Greyfriars Church, Reading
Encyclopedia
Greyfriars Church is an evangelical
Anglican church in the town centre of Reading
, in the English
county of Berkshire
. The church forms part of the Church of England
's Diocese of Oxford
.
It is the oldest Franciscan
church still in use as a place of worship in the UK, and is said to be the most complete surviving example of Franciscan architecture in England. As a consequence, it has been listed as a Grade I listed building by English Heritage
.
The church's motto is To know Christ and make Him known, and this vision informs the activities of the church family. The vicar
is the Reverend Canon Jonathan Wilmot.
s first arrived in Reading in 1233 with the intention of creating a community to minister to the poor and the oppressed. This arrival was not welcomed by the established Reading Abbey
, but the fact that the friars had royal patronage
meant that the abbot was obliged to assist.
Initially the friars were granted a site alongside the road to Caversham Bridge
, and by 1259 had erected a friary there, complete with church, chapter house, dormitory and refectory. However the site proved prone to flooding, impeding the ability of the friars to undertake their ministry. Eventually John Peckham
, who was both the Archbishop of Canterbury
and a fellow Franciscan, intervened and by 1285 a new site had been obtained at the west end of what is now Friar Street.
The new friary on the new site, that was eventually to become Greyfriars Church, was ready by 1311. The friars were expelled in 1538 as part of King Henry VIII
's dissolution of the monasteries
.
close to today's Yield Hall Lane. However by the middle of the 16th century this had proved too small. The mayor, along with Thomas Vachell of Coley Park
, petitioned the king to grant the nave and aisles of the church for use as a town hall. In 1543, this petition was granted. The remainder of the church and friary, together with the adjoining grounds, were sold to Robert Stanshawe, after whom the nearby Stanshawe Road is named.
However Greyfriars did not prove a successful town hall, and some twenty years later the council created a new town hall by inserting an upper floor into the refectory of the Hospitium of St John, the former hospitium
of Reading Abbey
. This was to remain the site of Reading's civic administration, through the successive re-buildings that eventually created today's Reading Town Hall
, until the move to Reading Civic Centre
in the 1970s.
Thereafter Greyfriars was used successively as a hospital
for the poor (1578) and a house of correction for the punishment of idle or vagrant people (1590). In the 18th century it became the town's jail
. By the middle of the 19th century only the walls survived, and the derelict structure was in danger of collapse.
around 1863 by the then Reading Borough Surveyor, W H Woodman. The original building is constructed from squared and knapped flint
s with a stone plinth
and buttress
es. The tiled roof sweeps down over aisles, and the church has a three bay nave
. The large transept
and triple arched belfry
were added to the church by Woodman. The nave has segmental headed 3 light windows of plain decorated style and an extremely fine west window of 5 lights, in a decorated style with reticulated tracery. The interior is spacious, with a crown post and wind brace roof supported on original cruciform and quadriblobe shafts. The font
and pulpit
date from the restoration.
The Memorial Hall, a building seating about fifty opens both to the north side of the Church and to Sackville Street, was constructed in the early twentieth century. It can be divided into three rooms.
The Vicarage building was re-built in 1961-62 with the outward appearance of the original Georgian town house, but with a modern interior. It has now been purchased from the diocese, together with its garden, by the congregation of Greyfriars to be used for the mission of the church, initially as a Day Nursery.
Attached to the main church building is the West End, which was constructed in the 1970s to create an entrance foyer and a semi-circular lounge with seating for 100-150. Moveable screens allow for it to be divided into four smaller areas. There are also a small kitchen and toilets. The Greyfriars Centre, adjacent to the Church, was completed in 1983 and consists of a general purpose hall for sports and other activities, a coffee lounge with kitchen, bookshop, two meeting rooms, the Church office, toilets and showers.
In 2000, the church's interior was reordered and modernised. The Victorian
pews were replaced with movable seating to allow greater flexibility in the building's use, such as the large dinners which launch the church's Alpha Course
s. The pulpit was moved to the rear of the nave. A baptistery was also installed, so that new believers may be welcomed into the church family through adult baptism. Previously, a mobile baptistery had to be hired when required.
, together with an opportunity to respond to the talk and encourage one another through sung worship. The afternoon service(4:30pm) tends to have a more contemplative, traditional style, while the evening meeting (7pm) is more 'lively', both seeking to glorify God in response to His word in their different ways.
Around 100 people in the 20s and 30s age range are part of a group called Connect, which runs cell groups similar to the Home Groups described above.
The church also runs a variety of groups through the week, such as Time Out for women, a toddlers group, Tuesday Special for people with learning difficulties, and Wednesday Welcome for more mature folk.
to allow people to explore the claims of Jesus for themselves in a non-threatening environment.
The ten-week course runs each Autumn, and is housed in the church. This allows for a large group of people to gather together to hear the main presentation and then to discuss the content in smaller groups.
In January and April Alpha courses are begun in homes around Reading, which provide a more intimate setting.
Low church
Low church is a term of distinction in the Church of England or other Anglican churches initially designed to be pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the established church in the 16th and 17th centuries, commentators and others began to refer to those groups...
Anglican church in the town centre of Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. The church forms part of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
's Diocese of Oxford
Diocese of Oxford
-History:The Diocese of Oxford was created in 1541 out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln.In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford...
.
It is the oldest Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
church still in use as a place of worship in the UK, and is said to be the most complete surviving example of Franciscan architecture in England. As a consequence, it has been listed as a Grade I listed building by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.
The church's motto is To know Christ and make Him known, and this vision informs the activities of the church family. The vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
is the Reverend Canon Jonathan Wilmot.
As a friary
The Franciscan order of friarFriar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
s first arrived in Reading in 1233 with the intention of creating a community to minister to the poor and the oppressed. This arrival was not welcomed by the established Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors...
, but the fact that the friars had royal patronage
Royal patronage
Royal patronage may refer to*Royal patronage in arts, commerce, etc.*Patronato real*Padroado...
meant that the abbot was obliged to assist.
Initially the friars were granted a site alongside the road to Caversham Bridge
Caversham Bridge
Caversham Bridge is a bridge across the River Thames between Caversham and the town centre of Reading. The bridge is situated on the reach above Caversham Lock, carrying the A4155 road across the river and also providing pedestrian access to the adjacent mid-river Pipers Island.The first bridge on...
, and by 1259 had erected a friary there, complete with church, chapter house, dormitory and refectory. However the site proved prone to flooding, impeding the ability of the friars to undertake their ministry. Eventually John Peckham
John Peckham
John Peckham was Archbishop of Canterbury in the years 1279–1292. He was a native of Sussex who was educated at Lewes Priory and became a Franciscan friar about 1250. He studied at Paris under Bonaventure, where he later taught theology. From his teaching, he came into conflict with Thomas...
, who was both the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
and a fellow Franciscan, intervened and by 1285 a new site had been obtained at the west end of what is now Friar Street.
The new friary on the new site, that was eventually to become Greyfriars Church, was ready by 1311. The friars were expelled in 1538 as part of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's dissolution of the monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
.
As a secular building
At the time of the dissolution, the town of Reading was administered from a guild hall known as the Yield Hall, situated beside the River KennetRiver Kennet
The Kennet is a river in the south of England, and a tributary of the River Thames. The lower reaches of the river are navigable to river craft and are known as the Kennet Navigation, which, together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames, links the cities of Bristol...
close to today's Yield Hall Lane. However by the middle of the 16th century this had proved too small. The mayor, along with Thomas Vachell of Coley Park
Coley Park
Coley Park is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is largely built on the estate of a country house of the same name.-Location:...
, petitioned the king to grant the nave and aisles of the church for use as a town hall. In 1543, this petition was granted. The remainder of the church and friary, together with the adjoining grounds, were sold to Robert Stanshawe, after whom the nearby Stanshawe Road is named.
However Greyfriars did not prove a successful town hall, and some twenty years later the council created a new town hall by inserting an upper floor into the refectory of the Hospitium of St John, the former hospitium
Hospitium
Hospitium , hospitality, among the Greeks and Romans, was of a twofold character: private and public.-Private:In Homeric times all strangers without exception, were regarded as being under the protection of Zeus Xenios, the god of strangers and suppliants...
of Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors...
. This was to remain the site of Reading's civic administration, through the successive re-buildings that eventually created today's Reading Town Hall
Reading Town Hall
Reading Town Hall is the town hall for the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The town hall was built in several phases between 1786 and 1897, although the principal facade was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1875...
, until the move to Reading Civic Centre
Reading Civic Centre
Reading Civic Centre is a civic centre in the town of Reading, itself in the English county of Berkshire. The centre dates from the mid-1970s.The civic centre comprises four adjacent and interlinked buildings:...
in the 1970s.
Thereafter Greyfriars was used successively as a hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
for the poor (1578) and a house of correction for the punishment of idle or vagrant people (1590). In the 18th century it became the town's jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
. By the middle of the 19th century only the walls survived, and the derelict structure was in danger of collapse.
As a parish church
The church was restoredVictorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
around 1863 by the then Reading Borough Surveyor, W H Woodman. The original building is constructed from squared and knapped flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
s with a stone plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
and buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es. The tiled roof sweeps down over aisles, and the church has a three bay nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
. The large transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
and triple arched belfry
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
were added to the church by Woodman. The nave has segmental headed 3 light windows of plain decorated style and an extremely fine west window of 5 lights, in a decorated style with reticulated tracery. The interior is spacious, with a crown post and wind brace roof supported on original cruciform and quadriblobe shafts. The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
and pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
date from the restoration.
The Memorial Hall, a building seating about fifty opens both to the north side of the Church and to Sackville Street, was constructed in the early twentieth century. It can be divided into three rooms.
The Vicarage building was re-built in 1961-62 with the outward appearance of the original Georgian town house, but with a modern interior. It has now been purchased from the diocese, together with its garden, by the congregation of Greyfriars to be used for the mission of the church, initially as a Day Nursery.
Attached to the main church building is the West End, which was constructed in the 1970s to create an entrance foyer and a semi-circular lounge with seating for 100-150. Moveable screens allow for it to be divided into four smaller areas. There are also a small kitchen and toilets. The Greyfriars Centre, adjacent to the Church, was completed in 1983 and consists of a general purpose hall for sports and other activities, a coffee lounge with kitchen, bookshop, two meeting rooms, the Church office, toilets and showers.
In 2000, the church's interior was reordered and modernised. The Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
pews were replaced with movable seating to allow greater flexibility in the building's use, such as the large dinners which launch the church's Alpha Course
Alpha course
The Alpha course is a course which seeks to explore the basics of the Christian faith, described as "an opportunity to explore the meaning of life" . Alpha courses are currently being run in churches, homes, workplaces, prisons, universities and a wide variety of other locations...
s. The pulpit was moved to the rear of the nave. A baptistery was also installed, so that new believers may be welcomed into the church family through adult baptism. Previously, a mobile baptistery had to be hired when required.
Sunday
The church family meets in the building over the course of three services each Sunday. Each of these services is based around an expository talk from the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, together with an opportunity to respond to the talk and encourage one another through sung worship. The afternoon service(4:30pm) tends to have a more contemplative, traditional style, while the evening meeting (7pm) is more 'lively', both seeking to glorify God in response to His word in their different ways.
Youth work
The morning service (starting at 10:30am) is attended by many families, and thus provides a creche, and a group called Trekkers for children aged 3 to 11, helping them to explore the Bible in small classes. 11- to 14-year-old children meet in a group called Pathfinders, also during the morning service. Older teenagers attend Crossroads before the evening service, and Open Space (a cell group that meets at New Hope Community Church) during the week. The creche and Trekkers are currently coordinated by children's worker, Carol Atkins and Pathfinders and Crossroads are organised by Youth Worker, Stan Lyth.Through the week
Many members of the church family meet up during the week in Home Groups organised throughout Reading. Meeting in smaller numbers allows people to encourage each other more personally, through studying a passage from Bible and praying for one another, as well as for wider issues.Around 100 people in the 20s and 30s age range are part of a group called Connect, which runs cell groups similar to the Home Groups described above.
The church also runs a variety of groups through the week, such as Time Out for women, a toddlers group, Tuesday Special for people with learning difficulties, and Wednesday Welcome for more mature folk.
Verse for the year
Each year the church leadership decides on a verse for the year based on where they feel God is leading the church in the coming year. The verse for 2009 is Deut 30:19b & 20a "now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him."The Alpha Course
Greyfriars runs an annual Alpha CourseAlpha course
The Alpha course is a course which seeks to explore the basics of the Christian faith, described as "an opportunity to explore the meaning of life" . Alpha courses are currently being run in churches, homes, workplaces, prisons, universities and a wide variety of other locations...
to allow people to explore the claims of Jesus for themselves in a non-threatening environment.
The ten-week course runs each Autumn, and is housed in the church. This allows for a large group of people to gather together to hear the main presentation and then to discuss the content in smaller groups.
In January and April Alpha courses are begun in homes around Reading, which provide a more intimate setting.