Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda Church in Rugeley, a Gothic Revival 1840s church by Charles Hansom

Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda, the Catholic church in Rugeley, was designed by Charles Hansom and built in 1849-1851 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

When I was in Rugeley this week and last week, I visited a number of churches in the area, including Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda, the Catholic church in Rugeley. The church has many links with the Wolseley family, which I was writing about earlier this week after my recent visit to the Wolseley Arms and the Wolseley Centre.

The church was built in the Gothic Revival style of the 19th century, and was designed by the architect Charles Hansom and built in 1849-1851, but its story also recalls the story of ‘recusant’ or Catholic families in Staffordshire, going back to the 17th century.

There were ‘some recusants’ in Rugeley in 1604, and Sir Richard Weston (1579-1658) of Hagley Hall, a judge and MP who fought as a royalist during the English civil war, was named as a ‘Papist’ in 1648.

Richard Weston, who built Hagley Hall in 1636, was the son of Ralph Weston of Rugeley, whose family traced its ancestry back to 1330 but did not settle at Hagley Manor until 1544. Richard Weston was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, and was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1607. He was elected MP for Lichfield in 1614 and was re-elected in 1622. He became a judge in 1632, a Baron of the Exchequer in 1634 and was knighted in 1635. As MP for Lichfield, Weston chaired the committee for annexing Freeford prebend to the Vicarage of Sait Mary’s, Lichfield.

The tower, spire and west end of Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda Church in Rugeley (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Weston was impeached in 1641 but was not tried, and he joined the army of King Charles with his eldest son Richard in 1642. In September 1643, he was called to Oxford by the king. He was at Oxford when the royalist garrison surrendered in 1646, and by then Parliament had voted to remove him as a judge.

Weston’s son Richard Weston was MP Stafford in 1640-1642 and was a royalist. After the defeat at Oxford, he fled with Ralph Sneyd and James Rugeley to the Isle of Man, where they were welcomed by the king. The younger Richard Weston was taken prisoner at Colchester in July 1648 and was killed for the future Charles II on the Isle of Man in 1652.

The older Richard Weston wrote a short will on 18 November 1655, in which he declared he could not bring himself to dispose of his estate, as ‘these late troublesome times have much impoverished me’, and the ‘death of my late dear wife hath much troubled my mind’. He died at Rugeley on 18 March 1658, but his place of burial is not known. As his eldest son Richard had been killed in 1652, he was succeeded by his second son, Ralph.

The west door of the Church of Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda, Rugeley (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Only nine ‘papists’ in Rugeley were mentioned in 1780. But by 1836 evening services were being held each Sunday in a temporary Roman Catholic church in Rugeley, and by 1839, Mass was being said there on Sunday mornings. Father Thomas Green of Tixall bought a site for building a church in 1842 from Henry Paget (1768-1854), 1st Marquis of Anglesey, who lived at Beaudesert and who had lost a leg fighting at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Meanwhile, the Catholic mission in Rugeley was served by a priest from Tixall until a resident priest, Father John Grenside, was appointed to Rugeley in 1846. Mass was said in the school from 1847 until at least 1849, and in 1848, when the mission was described as ‘paralysed with poverty’, there were about 500 Catholics in and near Rugeley.

The Church of Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda was built in 1849-1851, and takes its dedication from the names of the two principal founders, Joseph Whitgreave (1823-1885) of Heron’s Court, Rugeley, and his sister, Sister Etheldreda, a Benedictine nun.

The church was designed by the architect Charles Francis Hansom (1817-1888), a prominent Roman Catholic Victorian architect who primarily designed in the Gothic Revival style. He was the brother of Joseph Aloysius Hansom (1803-1882), architect and designer of the Hansom cab.

The church has an aisled nave of six bays, chancel, north chapel, south vestry, and a tall west tower. It is built of local stone given generously by Lord Anglesey, ‘without limit or restriction’.

On entering the church, visitors’ eyes are drawn immediately to the East Window, the High Altar and the reredos. The window was the gift of Sir Charles Wolseley (1846-1931), 9th baronet, of Wolseley Hall: he had inherited the family title and estates at the age of 8, and married Anna Theresa Murphy (1862-1937), the daughter of a wealthy Irish-American property tycoon and papal count who sought titled husbands for Anna and her three sisters.

The window was made by Hardman and Powell of Birmingham, associated with AWN Pugin, the architect of the Gothic Revival in church architecture, on many of his churches. The centre light depicts the Good Shepherd and on either side are Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda. The other two saints depicted are Saint Thomas Aquinas, recalling Canon Thomas Duckett who was the parish priest when the glass was installed, and Saint Charles Borromeo, in honour of Sir Charles Wolseley.

The Whitgreave grave in the churchyard at Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda Church, Rugeley (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The High Altar is of carved stone, and was once richly gilded. The panels represent the Annunciation (left), the Crucifixion (centre) and the Ascension. Between these are narrow panels of Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda.

The reredos formerly had a pinnacled throne above the tabernacle, and a wooden cross. The throne was removed in 1938 when the church was being repainted because, Father Walshe, said it obscured much of the East Window.

The sanctuary once had rich fresco work in traditional gothic style by Hopkins of Abergavenny in 1885, but this was painted over in 1939. The south wall above the sedilia was covered with eight panels in gold on red within gothic canopies in brown, grey and black, depicting the instruments of the Passion.

The south side of Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda Church, Rugeley (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Lady Chapel, with its Caen stone and alabaster altar, was the gift of Helen Gulson, niece of Josiah Spode IV who left Hawkesyard to the Dominicans. The carvings represent the Annunciation and the Nativity, and above the canopy is a marble crucifix. There are statues of Saint Helen, mother of Constantine, and Saint Catherine of Siena. The ceiling is decorated in blue. The chapel has two stained glass windows and a statue of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, a gift of Edward Wolseley (1848-1935), who was baptised in the church.

The window behind the altar depicts the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child in the centre, with Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary on either side. The three-light window on the north wall depicts the Presentation in the Temple and is a memorial to Joseph Whitgreave. The small windows at the top have medallions of Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda. At the foot is a depiction of Joseph and Etheldreda Whitgreave offering the church to God.

Near the entrance to the Lady Chapel is a brass memorial with the coat of arms of Lord Anglesey. He was an advocate of Catholic Emancipation and was twice Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1828-1829, 1830-1833).

A carved oak altar is by Pugin, as is the confessional. The chancel and baptistry screens are of wrought iron by Harris, local iron founders, and the aisles have carved stone panels representing the Stations of the Cross. =

The church has two bells, dating from 1546 and 1848. The Lady bell, with the inscription ‘Sancta Maria ora pro nobis’, was cast in 1546 for an unknown church in Gloucestershire. It may be one of the last Lady bells before the Reformation and was bought for £80.

The church was solemnly opened in August 1851 and was consecrated 100 years later in June 1951.

An octagonal spire and flying buttresses were added to the tower in 1868. Around 1930, a turret that had formed part of the spire was found to be decayed and was removed. Further repairs to the spire were carried out in 1948.

Lord Anglesey also gave the stone for the presbytery, a gabled building south of the church and built at the same time. The former school was beyond it and the original plans envisaged a cloister linking the whole group.

Heron Court Hall (above) and Heron’s Nest (below) beside Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda Church, Rugeley (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Sisters of the Christian Retreat opened Saint Anthony’s Convent at Heron’s Nest, on the corner of Heron Street and Lichfield Street, in 1901. But with the arrival of members of the order who were expelled from France, the convent moved in 1904 to Heron Court.

Heron Court Hall was built in the Gothic style in 1851 by Joseph Whitgreave. The convent used it as a retreat and teaching centre until the 1960s, when it was bought by Rugeley Billiards. Since then, many local businesses and clubs have made Heron Court Hall their home.

The graves of the Wolseley baronets in Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda churchyard, Rugeley (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

are buried in the churchyard: Sir Charles Wolseley (1813-1854), 8th baronet; and Sir Charles Michael Wolseley, 9th baronet (1846-1931). The Wolseley family’s links with to the church have continued to the present day.

When Sir Charles Wolseley (1944-2018), the 11th Baronet, died on 5 March 2018, his funeral took place in Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda Church on 24 March 2018. His widow, the author Imogene (Jeannie) Wolseley (1943-2024), died in Rugeley on 11 July 2024 and Lady Wolseley’s funeral was held in the church on 26 July 2024.

• The Parish Priest is Father Peter Stonier. The weekend Mass Times are: Saturday Vigil Mass, 7 pm; Sunday Morning Mass, 8:30 am; Sunday Solemn Mass, 11 am; Sunday Evening Mass, 6:30 pm.

The west end of Saint Joseph and Saint Etheldreda Church, Rugeley (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Christmas Cards from Patrick Comerford: 3, 27 December 2025

The first Christmas … a window in Saint Mary’s Church, St Neots, Cambridgeshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I sent out very few Christmas cards this year. Instead, at noon each day throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas, I am offering an image or two as my virtual Christmas cards, without comment.

My image for my Christmas Card at noon today (27 December 2025), is of the south window in the Lady Chapel in Saint Mary’s Church, St Neots, Cambridgeshire, depicting the Nativity and the Adoration of the Shepherds. It is by John Hardman & Co of Birmingham, and was designed by Hardman’s nephew John Hardman Powell, a son-in-law of the architect AWN Pugin.

Daily prayer in Christmas 2025-2026: 3, Saturday 27 December 2025, Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist

Saint John depicted in a statue on the Great Gate of Saint John’s College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me … ‘three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree’.

This is the third day of Christmas and today the church calendar celebrates Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist. Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

Saint John (right) and the Virgin Mary (left) at the Crucifixion … the rood beam in Holy Rood Church, Watford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

John 21: 19b-25 (NRSVA):

19 After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’ 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, what about him?’ 22 Jesus said to him, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!’ 23 So the rumour spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?’

24 This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

The symbol of the serpent and the chalice, a carving by Eric Gill in the capstone at Saint John’s College, Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

The Christian interpretation of the song ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’ often sees the three French hens as figurative representations of the three theological virtues – faith, hope and love: ‘And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.’ (I Corinthians 13: 13).

Other interpretations say the three French hens represent the three persons of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or the three gifts of the Wise Men, gold, frankincense and myrrh.

There is a custom in some places of blessing wine on this day and drinking a toast to the love of God and to Saint John. The theological virtue of love is intimately associated with the story of Saint John, the disciple Jesus loved.

It seems appropriate in the days immediately after Christmas that we should be jolted out of our comforts, in case we begin to atrophy, and to be reminded of what the great German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the ‘Cost of Discipleship.’

Following Christ is not all about Christmas shopping, feasts, decorations and falling asleep in front of the television – comforting, enjoyable and pleasant as they are, particularly in family settings.

Yesterday was the feast of Saint Stephen [26 December], often referred to as the first Christian martyr; and 28 December usually recalls the Holy Innocents, the first – albeit unwitting – martyrs according to Saint Matthew’s Gospel.

In The Ariel Poems TS Eliot puts wise words into the mouth of the Wise Man who recalls the cold coming of it experienced in the ‘Journey of the Magi’. There he makes the connection between birth and death:

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

Between those two commemorations of martyrdom, we find ourselves today [27 December] marking the Feast of Saint John the Evangelist.

At first, this too may not seem an appropriate feast day to celebrate in the days immediately after Christmas Day. Even chronologically it creates difficulties, for tradition says Saint John was the last of the disciples to die, making his death the one that is separated most in terms of length of time from the birth of Christ.

In art, Saint John the Evangelist is frequently represented as an Eagle, symbolising the heights to which he rises in the first chapter of his Gospel.

For Saint John, there is no annunciation, no nativity, no crib in Bethlehem, no shepherds or wise men, no little stories to allow us to be sentimental and to be amused. He is sharp, direct and gets to the point: ‘In the beginning …’

But the Prologue to Saint John’s Gospel is one of the traditional readings on Christmas Day, so many of us immediately associate his writings with this time of the year.

Saint John the Evangelist is unnamed in the Fourth Gospel. Yet tradition identifies him with the John who is:

• one of the three at the Transfiguration,
• one of the disciples sent to prepare a place for the Last Supper,
• one of the three present in the Garden of Gethsemane,
• the only disciple present at the Crucifixion,
• the disciple to whom Christ entrusts his mother from the Cross,
• the first disciple to arrive at Christ’s tomb after the Resurrection,
• the disciple who first recognises Christ standing on the lake shore following the Resurrection.

The Beloved Disciple, alone among the Twelve, remains with Christ at the foot of the Cross with the Mother of Christ and the women and he is asked by the dying Christ to take Mary into his care (John 19: 25-27). After Mary Magdalene’s report of the Resurrection, Peter and the ‘other disciple’ are the first to go to the grave, and the ‘other disciple’ is the first to believe that Christ is truly risen (John 20: 2-10).

When the Risen Christ appears at the Lake of Genesareth, ‘that disciple whom Jesus loved’ is the first of the seven disciples present who recognises Christ standing on the shore (John 21: 7).

Saint Paul names John as one of the pillars of the Church in Jerusalem (see Galatians 2: 9). Later, tradition says, he takes over the position of leadership Paul once had in the Church in Ephesus and is said to have lived there and to have been buried there.

According to a tradition mentioned by Saint Jerome, in the second general persecution, in the year 95, Saint John was arrested and sent to Rome, where he was thrown into a vat or cauldron of boiling oil but miraculously was preserved from death.

According to ancient tradition, during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, Saint John was once given a cup of poisoned wine, but he blessed the cup and the poison rose out of the cup in the form of a serpent. Saint John then drank the wine with no ill effect. A chalice with a serpent signifying the powerless poison has become one of his symbols.

Domitian then banished Saint John to the island of Patmos. It was there in the year 96 he had those heavenly visions recorded in the Book of Revelation. After the death of Domitian, it is said, he returned to Ephesus in the year 97, and there tradition says he wrote his gospel about the year 98. He is also identified with the author of the three Johannine letters.

The tradition of the Church says Saint John lived to old age in Ephesus. Jerome, in his commentary on Chapter 6 of the Epistle to the Galatians (Jerome, Comm. in ep. ad. Gal., 6, 10), tells the well-loved story that Saint John continued preaching in Ephesus even when he was in his 90s.

He was so enfeebled with old age that the people carried him into the Church in Ephesus on a stretcher. When he was no longer able to preach or deliver a long discourse, his custom was to lean up on one elbow on each occasion and to say simply: ‘Little children, love one another.’ This continued on, even when the ageing John was on his deathbed.

Then he would lie back down and his friends would carry him back out. Every week in Ephesus, the same thing happened, again and again. And every week it was the same short sermon, exactly the same message: ‘Little children, love one another.’

One day, the story goes, someone asked him about it: ‘John, why is it that every week you say exactly the same thing, ‘little children, love one another’?’ And John replied: ‘Because it is enough.’ If you want to know the basics of living as a Christian, there it is in a nutshell. All you need to know is. ‘Little children, love one another.’

According to Eusebius, Saint John died in peace at Ephesus, in the third year of Trajan, that is, the year 100, when he was about 94 years old. According to Saint Epiphanius, he was buried on a mountain outside the town. The Basilica of Saint John the Theologian gave the later name of Aysoluk to the hill above the town of Selçuk, beside Ephesus.

I am constantly overwhelmed and in awe of the emphasis on love and light throughout the Johannine letters. That emphasis on love, which informs the story of Saint John’s last days, is brought through in the first of the Johannine letters (I John 1: 1-9) which we read this morning.

This emphasis constantly informs all aspects of my ministry.

I was once doing Sunday duty during a vacancy in a parish that has three churches. A student asked me at the time how many sermons I preached. I replied: ‘Three.’

‘You preach three sermons every Sunday?’ she asked with an air of incredulity.

I explained: ‘I preach three sermons all the time. The first is ‘Love God,’ the second is ‘Love one another,’ and the third, in case someone missed the first and second sermons, is ‘Love God and love one another’.’

That is the heart of the Christmas story, that is the heart of the Gospel, that is the heart of the Johannine writings, and that, to put it simply, is why we celebrate Saint John in the days immediately after Christmas. ‘Little children, love one another.’

The site of Saint John’s tomb in Ephesus is marked by a marble plaque and four Byzantine pillars (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Saturday 27 December 2025, Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist):

The theme this week (21 to 27 December 2025) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Love Brings Life in Tanzania’ (pp 12-13). This theme was introduced last Sunday with a Programme Update by Imran Englefield, Individual Giving Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 27 December 2025, Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist) invites us to pray:

Lord, bless the health projects of the Anglican Church of Tanzania. Grant wisdom, strengthen partnerships, and help the work bring healing and hope to many.

The Collect:

Merciful Lord,
cast your bright beams of light upon the Church:
that, being enlightened by the teaching
of your blessed apostle and evangelist Saint John,
we may so walk in the light of your truth
that we may at last attain to the light of everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ your incarnate Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Grant, O Lord, we pray,
that the Word made flesh
proclaimed by your apostle John
may, by the celebration of these holy mysteries,
ever abide and live within us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Christmas I:

Almighty God,
who wonderfully created us in your own image
and yet more wonderfully restored us
through your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as he came to share in our humanity,
so we may share the life of his divinity;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

A relief sculpture of Saint John … one of a series in Pugin’s font in Saint Chad’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Birmingham with the symbols of the four evangelists (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Four churches dotted around Durham with different stories and roles in the city’s life

Saint Nicholas Church and the Market Place, Durham … the church gave the title to Archbishop George Carey’s book ‘The Church in the Market Place’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025; click on images for full-screen viewing)

Patrick Comerford

During my recent visit to Durham, I visited Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle, visited the locations of the former synagogues in Durham, crossed the bridges and walked through the steep narrow cobbled streets and along the banks of the River Wear.

It was my first visit to Durham, and it was also all too brief. But I also I also managed to visit four other churches in Durham. Although I did not manage to get inside any of those churches – this time – their stories, nevertheless, illustrate the variety and diversity of church life in Durham over the centuries, and one of them brought me on a pilgrim trail while another brought me back on what I like to think of as the ‘Pugin Trail’.

Earlier in the day I had also seen Durham Presbyterian Church, first built as Durham Synagogue and described in a blog posting on Friday evening (12 September 2025). But I also visited four other churches, three Anglican and one Roman Catholic:

• Saint Nicholas Church on Durham Market Place, once celebrated in Archbishop George Carey’s book The Church in the Market Place

• The former Saint Mary-le-Bow Church, which housed the Durham Museum until it closed at the end of last year

• Saint Margaret of Antioch Church on Crossgate, a parish church in the Liberal Catholic tradition, dating back to the 12th century, and once part of a mediaeval pilgrimage trail

• Saint Godric’s, built by EW Pugin on a raised site looking across the city.

The east end of Saint Nicholas Church at the junction of Silver Street and Durham Market Place (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Nicholas Church, Market Place:

Saint Nicholas Church, commonly known as Saint Nics, is a Grade II listed building on the north side of the Market Place, and was once celebrated in Archbishop George Carey’s book The Church in the Market Place.

The original Saint Nicholas Church is thought to have been founded in the early 12th century by Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham. He cleared Palace Green, between the cathedral and his castle, and established the current Market Place below the castle, with Saint Nicholas Church beside it. The first known vicar was Galfrid de Elemer in 1133.

This church had a buttressed nave and chancel, and a square tower with battlements. Its north wall formed part of the city walls, and abutted the ancient Clayport Gate until the gate was demolished in 1791. A graveyard lay between the church and the Market Place, and there was another behind the church.

The building was extensively modified over the centuries, the east end was shortened to allow street widening, and a market piazza was built against its south wall in the 19th century. But by 1803 it was said to be ‘very ruinous’.

The architect James Pigott Pritchett junior from Darlington was still only 24 when he was commissioned to renovate the church in 1854. However, when the market piazza was demolished, the church was found to be beyond repair, and instead Pritchett was commissioned to design and build a new church.

The old church was demolished in 1857, and all that remains from it is a font dating from 1700 and five bells dating from 1687.

Pritchett designed the new church in the Decorated Gothic style, and it opened in December 1858. The Illustrated London News said at the time it was ‘the most beautiful specimen of church architecture in the north of England’, and the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner said it is one of Pritchett’s best.

A statue of Saint Nicholas above the south porch of Saint Nicholas Church, looking out over the Market Place (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Pritchett’s church was the first in Durham to have a spire. Although it was not part of Pritchett's original plan, it was added at the behest of the Revd George Townshend Fox, who paid for it himself.

George Carey, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was Vicar of Saint Nicholas in 1975-1982. He removed the pews and the majority of the Victorian interior features to make the church more flexible and adaptable. His book The Church in the Market Place (1984) describes the changes and their impact on the life of the parish.

The parish is small, covering only the area around the Market Place, Claypath and the Sands. It is bounded by three other ancient parishes in Durham: Saint Giles, Saint Oswald’s and Saint Margaret of Antioch. Historically, the parish was densely populated. However, slum clearance and commercial developments in the 1920s greatly reduced the parish population parish, and the church draws the majority of its congregation from outside the parish.

Durham Market Place and Saint Nicholas Church on a busy Saturday afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The church has a long evangelical tradition, and since the mid-19th century its patronage has been held by the Church Pastoral Aid Society. The church had a long involvement with the fair trade movement and with Richard Adams, the founder of Traidcraft.

The clergy of Saint Nicholas have included Alfred Tucker, a curate in the 1880s who became the first bishop of Uganda; John Wenham (vicar, 1948-1953), New Testament Greek scholar and author of The Elements of New Testament Greek; David Vivian Day, former Principal of Saint John’s College, Durham (1992-1999); Bishop Pete Broadbent, former Bishop of Willesden (2001-2021); and Maeve Sherlock, Baroness Sherlock, a Labour life peer and Minister of State for Work and Pensions.

The Revd Dr Will Foulger has been the Vicar of St Nicholas since 2023. Before that he taught theology and mission in Durham. The main Sunday services are a 9 am, 11 am and 6:30 pm, although I could not find out on the church noticeboard on the Market Place or on the church website when the Eucharist is celebrated.

The former Saint Mary-le-Bow Church on Bow Lane faces the east end of Durham Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Mary-le-Bow Church, Bow Lane:

The former Church of Saint Mary-le-Bow, which housed the Durham Museum until last year, is a Grade I listed building on the corner of the North Bailey and Bow Lane, near Durham Cathedral. It is bounded on the north and east by Hatfield College, on the south by Bow Lane, and on the west by North Bailey.

Saint Mary-le-Bow was founded in 1241, and the mediaeval parish church served people living in the North Bailey. It is said to stand on the site of the White Church, or Tabernacle of Boughs, in which Saint Cuthbert’s body was kept until the cathedral was completed. An arch connected the church tower to the fortifications, creating a gateway or ‘bow’, with a room in the tower for a chantry priest.

The gateway, the tower and much of the west end of the church collapsed in 1637, and the church lay in ruins for decades and was not rebuilt until 1685, with the support of the Bishop of Durham and the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral.

The east end of Saint Mary-le-Bow … the church was rebuilt in the 1680s using earlier material and elements (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Mary-le-Bow was rebuilt on the same site, using earlier material and elements from different dates. The roof dates from the 15th century, the panelling is 18th century, and present tower dates from 1702, with a bell cast by Dalton of York in 1759.

The church had intricate wood carvings. The altar rails dated from 1705, the wooden screen from 1707, the wainscoting was installed in 1731, and the west gallery and vestry were built in 1741.

The church closed in 1968 and many of the fittings were removed. Saint Mary-le-Bow became Durham Museum and Heritage Centre and then Durham Museum. The museum opened in 1972, and the Bow Trust was formed in 1975 to maintain Saint Mary-Le-Bow as a centre for history and culture.

Fenwick Lawson’s sculpture of Saint Cuthbert was carved from an elm tree that grew in front of Durham Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The museum told the history of Durham from the Middle Ages, with displays on industries and trades in Durham, the manufacture of organs, and aspects of Durham’s social history. Works by the Durham sculptor Fenwick Lawson in the sculpture garden include one of Saint Cuthbert carved in 1984 from an elm tree that grew in front of Durham Cathedral.

The museum was mainly run by volunteers, but the costs of maintaining the building and the prospect of extensive and expensive repairs forced the museum to close at the end of last year (2024).

A ‘pop-up’ museum has opened at Prince Bishops Place, on the High Street off Durham Market Place.

The west end of Saint Margaret of Antioch Church, with Durham Castle (left) and Durham Cathedral (right) in the background (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Margaret of Antioch Church, Crossgate:

Saint Margaret of Antioch Church at the bottom of Crossgate is a parish church in the Liberal Catholic tradition, with a diversity inherited from recent history – charismatic, catholic, contemplative – that is reflected in the congregations.

Crossgate is the ancient route west from the city, on a bluff overlooking Framwellgate Bridge. It connects the city centre with Neville’s Cross, where the remains of a stone cross are a reminder that Crossgate was once a pilgrim route for those travelling to Durham and the relics of Saint Cuthbert.

Saint Margaret is Grade I listed, with substantial parts that date from the 12th century. Saint Margaret’s was established in the 12th century as a chapel of ease in the Parish of Saint Oswald to serve the people of the Borough of Crossgate or the ‘Old Borough’.

Like Saint Oswald’s Church, Saint Margaret’s was under the jurisdiction of the Priors of Durham, and their successors, the Dean and Chapter of Durham, remain the patrons of the living to this day.

Saint Margaret of Antioch depicted in a statue above the north porch of Saint Margaret of Antioch Church, Crossgate (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The earliest surviving parts of the church date from ca 1150. At that time, the church probably consisted of the nave, south aisle and chancel; a north aisle was added at the end of the 12th century. The north nave arcade is taller and more elaborate than the south nave, though both are in the Norman style.

The font is believed to date from the 12th century. Two Norman windows survive from that period: one in the chancel, one in the south nave clerestory. The south aisle was remodelled in the 14th century, and new clerestory windows were inserted above the nave.

After their own chapel was built, the people of Crossgate resented still having to attend the parish church at certain times and to pay certain dues. During one dispute, the prior removed the font from Saint Margaret’s in 1343. It was returned by the bishop, but he insisted, however, that the parishioners had no right to use it. Eventually, the residents of Crossgate won the right to be baptised and married in Saint Margaret’s, and burials were allowed there from 1431.

Crossgate was once part of the pilgrims’ route to Durham Cathedral and the relics of Saint Cuthbert (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Further expansion in the 15th century included the addition of a Lady Chapel to the south of the chancel, and the tower. Two of the church’s three bells date from this period, while third is from the 16th century.

The memorials in the church include a large ledger slab on the nave floor marking the burial place of Sir John Duck, a 17th-century mayor known as ‘Durham’s Dick Whittington’ because of his poor origins.

The church was restored in the second half of the 19th century, when the north aisle was largely rebuilt, and a full set of stained glass windows was added. The organ dates from 1917 and is by Harrison & Harrison. Their factory until recently was within the parish, and Arthur Harrison was the churchwarden of Saint Margaret’s at the time.

Saint Margaret’s was a leading centre of charismatic worship from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Father Barnaby Huish is the Rector of the parishes of Saint Margaret and of Saint John, Neville’s Cross and Saint Edmund’s, Bearpark. The services include the Parish Eucharist on Sundays at 10:30 am, the Eucharist on Wednesdays at 10 am, and Choral Evensong on Fridays with Saint Cuthbert’s Society Choir.

Saint Godric’s Church was designed by Edward Welby Pugin and built in 1863-1864 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Saint Godric’s Church, Castle Chare:

Saint Godric’s Church, Castle Chare, formally known as the Church of Our Lady of Mercy and Saint Godric, is part of the Roman Catholic parish of the Durham Martyrs, which also includes Saint Bede’s Chapel and Saint Joseph’s Church. It is part of the Finchale Partnership in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, and was Grade 2 listed after a fire in 1985.

Saint Godric (1065-1170) was a merchant from Norfolk who travelled to Rome and Jerusalem, a ship’s captain and possibly a pirate, before his conversion to the religious life. He retreated to Finchale, four miles from Durham on the banks of the River Wear. There he lived the rest of his life as a monk and hermit, and it is said he died at the age of 105.

Saint Godric’s stands dramatically on a raised site close to Durham city centre, and its design takes full advantage of the location. The church was designed by the architect was Edward Welby Pugin (1834-1875), son of the leading architect of the Gothic Revival, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852).

Pugin’s original designs included a tower and spire, but funds were not available for building them. The church originally consisted of just the five-bay nave and aisles. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop William Hogarth on Whit Monday 1863 and the church was opened by the bishop on 15 November 1864, when the preacher was the future Cardinal Henry Manning.

Fundraising for completing the church began in 1906 and plans were drawn up by Pugin & Pugin, the successor practice to EW Pugin. The tower was completed and reopened on 27 October 1909. It appears likely that the east end was built at the same time; it has seven gables, each surmounted by a stone cross.

A statue of Saint Godric at Saint Godric’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The interior continued to be enriched with new fittings. A marble and alabaster high altar was erected in 1914 by Canon Robert Thornton in memory of his parents, incorporating the earlier tabernacle. The altar is probably by Pugin & Pugin, although this has not been established with certainty. The alabaster altar rails may also date from this time.

Stained glass windows were installed In 1913-1914 in the baptistry by the widow of Edward Gannen. A stone war memorial was unveiled outside the church in 1923, and electric light was installed in the church. After Canon Thornton died in 1934, the Lady Chapel was redecorated and panelling and a screen erected there in his memory. The church was consecrated by Bishop Séamus Cunningham on 23 September 1959.

The church was badly damaged in a fire on 13 January 1985. The roof was destroyed, but many internal furnishings survived, including the high altar and some of the stained glass. After two years of careful restoration, the church reopened in 1987.

The church celebrated the 150th anniversary of the church in 2014. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 9 am and weekday services usually take place at 10 am.

Saint Godric’s Church takes full advantage of its location on a raised site close to Durham city centre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

A whirlwind tour on Saint Giles Day of half a dozen churches dedicated to Saint Giles

A statue of Saint Giles above the west door of Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford … today is feast of Saint Giles (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The church calendar today remembers Saint Giles (1 September). I visited Saint Giles-in-the-Fields Church in London a few days ago, and hope to describe the church in the days to come. But, on his feast day, I thought I should look at some of the churches I know that are dedicated to Saint Giles.

Saint Giles is said to have been born in Athens ca 645-650, the son of King Theodore and Queen Elizabeth. He is the patron of beggars and people with disabilities because, although he was disabled, he devoted his life and his personal wealth to helping people in their sufferings and afflictions.

Saint Giles died ca 710. The monastery he founded at Saint-Gilles in Provence became an important place on the pilgrimage routes both to Compostela and to the Holy Land. Most mediaeval churches dedicated to Saint Giles stand by roadsides, offering weary travellers a sign of rest and peace.

1, Saint Mary and Saint Giles, Stony Stratford:

The Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles, the parish church of Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles, the parish church of Stony Stratford, is part of the rich tapestry of a pretty market town on the banks of the River Ouse that marks the boundary between Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire.

Stony Stratford first developed along the Roman Watling Street, on the boundary between the ancient manors of Calverton and Wolverton. The de Veres, Earls of Oxford, held Calverton from 1244 until 1526, while on the Wolverton side the title was inherited by the de Wolvertons who held the land until the 14th century. Both manors provided chapels of ease from the 13th century, and so Stony Stratford became the first town in Buckinghamshire to have two churches. The church in the Calverton part of the town was dedicated to Saint Giles, while the other within the Manor of Wolverton was dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, and fairs were held in the town on the festivals of both saints.

The chancel or east end of Saint Giles was so ruinous in 1757 that it was taken down, and Saint Giles was rebuilt in 1776-1777 to designs by the Warwick-based architect Francis Hiorne (1744-1789). He was the architect of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and may have used his church in Stony Stratford as a prototype for his much larger church.

At the same time, Arthur Chichester (1739-1799), 5th Earl of Donegall, commissioned Hiorne to design Saint Anne’s Church on Donegall Street, Belfast (1776), later replaced by Saint Anne’s Cathedral. Hiorne was also consulted on the design of Rosemary Street Presbyterian Church, Belfast (1783). Donegall was a large landowner in Belfast, Co Donegal, Co Wexford, and Staffordshire, his properties once included Comberford Hall, and he gave his name to Donegal House in Lichfield.

When he was rebuilding Saint Giles, Hiorne retained the 15th century tower, and this is the only part of the original structure still standing. The 80 ft tower with embattlements is in the perpendicular style and has a clock and a peal of six bells.

Inside Saint Mary and Saint Giles, Stony Stratford, looking east … the church was rebuilt by Francis Hiorne in 1776-1777 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Hiorne redesigned the church in ‘Strawberry Hill Gothic,’ a style marking the beginnings of the Gothic Revival in architecture. The church is a lofty building, with a nave, two side aisles, a chancel, and galleries on either side.

A Lady Chapel was created in the south-east corner of the nave in the late 19th century, stained-glass windows were installed, a Gothic chancel screen was installed, and the side galleries were added and decorated. A series of stained glass tableaux by NHJ Westlake was installed beneath the galleries in 1889-1897. Above the galleries, stained-glass lozenges depict saints and martyrs and scenes from Scripture.

When the old vestry in the basement of the west tower was inadequate by 1892, two new vestries for the clergy and choir were built beside the north side of the chancel. They were designed in the 13th century English Gothic style by the local architect, Edward Swinfen Harris (1841-1924).

Changes continued in the 20th century. The statue of Saint Giles and the hind above the west doors and a stained-glass window by Kempe & Co date from 1903. The apsidal sanctuary was replaced by a squared-off sanctuary in 1928. The Lychgate and Calvary in the south-east corner of the churchyard were built in 1931.

A fire caused considerable damage to the interior of Saint Giles in 1964. The Diocese of Oxford questioned the need for two churches and parish priests in Stony Stratford. At first it was thought the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin should be extended and become the parish church. It was decided, however, to close Saint Mary the Virgin and to retain Saint Giles and to reorder the church. Saint Mary the Virgin was closed, the two parishes were combined and Saint Giles Church was reconsecrated as the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles, on Palm Sunday 7 April 1968.

2, Saint Giles, Oxford:

Saint Giles Church at the north end of the wide thoroughfare of Saint Giles in Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Giles Church in Oxford is at the north end of the wide thoroughfare of Saint Giles, best known for the Martyrs’ Memorial to the south. The 900-year-old church stands at the point where Saint Giles forks and divides to become Woodstock Road to the left or west and Banbury Road to the right or east, and it faces both Little Clarendon Street and Keble Road.

Oxford’s main war memorial adjoins the south end of Saint Giles churchyard, and other nearby landmarks on the west side include the former Radcliffe Infirmary and Observatory, Somerville College, Saint Aloysius Oratory Church, the Eagle and Child, which sadly has been closed too long, Saint Cross College, Pusey House and Blackfriars; to the east, the nearby landmarks include Saint John’s College and the Lamb and Flag.

Inside Saint Giles Church, Oxford, facing the east end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Giles is a pretty church first built in the 12th and 13th centuries. But the first record of a church on the site dates from the Domesday Book in 1086, when a landowner named Edwin declared that he wanted to build a church adjoining his land, outside the north wall of the city.

When the church was first built it stood in open fields, 500 metres north of the city walls, with no other building between it and the city’s north gate, where the Church of Saint Michael at the North Gate stands. About 1,000 people lived within the walls of Oxford at the time.

Soon, however, before the area outside the city walls began to be settled, and Saint Giles had a parish of its own that had become widely spread and thinly settled. Oxford has expanded over the centuries, and Saint Giles is now a city centre church.

The incumbents of Saint Giles have included two notable associates of Archbishop William Laud: William Juxon (1609-1615), who later became President of Saint John’s College, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury; and Thomas Turner (1624-1629), later Dean of Canterbury

3, Saint Giles, Cambridge:

Saint Giles Church is at the corner of Castle Street and Chesterton Road in Cambridge, beside Cambridge Castle and to the north of Magdalene College (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Giles Church at the junction of Castle Street and Chesterton Road, Cambridge, dates from 1092, but the original Norman building underwent various transformations until 1875, when a new church was built on the site and the old church was demolished.

The church added ‘with Saint Peter’ to its name when neighbouring Saint Peter’s Church became redundant. It is home to both a Church of England parish and the Romanian Orthodox Parish of Saint John the Evangelist.

Saint Giles Church is also a venue for concerts, musical events, conferences, celebrations, commemorations, charity sales, an annual parish Summer Fair and a Christmas Tree Festival.

Saint Giles Church is a Grade II* listed church at the corner of Castle Street and Chesterton Road, beside Cambridge Castle and to the north Magdalene College.

From the outside, the church is simple and austere in style, without a spire. But inside it is richly furnished in the style favoured by the Oxford Movement and the Tractarians.

Some parts of the older building were incorporated into the new, Victorian church, including the 11th century former chancel arch, which is now the entrance to the Lady Chapel, and a 12th century doorway.

Inside Saint Giles Church, Cambridge, facing east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Giles Church was founded in 1092 by an endowment from Hugolina de Gernon, the wife of Picot of Cambridge, baron of Bourn and county sheriff, who lived at Cambridge Castle. According to Alfred of Beverley, writing in the 12th century, Hugolina was suffering from a long illness and the king’s physician and other doctors were unable to treat her. She had prayed to Saint Giles on her deathbed, promising to build a church in his honour if she were to recover. She recovered and she built the church.

The Victorian church was designed by the architects TH and F Healey of Bradford, and was built a little north of the church it replaced. The church is built of brick with Doulton stone dressings and a Westmorland slate roof, and retains a collection of mediaeval and 18th details. It also has 19th century fittings by many leading church decorators.

The 18 stained glass windows on the south and south sides of the nave are by Robert Turnhill of Heaton, Butler and Bayne, and were installed in 1888. They depict saints arranged in chronological sequence, beginning with Saint Clement of Rome and ending with Bishop Samuel Seabury.

4, Saint Giles, Cheadle:

Saint Giles’s Church and its 200 ft spire dominate the Staffordshire market town of Chealde (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner once described Staffordshire as ‘Pugin-land’ after visiting Cheadle, the market town dominated by Saint Giles’s Church and its 200 ft spire. He wrote: ‘Nowhere can one study and understand Pugin better than in Staffordshire – not only his forms and features but his mind, and not only his churches but his secular architecture as well.’

John Talbot (1791-1852), 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, who lived at Alton Towers and commissioned AWN Pugin to build many churches in Staffordshire, including Saint Giles’s Church, Cheadle.

Pugin’s interior, including his rood screen, remain largely intact in Saint Giles’s Church, Cheadle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Lord Shrewsbury, once ‘the most prominent British Catholic of day,’ extended his family’s Irish connections when he married Maria Theresa Talbot, daughter of Thomas William Talbot of Castle Talbot, Co Wexford – an Irish branch of the Talbot family that were patrons of Pugin too.

Pugin died when he was only 40 on14 September 1852; Lord Shrewsbury died two months later, on 9 November 1852. But church architecture and church decoration would never be the same again – in England or in Ireland.

5, Saint Giles on the Hill, Norwich:

Saint Giles on the Hill, also known as the Wisteria Church, has the tallest church tower in Norwich (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Although we stayed overnight in Norwich last year in Saint Giles House Hotel on Saint Giles Street, I never managed to get inside the church that gives its name to the street. Saint Giles on the Hill sits is also known as the Wisteria Church. Saint Giles has the tallest church tower in Norwich at a height of 120 ft. The wisteria was planted by a former priest at the church in celebration of his daughter’s wedding over 100 years ago and it still flourishes each year.

Saint Giles is the patron of lepers and nursing mothers, and a hospital for lepers was formerly close by beside the gate in the city walls, called Saint Giles Gate. The church was originally founded by a priest called Elwyn and given by him to the Benedictine monks of Norwich Cathedral. Later, the dean and chapter who appointed a chaplain.

Saint Giles (centre) above the south porch in Norwich, with statues above by David Holgate of Saint Margaret and Saint Benedict (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The church is noted in the Domesday Book (1086), but the present church dates from 1386. The tower was almost finished by 1424, and the building was complete by 1430. The porch was added about a century after the main church was built, and which has a noble carved stone façade, a fine fan vaulted roof and a small room above, called a parvise.

The main church consists of a nave with two side aisles, separated by an arcade of five bays. The church was restored by Richard Phipson in 1866-1867.

6, Saint Giles, Git, Sarawak:

Saint Giles Chapel in Git stands on a hilltop location above the village,and is reached by a steep climb of steps (Photographs: Patrick Comerford)

During our extended visit to Kuching last October and November, the Revd Dr Jeffry Renos Nawie took us on a number of whirlwind tours of the seven churches and chapels in his parishes and seven other churches and chapels in the Diocese of Kuching. His parish and mission area in the Diocese of Kuching covers vast rural areas south of Kuching.

Father Jeffry is a former principal of Saint Thomas’s, the Anglican diocesan boys’ school in Kuching, and has a doctorate in education. After he retired, he worked as the diocesan secretary in the diocesan office close to Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, and at weekends he served in Saint George’s Church, Punau, on the fringes of Padawan.

Today, Father Jeffry is the parish priest of Saint Augustine’s Church, Mambong, which was designated a mission district last year (26 May 2024) by Bishop Danald Jute of Kuching.

Saint Giles Chapel in Kampung Git marked its 60th anniversary last year (Photographs: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Giles Chapel in Kampung Git, near Siburan, south of Kuching, marked its sixtieth anniversary last year. Kampung Git is a small Bidayuh village about 30 km south-west of Kuching. The chapel stands on a hilltop location above the village, and is reached by a steep climb of steps.

Saint Giles Chapel has an interesting belltower, with an old graveyard behind the chapel, and a school below the chapel.

The arms of the Talbot family, Earls of Shrewsbury, represented on the doors of Saint Giles’s Church in Cheadle, Staffordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Barnabas in Linslade began with the canal and the railway in Leighton Buzzard

Saint Barnabas Church in Linslade developed with the arrival of the canal and the railway two centuries ago (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

I walked around Leighton Buzzard and Linslade recently, spending an afternoon looking at the historic buildings and churches, including All Saints’ Church in the centre of Leighton Buzzard, and Saint Barnabas Church in Linslade, two or three minutes walk from Leighton Buzzard railway station.

The Benefice of Linslade includes Saint Barnabas Church in Linslade and Saint Mary’s Church, Old Linslade, and is part of the Ouzel Valley Team ministry in the Diocese of St Albans, which includes All Saints’ Church, Leighton Buzzard, Saint Leonard’s, Heath and Reach and the surrounding villages of Hockliffe, Eggington and Billington.

The original village of Linslade was a market town with an annual fair from the late 13th century on. Many pilgrims visited Holy Well in Linslade, just a few hundred yards north of the church, with a reputation for their miraculous healing powers. However, the Bishop of Lincoln banned pilgrimages to the well in 1299, threatening anyone who defied his ban with excommunication.

Linslade developed rapidly in the last two centuries with the arrival of the canal in 1805 and the railway in 1838, and many houses were built on new streets for railway workers. Saint Mary’s Church in Old Linslade was the original parish church. But the old church was two miles from the new housing, and as New Linslade developed the clergy and parishioners identified the need for a new church that was more accessible.

The foundation stone of Saint Barnabas was laid in 1848, and the church was consecrated in 1849 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Revd Benjamin Perkins circulated a handbill in June 1840 seeking donations to build a new church. However, the raised appeal only £240 and the plans were put on hold. Then in 1847, a new incumbent, the Revd Peter Thomas Ouvry, launched a second and more successful campaign. Edward Lawford donated a site for a new church, vicarage and school, now the church hall, in the area known as Chelsea.

The London and North Western Railway Company supported the new church. The foundation stone was laid on 31 May 1848, and the church was consecrated by the Bishop of Oxford on 15 June 1849. The new church had a nave, chancel, west gallery and north porch.

The vicarage was built in 1854, the organ was installed in 1861, and the south aisle and tower were added in 1868. The five bells from Saint Mary’s were hung in the tower in 1869, along a new bell, and a further two new bells were added in 1904.

The architect was Benjamin Ferrey (1810-1880), who studied under Augustus Charles Pugin, alongside Pugin’s son AWN Pugin and became his biographer (1861). Charles Eastlake described Ferrey as ‘one of the earliest, ablest, and most zealous pioneers of the modern Gothic school,’ and said his work ‘possessed the rare charm of simplicity, without lacking interest.’

Ferrey began his own practice in 1834. He was the diocesan architect for Bath and Wells from 1841 until his death, and a large amount of hiswork was in that diocese. He was succeeded by his son Edmund Benjamin Ferrey (1845–1900).

The architect Benjamin Ferrey (1810-1880) studied alongside AWN Pugin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Ferrey’s church in Linslade was built in 1848-1849. The south aisle and south-west tower, also by Ferrey, were added in 1868-1889, the Lady Chapel and part of north aisle by JT Lawrence were added in 1905, the north aisle was finished and the north and west porches were added in 1912-1913. The chancel was extended by 15 ft under a separate plan designed by GH Fellowes Prynne in 1913-1914.

This means the 1840s church has been greatly expanded and it is now a very spreading composition, yet surprisingly consistent in appearance given its long building history. It is in the Gothic Revival style and is inspired by the architecture of the late 13th century.

The walls are of native stone with Bath stone dressings. There is a spacious nave and chancel. The font (1913) has a bowl of Verona marble with carved sides on a cylindrical stone base with green and red marble shafts.

In the west end wall is a series of Early English arcading with stone shafts. Between them are four lights forming the west window.

Saint Barnabas Church and Linslade were transferred to the Diocese of St Albans in 2008 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

There are four two-light windows in the north and south walls of the nave with geometrical headings. The hammer-beams of the roof of the nave rest on plain corbels of stone, while the corbels of the chancel roof are sculptured. The chancel is lighted by four single windows in the side walls and a four-light window with geometrical tracery in the east end.

Some of the windows were filled in 1994-1995 with glass made by Charles Eamer Kempe for Ely Theological College. Two windows in the north aisle (1878, 1885) are by Kempe and are original to the church. The single-light window of Saint Barnabas in the vestry is an early work by Morris and Co. The east window (1873) is by Heaton, Butler and Bayne and was reset when the chancel was extended. The Lady Chapel and west windows are by Percy Bacon.

Saint Barnabas Church and the rest of Linslade were in Buckinghamshire until 1965 and in the Diocese of Oxford. When Linslade was transferred to Bedfordshire, the ecclesiastical parish remained in the Diocese of Oxford until it was transferred to the Diocese of St Albans in 2008.

The old church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Old Linslade now appears isolated, with just a few houses nearby.

Saint Barnabas Church in Linslade is part of the Ouzel Valley Team ministry in the Diocese of St Albans (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The clergy team at Saint Barnabas is led by Rev Dr Bernard Minton who is assisted by Rev Wyn Jones and by three readers.

The main service in Saint Barnabas is the Parish Eucharist on Sundays at 10 am, with Sunday School and creche. There is a said Eucharist every Sunday at 8 am, the Sung Parish Eucharist is every first, second, fourth and fifth Sunday at 10 am, and a less formal All-Age Eucharist on the third Sunday of the month.

Sung Evensong is every Sunday at 6 pm, with Choral Evensong once a month and Benediction every third Sunday at 7 pm. Morning Prayer is on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 9 am and the Eucharist every Wednesday at 9:30 am. Evening Prayer is on Mondays at 5 pm and every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 pm.

The main service in Saint Barnabas is the Parish Eucharist on Sundays at 10 am (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)