207, 1229 and 1230, the next major construction would not be undertaken until the end of the 13th century.
In 1292, Simon de Burton, mayor of Bristol, founded the present church and began an ambitious programme of rebuilding. This began in 1294 with the construction of the massive northwest tower base and part of the present west wall. Construction paused until 1320 when the rest of the church was rebuilt into the Decorated Gothic style. The earliest work from this phase of construction is the exceptionally rare hexagonal north porch, which was built adjacent to the 1185 Early English porch in 1325, thus forming an inner (1185) and outer (1325) north porch.