The Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, Campaign 2023

In case you were wondering, Faire and goodly built is a quotation from the will of Earl Richard Beauchamp, giving directions for the construction of the iconic Beauchamp chapel at St Mary's.

‘Faire’ meant beautifully or nobly and ‘goodly’ ‘to a high standard’. The phrase can be applied, not just to the Beauchamp chapel, but to the other parts of St Mary’s as well, all of which have their own reason to justify that description.

On this page you can:

• find out more about our new book on the history of St Mary’s

• delve into St Mary’s history

• see what there is to see at St Mary’s, find out about visiting us, and link to information about its services and music

• look at some lovely pictures of St Mary’s, to tempt you to come and see for yourself!

St Mary’s really is a ‘church of treasures’, but not all of them are obvious -there is much, much more to St Mary’s than meets the eye. We’re here to point you in the right direction.

NEWS

We’ve launched a competition to find a design for a replacement kneeler in the Beauchamp chapel (that’s it shown with an arrow). It’s open to all children living or studying full time in the CV34 postal area. The closing date is 31 August 2024. Full details at www.bckneeler.org.uk

After over eighteen months of being in scaffold, our tower is finally due to re-open to visitors around Easter. The view from the top is superb!

We’re very excited about our new Augmented Reality display, which is due to launch at the end of March. Look out for more details nearer the time.

FAIRE AND GOODLY BUILT

Faire and goodly built: an incomplete history of St Mary's, Warwick is the fascinating and thought-provoking story of the collegiate church of St Mary, Warwick, from its foundation in 1123 until its rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1694. It is written by Tim Clark, one of our volunteer guides.

In it, Tim considers the many influences on how the church looks today, and what makes St Mary's so unique. He also takes us through the church’s relationship with the earls of Warwick, the town, and the townspeople, and in doing so introduces us to some memorable characters.

The book is thoroughly researched, readable, thought-provoking, and generously illustrated, and is published in both hardback and paperback formats. It’s a book of treasures, to treasure.

Faire and Goodly Built is available from St Mary's in both harback and paperback formats.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST MARY’S

1123-1150

St Mary's was founded before the Norman Conquest, but we know very little about its early years. By 1123 St Mary's had become the premier parish church in Warwick, and in that year Roger, earl of Warwick, established a college of priests here. The charter made the college subject to the same rules as applied to Lincoln, York, Salisbury, and St Paul’s cathedrals, so although St Mary's has never been a cathedral, it had the same constitution as one.

The church was completely rebuilt in about 1150, and our crypt survives from that time. It is very distinctive and is unusually large, begging the question of what it was used for.

1369-1394

By the middle of the 1300s St Mary's was in a very poor condition, having been largely ignored by the earls for some two hundred years. Earl Thomas Beauchamp, who was one of the leading commanders under Edward III, resolved to rebuild it, but little, if any, work had been done when he died in 1369. It was completed by his son, also Thomas, by about 1394.

1441-1475

The magnificent Beauchamp chapel (or, to give it its proper name, the Chapel of Our Lady) was started in 1441, under the terms of the will of Earl Richard Beauchamp, Thomas II’s son. It was finished by about 1455, but for various reasons was not consecrated for another twenty years. Alongside it is the small but charming Dean’s chapel, built at the same time. The Beauchamp chapel contains some of the finest English late medieval glass and sculpture (honestly) and is an absolute ‘must see’.

1534-1621

The Reformation saw Henry VIII supplant the Pope as head of the church in England (1534), and Protestant reforms were brought in. This spelt the end for collegiate churches, and the college of St Mary’s was dissolved in 1544. However, the chapter house, where meetings of the college took place, was retained, as it was used by the new town corporation. Its survival was ensured when, in 1621, the tomb of Fulke Greville was erected in it. It is the only chapter house at an English parish church.

1694-1704

On 4^th September 1694 a disastrous fire swept through Warwick, destroying over 150 houses. The nave, tower, and transepts of St Mary's were lost, but thankfully not the chancel, chapter house or the Beauchamp chapel. Rebuilding started in 1697 and was completed by 1704. The nave you see today is notable for its light, thanks to its unusually large windows and high-vaulted aisles. The tower was intended to rise above the west end of the nave, but it started to fail, and it had to be moved; that is why it juts out into the street.

1869 - 1894

The church was restored and ‘modernised’ towards the end of the nineteenth century. The nave galleries were removed, and the plain glass of the chancel windows replaced with the stained glass you see now. The reredos (altar piece) in the chancel also dates from this time. Thankfully, the character of St Mary's was preserved.

Of course, a church’s history is much more than its buildings, but for that you’d best read Faire and goodly built !

WHAT TO SEE AT ST MARY’S

There is so much to see at St Mary's, we can’t possibly list it all, but here’s a taster:

Twelfth-century crypt
Unique architecture of chancel
Distinctive and unusual tomb of Thomas Beauchamp and Katherine Mortimer
The only surviving chapter house at an English parish church, now housing the sombre tomb of Fulke Greville, the man who saved Warwick Castle
The incomparable Beauchamp chapel, one of the finest and most important funerary chapels in Europe
Some of the best late-medieval stained glass in England
Probably the largest collection of late fifteenth-century statues in England
The most expensive tomb made in England before the Tudors (with one exception)
Wall painting of the Day of Judgment (with something oddly familiar about it)

AND, of course, the DUDLEY TOMBS: those of Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester and his wife Lettice Knollys; Robert’s brother Ambrose, earl of Warwick, and Robert and Lettice’s only child, ‘the Noble Impe’.

You can see a gallery of photos of St Mary's here

COMING SOON:

The re-opening of the tower
Augmented Reality display

VISIT ST MARY’S

It’s free to come into St Mary's, but please give a donation if you are just visiting. We ask for a minimum of £5 per person.

If you want a good look at St Mary's and want to appreciate all we have to offer, we recommend that you allow for a minimum of an hour with us, though many people spend much longer than that.

Our normal opening hours are:

SUMMER HOURS (from 25 March 2024)

Monday to Saturday 11am – 4pm; Sunday 12 – 4pm.

We are also sometimes closed for weddings, funerals, special services, concert rehearsals, and so on. Please check beforehand if you are making a special journey.

Dogs are very welcome (except for events). Assistance dogs are always welcome.

GUIDED TOURS

Let us show you round! Each tour, which lasts about an hour, is led by one of our volunteer guides, and is a great way to find out things about St Mary's that you might not know otherwise. It really is a fascinating church. Tours cost £5 per person (children under 16 free) and MUST be pre-booked by emailing contact@stmaryswarwick.org.uk.

We also offer two-hour guided tours for groups such as local history societies. These cost £8 per person, with a minimum charge of £96. Again, they must be pre-booked by emailing contact@stmaryswarwick.org.uk

Please give us as much notice as possible, as we rely on volunteers to offer this service, and they are not always available.

THE TOWER

Unfortunately the tower is not currently open to the public because of repair work, but is due to reopen around Easter 2024. When it does we’ll be able to climb its 160 steps and see those glorious views over the castle, the racecourse and beyond once again.

Opening hours are the same as for visitors to the church but with the last admission 30 minutes before closing.

Admission is £5 per person, children under 18 free. All under 18s must be accompanied by an adult. Sorry, but no children under 8 and no dogs.

SERVICES AT ST MARY’S

Click here for details of services at St Mary's.

MUSIC AT ST MARY’S

St Mary’s has an enviable reputation for music, and as well as having a splendid choir it often hosts evening concerts. There are lunchtime orchestral concerts every two weeks (except during school holidays) on Fridays at 1.15pm. They are free, but donations very much appreciated to help fund our music programme.

Click here for details about what’s on at St Mary's.

VOLUNTEERING AT ST MARY’S

Have we inspired you to volunteer at St Mary's? There are plenty of opportunities, for all sorts of activities, and we’d love to hear from you. Email us at contact@stmaryswarwick.org.uk if you’d like to find out more.

If you are particularly interested in becoming a volunteer guide, then enquiries@faireandgoodlybuilt.org.uk is the best address for more information. You would be on hand to help visitors with their questions, explain different parts of the church’s art, architecture, and history to them, and give guided tours (but only if you want to). It’s a very rewarding way to spend your time!

GALLERY

Click here to see some of the reasons why St Mary's is a ‘church of treasures’.

The Collegiate Church of St Mary is at Old Square, Warwick, CV34 4RA

You can email us at enquiries@faireandgoodlybuilt.org.uk if you are asking about HISTORY 900 events or if you would like to know more about becoming a guide, otherwise it’s contact@stmaryswarwick.org.uk.

You can also follow us at:

@churchoftreasures

St Mary's Warwick - Church of Treasures