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The Parish Church of Guyhirn and Rings
End
Designed by the eminent architect Sir
Gilbert Scott Guyhirn church is simple and unpretentious yet it
has several features that are worth mentioning.
The style is Early English and the
building has a lofty nave with north and south transepts. At the
west end is a quaint bell-turret containing three bells supplied
from Messrs Warner and Sons foundry. The church is built of
Whittlesey brick with Ancaster stone dressing. Pitch pine was
used in the roof and nave, and the porch was made of
oak.
The
windows are lancet-headed in pairs under single arches and are
predominantly clear or opaque glass. The three-light east window
contains stained-glass memorials to the Marriott family who are
interred in Wisbech St Mary churchyard, and the infant son of the
first vicar of Guyhirn with Rings End, the Revd William
Carpenter. Above the east window is a very finely decorated
Victorian rose window.
When it
was built there was seating for 350. The cost of building the
church was £3,600 raised mainly from private donations
including £1,500 from the Dean of Edinburgh a friend of
Scott and Scott's brother who was Vicar of Wisbech. Donations
were also received from the Dukes of Somerset, Bedford and
Rutland, and from the Bishops of Ely and Winchester. Further
expenditure was incurred because the building was erected on soft
clay and settlement was immediately a
problem.
A typically large Victorian vicarage
was built next door to the
church.
The
Dean of Edinburgh laid a foundation stone in June 1877. The
consecration service in September 1878 was held amidst great
rejoicing in the parish. A sumptuous luncheon for 117 people was
held in a "large tent" after the
service.
The
village war memorial stands in the church
grounds.
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©
2001, Wisbech St Mary Parish Resource. All rights
reserved.
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