St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton
Encyclopedia
St. Peter's Collegiate Church is located on the highest and the oldest developed site in central Wolverhampton
, England
. For many centuries it was a chapel royal
, and from 1480 a royal peculiar
, independent of the Diocese of Lichfield
and even the Province of Canterbury
. The collegiate church
was central to the development of the town of Wolverhampton, much of which belonged to its dean. Until the 18th century, it was the only church in Wolverhampton and the control of the college extended far into the surrounding area, with dependent chapels in several towns and villages of southern Staffordshire
.
Fully integrated into the diocesan structure since 1848, today St. Peter's is part of the Anglican Parish of Central Wolverhampton. The Grade I listed building, much of which is Perpendicular in style, dating from the 15th century, is of significant architectural and historical interest. Although it is not a cathedral
, it has a strong choral foundation with the Music at St Peter's in keeping with English Cathedral tradition. The Father Willis organ is of particular note: a campaign to raise £270,000 for its restoration was launched in 2008.
foundation. The history of St. Peter's was dominated for centuries by its collegiate
status, from the 12th century constituted as a dean
and prebendaries
, and by its royal connections, which were crystallised in the form of the Royal Peculiar
in 1480. Although a source of pride and prosperity to both town and church, this institutional framework, hard-won and doggedly-defended, made the church subject to the whims of the monarch or governing elite and unresponsive to the needs of its people. Characterised by absenteeism and corruption through most of its history, the college was involved in constant political and legal strife, and it was dissolved and restored a total of three times, before a fourth and final dissolution in 1846 cleared the way for St. Peter's to become an active urban parish
church and a focus of civic pride.
of Wolverhampton. A charter
was discovered around 1560, by which Sigeric
, Archbishop of Canterbury, confirms Lady Wulfrun
's endowment of a Minster at Hampton in the year 994-5. The authenticity of the charter is in some doubt, as it was allegedly discovered in the ruins of a wall at Lichfield
and has since been lost. An alternative explanation is that the 7th century King Wulfhere of Mercia
was involved in the founding of the town, the church, or both. The only real evidence for this is his name, preserved in the not far-distant settlement of Wolverley
, which seems superficially similar. However, older forms of the town's name run against this hypothesis. Shortly after the Norman Conquest we find the College referred to as the church of Wolvrenehamptonia. This certainly suggests that the eponym
was Wulfrun rather than Wulfhere, although this does not guarantee that she was the founder: the settlement could date back to some earlier time. The name almost certainly means the High Town or Chief Settlement of Wulfrun.
Wulfrun apparently granted the College lands in or around Upper Arley
, Eswich (probably Ashwood, Staffordshire
, which was Haswic in Domesday), Bilston
, Willenhall
, Pelsall
, Ogley Hay, Hatherton (near Cannock
), Kinvaston (near Penkridge
) Featherstone
, and two villages called Hilton - one near Ogley and the other by Featherstone. There were also lands at Wolverhampton itself, probably those which Wulfrun herself had received from Ethelred II by a charter of 985. The Arley lands probably came from a grant which King Edgar the Peaceful had made to Wulfgeat, a relative of Wulfrun, in 963. In fact, before, the discovery of Wulfrun's charter, Edgar was generally accepted as the founder of the College.
The church was originally dedicated to St. Mary and this was still the dedication at the Domesday survey of 1086: it was switched to St. Peter in the mid-12th century. It seems likely that the College always consisted of secular clergy
- priest
s who did not belong to a religious order
, rather than monk
s. A writ
attributed to King Edward the Confessor
(1042–1066) refers to the College as "my priests at Hampton". Although the document is known to be a forgery, probably dating from a century later, the secular character of the College seems to have been accepted unchallenged, despite the implication in the foundation charter that it was a monastery. All of the Domesday entries relating to the church of Wolverhampton refer to clergy
, canon
s or priests, never monks. There is no evidence that a monastery ever existed at Wolverhampton. If there was, it seems odd that Wulfrun would replace it with a secular chapter
.
A college was not originally an educational institution but rather a body of people with a shared purpose, in this case a community of priests charged with pastoral care
over a wide and wild area. Colleges of priests were not unusual in the middle ages, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon
period, although they persisted long after. At a time of scattered population, poor communications and frequent lawlessness, it made sense to organise local ministry in teams that could offer mutual support and collective management of resources. From their central base, they could tour the surrounding hamlets, celebrating the Eucharist
, preaching and teaching. In most cases, such settlements would not initially have a church building at all, but at most a cross to mark the place of worship. The later parish system organised under diocesan bishop
s only became truly viable as a landscape of peaceful villages emerged in the later middle ages.
At the Norman Conquest, Wolverhampton's church was given by William the Conqueror to his own personal chaplain, Samson. Domesday shows that the canons of the College now held some of the property donated by Wulfrun as tenants of Samson. The estates at Kinvaston, Hatherton, Featherstone and nearby Hilton were rented out by Samson to other priests, Edwin and Alric. The canons also held land at Lutley, Worcestershire, and claimed woodland at Sedgeley, neither of which was in Wulfrun's grant. At Arley, some of their land had been seized forcibly by one Osbern, while Bilston now belonged to the Crown. At Wolverhampton, the canons' land was cultivated by 14 slaves, alongside 36 other peasants. The church also had slaves at Upper Arley. The expansion of the royal forests, hunting grounds for the king and his retainers, had hit the region hard and Wolverhampton was almost surrounded, with the Forest of Kinver up to its southern edge, and the Forest of Brewood and Cannock Chase
to the north. This took substantial areas out of agricultural production, making them almost valueless to the College: there were five hides
at Ashwood now subsumed into the Forest of Kinver, for example. Despite the direct royal patronage and the close attention of the royal chaplain, the Conquest had brought difficult times for the canons.
Samson was he was elected Bishop of Worcester in 1096. Presumably he had been in only minor orders
, as he had to be ordained first deacon and then priest on a single day, before being consecrated as bishop the following day. He became notorious, despite his vow of clerical celibacy, as the father of at least three children, two of who later became bishops. During the reign of Henry I
, he donated the church at Wolverhampton to his cathedral priory
at Worcester, although its lands and privileges were protected.
However, The Anarchy
, the confused civil strife of King Stephen's
reign, brought great challenges. First the church was seized by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury
, who was Lord Chancellor
, the kingdom's senior bureaucrat. Roger had vowed loyalty to the Empress Matilda
, Henry I's daughter and chosen heir, but immediately broke his word on Henry's death. His support was crucial in allowing Stephen to consolidate his rule after his coup d'état
in 1135, and he used his influence to seize as much property as he was able, constructing vast castles and building a powerful ruling clique that included his nephews, Nigel, Bishop of Ely and Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln
. Stephen felt threatened by his over-mighty Chancellor and moved against him in 1139, seizing all his estates, including the church at Wolverhampton and its lands. Stephen promised initially to restore the Wolverhampton church to its rightful owners, but then he handed it over to the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, whose bishop, Roger de Clinton
, was an important military leader in Stephen's cause and had just returned from a mission to explain Stephen's case to the Holy See
. The canons were outraged at this betrayal of trust, which left them at the mercy of a powerful magnate in their own vicinity, and appealed to Pope Eugenius III. This campaign is the likely context for the creation of much of the facsimile or forged material that provided the church with a foundation narrative. It is also notable that the dedication was changed to St. Peter around this time, and this too would be a flattering move in negotiations with Rome. Sometimes documents attest a dedication to St. Peter and St. Paul - a still more fulsome manoeuvre. Whatever dedication is given, the church's seals generally picture both saints.
The church's lobbying seems to have been very successful. Clinton died in 1148 and Wolverhampton was restored to the monks of Worcester before 1152. Stephen had by this time been forced to agree that he would be succeeded by Matilda's son, Henry Plantagenet
, at that time already Duke of Normandy
and Duke of Aquitaine
. Even before he succeeded to the throne, Henry issued a charter in which he described the church at Wolverhampton as "my chapel", restored all its privileges from the time of Henry I, and recognised it as free from secular taxation. As soon as he came to the throne in 1154 as Henry II, he issued another charter recognising the right of the canons to hold a manorial court. Neither of these charters explicitly stated Wolverhampton was not subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lichfield. However, Peter of Blois
, probably appointed to head the College by Henry II shortly before his death in 1189, said that the church was subject only to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the King. Clearly, in Henry II's reign, the College already had an independence not enjoyed by most other institutions of the same kind.
, headed by a dean. This structure was probably imposed during the period of control by Lichfield, as this was the system established at Lichfield cathedral itself around 1140. Each prebendary drew his income from a prebend, a collection of lands and rights attached to tenure of a choir stall, and which determined where he would have pastoral and liturgical duties.
Peter was a poet and a diplomat of great experience. He had been tutor to William II of Sicily
, one of the most cultivated rulers of his time, and he was himself a man of refinement and vision. He considered the prebendaries hopelessly corrupt, desperate to keep their positions, wealth and power within a tight grouping of families, held together by intermarriage. After more than a decade of struggle to reform the College, he resigned his post and put forward a revolutionary plan from outside.
Peter persuaded Archbishop Hubert Walter
that it was necessary to dissolve the College completely and to replace it with an Abbey of Cistercian monks, an ascetic French order dedicated to a radical and literal interpretation of the Benedictine Rule. The plan was approved by both King John
and Pope Innocent III
, a reforming pontiff. John gave his formal consent for the new abbey in January 1203, although it appears that he had already appointed one Nicholas to the deanery. John handed over the prebends and deanery of Wolverhampton to the archbishop in order to support the abbey. Over the next two years, John also granted it the manors of Wolverhampton and Tettenhall
, gave it the wood of Kingsley in the Forest of Kinver, and granted it a charter of liberties. The archbishop put the plan to the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order and brought some Cistercian monks to Wolverhampton in readiness.
Just as all these preparations were about to bear fruit, Hubert Walter died. Without him, the entire scheme collapsed. Within a month, John had changed his mind completely and appointed a replacement dean of Wolverhampton: Henry, son of Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex
, his Chief Justiciar
. Even before he was chosen, the first phase of a new church building had been started. The most logical starting point, given a clean slate, was the tower crossing: it remains to this day, the sole relic of the 13th century building, and a reminder of the near-dissolution of the church. Henry Fitz Geoffrey, well-connected to all the centres of power in the kingdom, held the post of dean for nearly two decades, blocking reform or abolition.
's most eminent judges, a Justice of the Common Bench. Erdington was to remain dean for 45 years and he placed all his skill at the service of the college. On appointment, he seized the opportunity afforded by the appointment of a new and inexperienced bishop, Alexander Stavensby
, to make a formal deal with the Diocese of Lichfield. The dean's right to appoint and discipline his prebends was recognised. The bishop was to intervene only if there was evidence the dean was not carrying out these functions. For his part, the dean recognised the bishop's right to be received with honour at St. Peter's and to administer the sacraments there. In 1260 Erdington repelled an attempt by Bishop Roger de Meyland
to hold a visitation, in contravention of the agreement with the diocese, by appealing directly to the king and getting a royal prohibition.
Erdington was equally vigorous in promoting the economic interests of the college. Throughout, Erdington was concerned that the church benefit from the town's booming trade, which was based mainly on wool, promoting general growth rather than exacting every penny. To make clear the college's territorial sway, he had the boundaries walked ceremonially. In 1258 he secured from Henry III the lucrative right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair, both of which took place thereafter at the foot of the church steps. In 1263 he won the support of the town's burgess
es by granting them the right to succeed to their burgages without fee. The town is sometimes described as a "deanery borough". A borough
had no fixed legal status before the 19th century municipal reforms, but was generally understood to be a town with a community of free townspeople and civic institutions. The college was now recognised as the collective lord of the manor
, and through the dean recognised the effective autonomy of the civic community, explicitly placing the burgesses on an equal footing with the county town
of Stafford
The next dean, Theodosius de Camilla, appointed in 1269, was just as vigorous as Erdington in defending the college, but his tenure began to demonstrate some of the disadvantages of royal appointment. He was prepared to defend the college even against the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Second Council of Lyons in 1274 denounced a number of abuses of which the prebendaries were plainly guilty, including non-residence and pluralism. In fact Camilla himself was non-resident, as he was mostly involved in royal business, and it is not even certain that he ever visited Wolverhampton: he operated mainly through bailiff
s, who carried out his instructions and transactions. At least three of the canons were Camilla's relatives, and they seldom seldom appeared in the town either. Archbishop John Peckham
was determined to bring the royal chapels to book. On 27 July 1280 the archbishop, against an explicit prohibition of Edward I
, appeared at the doors of St. Peter's, which were promptly shut in his face. He summoned the prebendaries to meet him on 31 July but they, together with the canons of all seven royal chapels, ignored him and were excommunicated. Proceedings were launched against the seven chapels in the ecclesiastical courts. This forced the king to act, and he swiftly brought the archbishop to heel, pressuring him to agree that he would accept a royal decision on the chapels within the Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, and also in London. Bishop Meyland too was induced to agree never to visit six of the chapels, including Wolverhampton.
The archbishop's feud with Camilla continued, however. In 1282 Camilla was excommunicated and deprived of two other churches that he held. Peckham even claimed that Wolverhampton was not rightly his, as Canterbury had the patronage. However, he obtained monetary compensation for his two lost churches in 1286. He also pursued the local dispute with the diocese until 1292, when Bishop Meyland finally recognised that all seven royal chapels within its bounds were subject only to the Pope. Camilla developed the lands of the college by encouraging the tenants to enclose
wastes, although he also encouraged his bailiffs to over-exploit woodlands. When he died in 1295, he was still Dean of Wolverhampton, despite all opposition.
Erdington and Camilla brought St. Peter's to its medieval peak of prosperity and influence, although its spiritual standards were already notorious. The economic well-being of the church was greatly improved by their unwillingness to pay tax. Camilla was deriving 50 marks
a year from the deanery by the 1290s, but declared only 20 marks for tax purposes. The total taxable value of the church was declared in 1293 as only £54 13s. 4d. This included six prebends, which are named for the first time at this point: Featherstone, Willenhall, Wobaston, Hilton, Monmore, Kinvaston. In addition there was the chantry
of St. Mary in Hatherton, which was shortly to become a seventh prebend. Deans and canons alike increasingly gained an income from their estates not through their own management, but by farming, which in this period meant leasing the right to receive rents and dues to someone else, who then made a profit by exploiting them to the fullest possible extent.
himself ordered a visitation of Wolverhampton to investigate loss of property and privileges, fraud, loss of books and ornaments, neglect of services and misconduct by the canons. In fact, Wolverhampton's deans had remained zealous in maintaining the college's rights and privileges, getting successive kings to confirm its charters, but most of the other accusations were true.
The king's enquiry had no effect. Dean Richard Postell (1373–94) embezzled an income set aside for six priests to celebrate the liturgy - something the dean and prebendaries themselves no longer did. Lawrence Allerthorpe (1394–1406) and Thomas Stanley (1406–10) continued to neglect the deanery and enquiries followed both their deaths. In addition, the townspeople complained about the neglect of spiritual duties under both Postell and Allerthorpe. Enquiries generally found that the dean and all the prebendaries were absentees. The prebendaries actually employed vicars to perform their duties for them. This was the age of the Black Death
, which brought about a spiritual crisis that the church was ill-equipped to confront. Despite this neglect, there were still plenty of pious people prepared to make large donations and bequests to the church. There were two chantry chapels in the collegiate church, both well-endowed. A special body, the "wardens of the light", was founded in 1385 to tend a light in honour of St. Peter. Priests were maintained at Pelsall, Willenhall and Bilston from special, earmarked endowments left by parishioners.
A remarkable product of this piety was St. Mary's Hospital - not a centre for medical treatment but an almshouse
. It was established through the efforts of William Waterfall, a generous layman, and Clement Leveson, a chaplain at St. Peter's, during the years 1392-95. First they obtained a royal licence for the hospital, then Waterfall endowed it with three acres of land and obtained the lord of the manor's permission. The land was only 400 metres south east of St. Peter's but it fell outside the manor of Wolverhampton, in the manor of Stowheath
, which was held by Hugh, Lord Burnell, a powerful marcher lord. Finally they obtained Dean Allerthorpe's permission, as the land fell within the jurisdiction of the college. Patronage went to William and Joan Waterfall and their heirs, but was to pass to the Leveson family if they lapsed. The regulations bound the chaplain to say mass and vespers daily for the residents, and prayers were to be offered for the souls of Clement Leveson, William and Joan Waterfall, Lord Burnell, and Lawrence Allerthorpe. The first recorded chaplain was John Pepard, inducted in 1402. Presumably this is why the institution came to be known as Pepers Chapell and later Pyper's Chapel: Piper's Row is still a well-known street name.
Amid this clerical neglect and lay piety, some of the college's ancient privileges were again challenged. In 1401 Allerthorpe had just been appointed Lord High Treasurer
by Henry IV
, newly-established on the throne after overthrowing Richard II of England
. It was at this point that Archbishop Thomas Arundel
, a key supporter of the king, sent delegates to carry out a visitation of St. Peter's. Allerthorpe objected but had to back down, as there was little doubt whose support was most important to Henry.
However, the decline was stemmed by two vigorous deans, whose work in the town roughly spans the Wars of the Roses
. John Barningham was appointed in 1437 and showed a genuine interest in the church, the town and its people. It was he who began the rebuilding of the church in approximately its present form. When he died in 1457, he left money not only for the rebuilding but also for the poor of the town. William Dudley, his successor, managed much of the rebuilding. He was also Dean of Windsor
, the first Dean of Wolverhampton to hold both posts. He resigned in 1476 to become Bishop of Durham and was later a key supporter of Richard III
. By simply spending some of their time on its affairs, after a century of neglect, these men were able partially to rebuild the college's relationship with the town.
After Dudley moved to Durham, Lionel Woodville
, the Queen's
brother was dean for a few years, but he resigned when he became Chancellor of the University of Oxford. In 1479, Richard Beauchamp, already Bishop of Salisbury
and Dean of Windsor
, was appointed.
resolved that, thereafter, the same person should be Dean of Windsor and Dean of Wolverhampton. It is from this point that Wolverhampton is generally considered a Royal Peculiar
or Peculier. In fact, it had claimed and vindicated its status as a royal chapel, independent of the diocesan authorities, for many centuries already. From 1480, however, it was formally placed on a footing with St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
, the monarch's own household chapel. It was never subsumed into Windsor. For about half a century, about half of the prebendaries were also canons of Windsor, but this practice petered out in the 16th century.
As the deans and most of the canons continued to be absentees, their lands and rights were increasingly farmed out. From 1516, it was James Leveson, one of the immensely rich and powerful Merchants of the Staple
who increasingly took over responsibility for exploiting their estates. The rent agreed for the deanery holdings was £38, and Leveson managed to keep it fixed for 25 years, despite steady inflation. He also gradually extended his investments into the prebendary holdings. The Leveson family inherited and extended his interests after he died.
The Reformation
brought dissolution for the second time in the college's history. It was threatened under the first Chantry Act in 1545 but survived because Henry VIII died before it could be implemented. Edward VI's
Protestant guardians brought in a second act in 1547. The Dean argued that Wolverhampton should be exempt, as Windsor was specifically excluded from the terms of the act. Nevertheless, the college was dissolved and replaced by a vicar and curates, on £20 a year. This was not a great hardship for the dean and canons, as they continued to receive pensions at the same level as their former income from their benefices. Moreover, the canons had farmed out most of their holdings on perpetual leases, at fixed and very low rents, to the Leveson and Brooke families - allegedly in the hope of recovering them later and protecting the college's investments, but probably to make a quick gain before dissolution. The sale was authorised by the chapter of Windsor, which was not lawful, as the two colleges had separate seals and finances. The prebendary and the deanery estates themselves were confiscated by the Crown, then granted to John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
, the leading figure of Edward's later, and more radically Protestant, government.
However, Queen Mary
's Counter-Reformation
soon restored the old regime. As Northumberland was attainted, his property was forfeit, so it was relatively easy to restore the college's property. This was presented by Mary's letters patent
as a favour to St. George's College, Windsor. However, Mary's gracious act left the years 1547-53 in legal limbo, with the status of any transactions carried out by the canons during those years uncertain. St. Peter's was the only royal peculiar in the region to be restored: all the others proved intractable, as the property had been sold or given to landowners in good standing, many of them pious Catholics. The little hospital of St. Mary was not so fortunate. The provision to say prayers for the dead would have guaranteed its dissolution as a chantry
and it is never heard of again, apparently absorbed into the Leveson estates.
Despite a decision to follow a broadly Protestant path, Elizabeth
did not pursue the matter further, and confirmed the restoration of the college by royal charter in 1564. This meant a restoration of the old abuses. The deans and most of the canons stayed away, failing to attend even the quarterly chapter
meetings and paying scant wages to deacon
s, and in some cases unordained readers, to perform their functions at St. Peter's. The running of Wolverhampton's church devolved upon the sacrist, who was paid a separate income, amounting to the reasonable sum of £26 by the mid-17th century, and given a seat on the chapter. In the satellite chapels at Bilston, Pelsall and Willenhall, curates were paid £4 or £5 a year to maintain an active ministry. A Puritan
survey carried out in 1604 found that all three curates then in office were drunkards and non-preachers.
, appointed Dean in 1628 was a supporter of William Laud
, leader of the High Church
party that came into the ascendancy with the accession of Charles I
. He particularly objected to the fact that Lee had taken up residence in Wolverhampton and preached regularly. Wren became a bishop in 1634 and was succeeded by Christopher Wren, his brother and the father of the famous architect
. This Wren immediately realised that Lee was beyond his control and took panic measures to deal with him. Surrendering a privilege that had survived since 1280, he called in Archbishop Laud himself to conduct a visitation. Lee was suspended and a purge of Puritan parishioners was launched. Wren celebrated with an elaborate ceremony to consecrate a new High Altar in the church, with incense and music, all calculated to offend the Puritans.
This short-lived triumph for the Laudians came at a price. When the Long Parliament
assembled in 1640, Laud's arrest was one of its first acts. In 1644, during the English Civil war
, he was brought to trial for treason and the events at Wolverhampton were high on the list of accusations brought against him. Evidence against him was given by two Wolverhampton men, Leonard Lee, Richard's brother, and William Pinson. Although the trial itself was inconclusive, Laud was attainted and beheaded a few months later.
St. Peter's church itself suffered considerable damage at the hands of Parliamentary soldiers in 1642. Much worse was an attack on the chapter house
by royalist soldiers under Colonel Leveson, which resulted in the loss of all its records. A law of 1643 suppressed all deans and chapters and, after the fighting drew to a close in 1646, the college was dissolved, for the third time in its history. Its assets were vested in trustee
s, and they provided £100 for a minister - none other than the apparently stainless Richard Lee. However, Lee appears to have taken on two other parish
es - Melbourne
and Rugby
- and was in no great hurry to quit either. The post of sacrist was abolished and his £26, together with a further £50, was provided for an assistant minister. This allowed the trustees to raise the incomes of the other ministers to a viable levels too. The minister at Shareshill was granted £100 and the minister at Wednesfield £50. However, this all happened in the absence of the Levesons, who had claims on six of the prebends since the reign of Edward VI, but whose property was sequestrated
. Once the sequestrations were discharged in 1652, the Levesons reclaimed their lands at the former low, fixed rents, and the trustees' careful financial management fell apart.
The Restoration of Charles II automatically brought the restoration of the college at St. Peter's, as the legislation abolishing it was regarded as invalid. Everything was restored very quickly. However, the loss of the records at the hands of Leveson, whose family coincidentally had important claims on college property, was a serious problem for the restored institution.
dismissed the case in 1667 and awarded Robert Leveson costs. Leveson sold his Wolverhampton estates to the Earl of Bradford
, his nephew, in 1705 and the college went to court again to recover its alienated lands. This time the case was dismissed immediately. Not until 1811 did the college finally abandon its attempts to recover its property - more than two and a half centuries after its loss.
All the dependent chapels but Kinvaston were now very poorly funded and unable to attract able or dedicated ministers. They were still expected to contribute to the upkeep of St. Peter's and to the expenses of the sacrist, who doggedly defended his income from burials and other rites. They were now starting to chafe at the bit. Bilston revolted against the dean's attempts to impose a curate twice - in 1730 and 1735 - and the congregation elected their own.
The population of Wolverhampton itself and of the towns to the east was growing rapidly as manufacturing took hold. Peniston Booth, a dean who actually spent some of his time at the deanery house in Wolverhampton, was sufficiently in touch with opinion to authorise the building of new chapels of ease
at Wednesfield, Willenhall and Bilston. With considerably more persuasion, and after a major public campaign fronted by Lord Grey
, he acquiesced in the building of a new chapel of ease in Wolverhampton itself. It was authorised by a private Act of Parliament
in 1755, and the fine Neo-Classical St. John's quickly rose on a site enclosed in a square to the south of St. Peter's.
The college, with its deanery and prebends, was increasingly proving a straitjacket for the Anglican Church in Wolverhampton. The increasing population was a challenge in itself, but it also brought social misery and discontent as the crowded housing of the Wolverhampton and the Black Country
failed to keep up with demand. Increasing religious diversity was another consequence. There had been Protestant Dissenter
s since the Civil War, but their numbers were greatly increased by the preaching of Methodism
: in 1761 John Wesley
himself preached at an inn-yard in what he called "this furious town" of Wolverhampton. Catholic recusancy
was strong in the surrounding countryside. Despite the Penal laws, in the 1730s the Giffard family of Brewood
succeeded in building a Catholic chapel in the guise of a private house, just to the west of St. Peter's. As Catholic Emancipation
approached, this was rapidly expanded into a functioning Roman Catholic church. Already, distress in Ireland was bringing immigration and a large working class, Irish Catholic community, concentrated to the north of St. Peter's in the slums of an area known as "Caribee Island".
In 1811 a special Act was passed to reform St. Peter's church itself. The post of sacrist was replaced by that of perpetual curate
. Three readerships were abolished and their income signed over to the curate. A fund was established from proceeds of mining on the deanery land to improve the income of the curate. This did not go far enough. The curate was still heavily dependent on fees from the dependent chapels and friction over this continued to sour relations. However, the curates initially performed their duties very much better than earlier sacrists and things were improved further by the building of a new chapel of ease in the town: St. George's, another Neo-Classical structure, completed in 1830 to a design by James Morgan
.
It was in connection with a possible post at St. George's that William Dalton, an Evangelical
Anglican clergyman from Ulster
first visited Wolverhampton. He returned in 1835, after marrying Sarah Marsh, the widow of a Bilston ironmaster, to take up the living of St. Paul's, yet another chapel of ease on the south-western edge of the town. Dalton began a lifelong campaign to build more churches to serve the growing population. Dalton's agitation had a venomously anti-Catholic edge, attacking both Anglo-Catholicism
and Roman Catholicism, but his church-building campaign won wide support. It further undermined the relevance of the dean and the Royal Peculiar. St. Peter's itself and all the new chapels already operated as parish churches in all but name, but were hampered by lack of funds. The deanery was a sinecure
that took £600 a year out of the town - largely the product of coal mining on deanery lands.
The radical Whig administration of the 1830s was determined to remedy a wide range of abuses at the local level. The establishment of elected municipal self-government
for Wolverhampton and most of England's towns and cities came in 1836. This swept away the last vestiges of ecclesiastical influence in the politics of Wolverhampton and created a much stronger expectation of local accountability. In the same year, the Ecclesiastical Commissioner was established, aimed at rationalising the finances and structures of the Church of England, and charged with recommending further legislation to reform the Church. Henry Hobart, the Dean of Windsor and Wolverhampton, was generally considered a wealthy nonentity and had failed to win any real support at Court. The perpetual curate, Dr. Oliver, appointed in 1834, was a quarrelsome man who had alienated all the local clergy, mainly in disputes over burial fees. The Cathedrals Act of 1840 decreed that the deanery should be suppressed on the death of Dean Hobart. The prebends were left vacant in readiness and, on Hobart's death in 1846, the deanery was wound up. In 1847, Dr. Oliver resigned and the post of perpetual curate was suspended, with John Dakeyne appointed sacrist, pending a full reorganisation. In 1848, a specific piece of legislation for St. Peter's, the Wolverhampton Church Act, abolished the ancient college altogether and transferred all its assets to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. They swiftly oversaw the establishment of a rectory
for St. Peter's and confirmed Dakeyne as rector. All the dependent chapels were turned into separate parish church
es, each with its own vicar
. From the available funds, the Commissioners were able to grant the rector
a living of £750 a year, and to improve the incomes of all 13 of the other clergy involved, as well as to contribute to building repairs. St. Peter's and all the newly-established parishes became part of the Diocese of Lichfield
, subject to the bishop as Ordinary.
of the Church under architect Ewan Christian
.
Unique features include the carved stone pulpit with a figure of a lion at the foot of the steps to protect the minister delivering the sermon. The font dates from 1480 with several stone carved figures and the west gallery dates from 1610, paid for by the Merchant Taylors' Company for use by the boys of Wolverhampton Grammar School
.
Near the south porch is a 14 foot high stone column, carved in the ninth century with birds, animals and acanthus. It may have been a column pillaged from Roman Viroconium
and brought to Heantune, either as part of a preaching cross or memorial. The carvings have deteriorated, but a cast made in 1877 can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London.
of Croydon.
Five bells are known to have existed at St. Peter's in 1553. In 1698 a new 23 cwt. ring of eight was cast by Abraham Rudhall I. In 1740 Henry Bagley III of Chacombe cast a large ‘funeral’ (or hour) bell of some 35 cwt. In 1827 the eight were augmented to ten by Thomas Mears. The ten ringing bells were rehung by Barwells in 1889 and the seventh was recast in 1895 by Mears & Stainbank after cracking during a peal attempt.
The bells, including the hour bell, were recast and two new trebles added to produce a new ring of twelve by Gillett & Johnston
. This was their first complete ring of twelve, to be followed by Coventry in 1927, Croydon in 1936 and Halifax in 1952. They were tuned on the 5 tone Simpson Principle in the key of C sharp major. Gillett also provided a new single-tier steel and iron H-frame with new fittings throughout. The clock chime was connected to the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th and the clock generally rearranged. They were rung for the first time as 12 for the coronation of King George V after a silence of three years. The front eight were subsequently rehung in 1977 and the tenor in 1985.
In April 2000 maintenance work was carried out. The 9th, 10th and 11th were rehung on new bearings and the pulley on the 10th was renewed. The 12 ductile-iron clappers were replaced by the original, overhauled wrought-iron clappers and other minor works carried out. All work was carried out by Whitechapel Bell Foundry
of London.
The bells are rung twice weekly, on Mondays for practice and for the main Sunday service.
On Saturday 25 September 2010 a concert of Elgar's greatest pieces was held at the church which included the very first Football Chant, He Banged The Leather for Goal, written by Elgar himself, in respect of Wolves star of the time, Billy Malpass. The concert was a joint venture between the church and Wolverhampton Wanderers to raise funds for the organ appeal and to firm the link that Elgar had between respective organisations. Elgar was a Wolves fan and cycled from Malvern (a good 40 miles approx)) to watch the Wolves with close friend Dora Penny, daughter of then St Peter's Church Rector Revd Penny. St Peter’s director of music Peter Morris said: “We wanted to celebrate the connection between Elgar and the church, so we got in touch with Wolves and it just grew.
“We knew about Elgar’s connection with the club because the rector’s daughter Dora Penny used to write about him going to watch them when he came to visit.”
Read more: http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2010/09/23/choirs-songs-to-honour-wolves-legend-malpass#ixzz10NgekIlZ
There is a strong choral tradition: more than 70 children and young people are involved in the Music at St Peter's, along with Lay Clerk
s and choral scholar
s. There are separate boys' and girls' choirs, each of which generally sings at a Cathedral during the Summer holidays. The Boys' Choir sang at Lincoln Cathedral
in 2007, York Minster
in 2008, Norwich Cathedral
in 2009 and Rochester Cathedral
in 2010, with the girls choir singing at Chester Cathedral
in 2007, Chichester Cathedral
in 2008 and 2010, Carlisle Cathedral
in 2009 and Canterbury Cathedral
in 2011.
The church is involved with the Choristers Outreach Programme of the Choir Schools Association and Sing Up
which takes choristers into Primary Schools in the city to help the singing programmes in schools.
The Director of Music is Peter Morris and Assistant Organists are James Luxton, Toby Barnard, Dr. David Rendell (Organist Emeritus) and Brian Armfield.
Several of the lay clerks and choral scholars are members of Aftershave, a close-harmony acappella group. (currently on hold)
tradition of the Church of England
. Vestments, reservation and the sacrament of reconciliation are all part of its tradition with incense used at festival services. Sunday services usually comprise Holy Communion
, Choral Eucharist, and Choral Evensong
. Choral Evensong is also sung on Wednesdays at 5.30.
St. Peter's is open on weekdays and Saturdays, and before and after services on Sundays. There is a shop within the church and a coffee lounge in the nearby St. Peter's House.
The church has links with St. Peter's Collegiate School, which, although originally founded adjacent to the church in 1847, is now located at Compton Park, along with St Edmund's Catholic School and part of the University of Wolverhampton.
publication, supplemented by the Victoria County History
.
The deanery was suspended 1203-5
From 1480 the deanery of Wolverhampton was united with the deanery of Windsor.
The deanery was suspended 1547-53.
The deanery was suspended 1646-60.
The deanery was abolished in 1846, on the death of Henry Lewis Hobart.
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, England
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...
. For many centuries it was a chapel royal
Chapel Royal
A Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...
, and from 1480 a royal peculiar
Royal Peculiar
A Royal Peculiar is a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, rather than under a bishop. The concept dates from Anglo-Saxon times, when a church could ally itself with the monarch and therefore not be subject to the bishop of the area...
, independent of the Diocese of Lichfield
Diocese of Lichfield
The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers 4,516 km² The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England...
and even the Province of Canterbury
Province of Canterbury
The Province of Canterbury, also called the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England...
. The collegiate church
Collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
was central to the development of the town of Wolverhampton, much of which belonged to its dean. Until the 18th century, it was the only church in Wolverhampton and the control of the college extended far into the surrounding area, with dependent chapels in several towns and villages of southern Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
.
Fully integrated into the diocesan structure since 1848, today St. Peter's is part of the Anglican Parish of Central Wolverhampton. The Grade I listed building, much of which is Perpendicular in style, dating from the 15th century, is of significant architectural and historical interest. Although it is not a cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
, it has a strong choral foundation with the Music at St Peter's in keeping with English Cathedral tradition. The Father Willis organ is of particular note: a campaign to raise £270,000 for its restoration was launched in 2008.
History
St. Peter's is an Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
foundation. The history of St. Peter's was dominated for centuries by its collegiate
College (canon law)
A college, in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, is a collection of persons united together for a common object so as to form one body. The members are consequently said to be incorporated, or to form a corporation.-History:...
status, from the 12th century constituted as a dean
Dean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
and prebendaries
Prebendary
A prebendary is a post connected to an Anglican or Catholic cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon. Prebendaries have a role in the administration of the cathedral...
, and by its royal connections, which were crystallised in the form of the Royal Peculiar
Royal Peculiar
A Royal Peculiar is a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, rather than under a bishop. The concept dates from Anglo-Saxon times, when a church could ally itself with the monarch and therefore not be subject to the bishop of the area...
in 1480. Although a source of pride and prosperity to both town and church, this institutional framework, hard-won and doggedly-defended, made the church subject to the whims of the monarch or governing elite and unresponsive to the needs of its people. Characterised by absenteeism and corruption through most of its history, the college was involved in constant political and legal strife, and it was dissolved and restored a total of three times, before a fourth and final dissolution in 1846 cleared the way for St. Peter's to become an active urban parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
church and a focus of civic pride.
994-1066: Origins and endowments
There is some doubt abut the origins of the CollegeCollege (canon law)
A college, in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, is a collection of persons united together for a common object so as to form one body. The members are consequently said to be incorporated, or to form a corporation.-History:...
of Wolverhampton. A charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
was discovered around 1560, by which Sigeric
Sigeric the Serious
Sigeric was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 990 to 994.It is unclear whether the epithet "The Serious" originated from his learning, or if it derived from transliteration of his name into Latin as Serio.- Biography :...
, Archbishop of Canterbury, confirms Lady Wulfrun
Wulfrun
Wulfrun was an Anglo-Saxon noble woman and landowner, who established a landed estate at Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England in 985. Contemporary knowledge of her comes from several text sources:...
's endowment of a Minster at Hampton in the year 994-5. The authenticity of the charter is in some doubt, as it was allegedly discovered in the ruins of a wall at Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
and has since been lost. An alternative explanation is that the 7th century King Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere...
was involved in the founding of the town, the church, or both. The only real evidence for this is his name, preserved in the not far-distant settlement of Wolverley
Wolverley
Wolverley is a village, and with Cookley together, a civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. It is located a few miles to the north west of Kidderminster, near the town of Bewdley, and the villages of Kinver and Cookley...
, which seems superficially similar. However, older forms of the town's name run against this hypothesis. Shortly after the Norman Conquest we find the College referred to as the church of Wolvrenehamptonia. This certainly suggests that the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
was Wulfrun rather than Wulfhere, although this does not guarantee that she was the founder: the settlement could date back to some earlier time. The name almost certainly means the High Town or Chief Settlement of Wulfrun.
Wulfrun apparently granted the College lands in or around Upper Arley
Upper Arley
Upper Arley is a village is a village and civil parish near Kidderminster in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 645.- Amenities :...
, Eswich (probably Ashwood, Staffordshire
Ashwood, Staffordshire
Ashwood is a small area of Staffordshire, England.It is situated in the South Staffordshire district, approximately two miles west of the West Midlands conurbation and the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley....
, which was Haswic in Domesday), Bilston
Bilston
Bilston is a town in the English county of West Midlands, situated in the southeastern corner of the City of Wolverhampton. Three wards of Wolverhampton City Council cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and...
, Willenhall
Willenhall
Willenhall is a town in the Black Country area of the West Midlands of England, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of Staffordshire...
, Pelsall
Pelsall
Pelsall is an area of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is part of the Parliamentary Constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills.- History :Pelsall was first mentioned in a charter of 994, when it was amongst various lands given to the monastery at Heantune by Wulfrun, a Mercian noblewoman...
, Ogley Hay, Hatherton (near Cannock
Cannock
Cannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England....
), Kinvaston (near Penkridge
Penkridge
Penkridge is a market town and ancient parish in Staffordshire, England with a population of 7,836 . Many locals refer to it as a village, although it has a long history as an ecclesiastical and commercial centre. Its main distinction in the Middle Ages was as the site of an important collegiate...
) Featherstone
Featherstone, Staffordshire
Featherstone is a small village in the district of South Staffordshire, England, near to the border with Wolverhampton. Originally a farming community consisting of a few scattered farms. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and was owned by the Clergy of Wolverhampton Church...
, and two villages called Hilton - one near Ogley and the other by Featherstone. There were also lands at Wolverhampton itself, probably those which Wulfrun herself had received from Ethelred II by a charter of 985. The Arley lands probably came from a grant which King Edgar the Peaceful had made to Wulfgeat, a relative of Wulfrun, in 963. In fact, before, the discovery of Wulfrun's charter, Edgar was generally accepted as the founder of the College.
The church was originally dedicated to St. Mary and this was still the dedication at the Domesday survey of 1086: it was switched to St. Peter in the mid-12th century. It seems likely that the College always consisted of secular clergy
Secular clergy
The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious order.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, the secular clergy are ministers, such as deacons and priests, who do not belong to a religious order...
- priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s who did not belong to a religious order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
, rather than monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s. A writ
Writ
In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court...
attributed to King Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
(1042–1066) refers to the College as "my priests at Hampton". Although the document is known to be a forgery, probably dating from a century later, the secular character of the College seems to have been accepted unchallenged, despite the implication in the foundation charter that it was a monastery. All of the Domesday entries relating to the church of Wolverhampton refer to clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
, canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
s or priests, never monks. There is no evidence that a monastery ever existed at Wolverhampton. If there was, it seems odd that Wulfrun would replace it with a secular chapter
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
.
A college was not originally an educational institution but rather a body of people with a shared purpose, in this case a community of priests charged with pastoral care
Pastoral care
Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided...
over a wide and wild area. Colleges of priests were not unusual in the middle ages, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
period, although they persisted long after. At a time of scattered population, poor communications and frequent lawlessness, it made sense to organise local ministry in teams that could offer mutual support and collective management of resources. From their central base, they could tour the surrounding hamlets, celebrating the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
, preaching and teaching. In most cases, such settlements would not initially have a church building at all, but at most a cross to mark the place of worship. The later parish system organised under diocesan bishop
Diocesan bishop
A diocesan bishop — in general — is a bishop in charge of a diocese. These are to be distinguished from suffragan bishops, assistant bishops, coadjutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, metropolitans, and primates....
s only became truly viable as a landscape of peaceful villages emerged in the later middle ages.
1066-1200: The struggle for autonomy
It is not clear when the College began to have a close connection with the Crown, although this was to become a defining characteristic, which shaped much of its history. The forged letter of Edward the Confessor is meant to point to just such a close relationship, but we know it dates from a century later, after the church had Wolverhampton had passed through a series of difficulties which it probably wanted to resolve permanently.At the Norman Conquest, Wolverhampton's church was given by William the Conqueror to his own personal chaplain, Samson. Domesday shows that the canons of the College now held some of the property donated by Wulfrun as tenants of Samson. The estates at Kinvaston, Hatherton, Featherstone and nearby Hilton were rented out by Samson to other priests, Edwin and Alric. The canons also held land at Lutley, Worcestershire, and claimed woodland at Sedgeley, neither of which was in Wulfrun's grant. At Arley, some of their land had been seized forcibly by one Osbern, while Bilston now belonged to the Crown. At Wolverhampton, the canons' land was cultivated by 14 slaves, alongside 36 other peasants. The church also had slaves at Upper Arley. The expansion of the royal forests, hunting grounds for the king and his retainers, had hit the region hard and Wolverhampton was almost surrounded, with the Forest of Kinver up to its southern edge, and the Forest of Brewood and Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chase gives its name to the Cannock Chase local government district....
to the north. This took substantial areas out of agricultural production, making them almost valueless to the College: there were five hides
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
at Ashwood now subsumed into the Forest of Kinver, for example. Despite the direct royal patronage and the close attention of the royal chaplain, the Conquest had brought difficult times for the canons.
Samson was he was elected Bishop of Worcester in 1096. Presumably he had been in only minor orders
Minor orders
The minor orders are the lowest ranks in the Christian clergy. The most recognized minor orders are porter, lector, exorcist, and acolyte. In the Latin rite Catholic Church, the minor orders were in most cases replaced by "instituted" ministries of lector and acolyte, though communities that use...
, as he had to be ordained first deacon and then priest on a single day, before being consecrated as bishop the following day. He became notorious, despite his vow of clerical celibacy, as the father of at least three children, two of who later became bishops. During the reign of Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, he donated the church at Wolverhampton to his cathedral priory
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
at Worcester, although its lands and privileges were protected.
However, The Anarchy
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
, the confused civil strife of King Stephen's
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
reign, brought great challenges. First the church was seized by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury
Roger of Salisbury
Roger was a Norman medieval Bishop of Salisbury and the seventh Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England.-Life:...
, who was Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, the kingdom's senior bureaucrat. Roger had vowed loyalty to the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
, Henry I's daughter and chosen heir, but immediately broke his word on Henry's death. His support was crucial in allowing Stephen to consolidate his rule after his coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
in 1135, and he used his influence to seize as much property as he was able, constructing vast castles and building a powerful ruling clique that included his nephews, Nigel, Bishop of Ely and Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln
Alexander of Lincoln
Alexander of Lincoln was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln, a member of an important administrative and ecclesiastical family. He was the nephew of Roger of Salisbury, a Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of England under King Henry I, and he was also related to Nigel, Bishop of Ely...
. Stephen felt threatened by his over-mighty Chancellor and moved against him in 1139, seizing all his estates, including the church at Wolverhampton and its lands. Stephen promised initially to restore the Wolverhampton church to its rightful owners, but then he handed it over to the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, whose bishop, Roger de Clinton
Roger de Clinton
Roger de Clinton was a medieval Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He was responsible for organising a new grid street plan for the town of Lichfield in the 12th century which survives to this day.-Life:...
, was an important military leader in Stephen's cause and had just returned from a mission to explain Stephen's case to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
. The canons were outraged at this betrayal of trust, which left them at the mercy of a powerful magnate in their own vicinity, and appealed to Pope Eugenius III. This campaign is the likely context for the creation of much of the facsimile or forged material that provided the church with a foundation narrative. It is also notable that the dedication was changed to St. Peter around this time, and this too would be a flattering move in negotiations with Rome. Sometimes documents attest a dedication to St. Peter and St. Paul - a still more fulsome manoeuvre. Whatever dedication is given, the church's seals generally picture both saints.
The church's lobbying seems to have been very successful. Clinton died in 1148 and Wolverhampton was restored to the monks of Worcester before 1152. Stephen had by this time been forced to agree that he would be succeeded by Matilda's son, Henry Plantagenet
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, at that time already Duke of Normandy
Duke of Normandy
The Duke of Normandy is the title of the reigning monarch of the British Crown Dependancies of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The title traces its roots to the Duchy of Normandy . Whether the reigning sovereign is a male or female, they are always titled as the "Duke of...
and Duke of Aquitaine
Duke of Aquitaine
The Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English and later French kings....
. Even before he succeeded to the throne, Henry issued a charter in which he described the church at Wolverhampton as "my chapel", restored all its privileges from the time of Henry I, and recognised it as free from secular taxation. As soon as he came to the throne in 1154 as Henry II, he issued another charter recognising the right of the canons to hold a manorial court. Neither of these charters explicitly stated Wolverhampton was not subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lichfield. However, Peter of Blois
Peter of Blois
Peter of Blois or Petrus Blesensis was a French poet and diplomat who wrote in Latin. Peter studied law in Bologna and theology in Paris...
, probably appointed to head the College by Henry II shortly before his death in 1189, said that the church was subject only to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the King. Clearly, in Henry II's reign, the College already had an independence not enjoyed by most other institutions of the same kind.
1200-1224: Dissolution and restoration
By the time Peter of Blois was appointed, the College was organised as a community of prebendariesPrebendary
A prebendary is a post connected to an Anglican or Catholic cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon. Prebendaries have a role in the administration of the cathedral...
, headed by a dean. This structure was probably imposed during the period of control by Lichfield, as this was the system established at Lichfield cathedral itself around 1140. Each prebendary drew his income from a prebend, a collection of lands and rights attached to tenure of a choir stall, and which determined where he would have pastoral and liturgical duties.
Peter was a poet and a diplomat of great experience. He had been tutor to William II of Sicily
William II of Sicily
William II , called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. William's character is very indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from his palace life at Palermo. Yet his reign is marked by an ambitious foreign policy and a vigorous diplomacy...
, one of the most cultivated rulers of his time, and he was himself a man of refinement and vision. He considered the prebendaries hopelessly corrupt, desperate to keep their positions, wealth and power within a tight grouping of families, held together by intermarriage. After more than a decade of struggle to reform the College, he resigned his post and put forward a revolutionary plan from outside.
Peter persuaded Archbishop Hubert Walter
Hubert Walter
Hubert Walter was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter began the keeping of the Charter Roll, a record of all charters issued by the...
that it was necessary to dissolve the College completely and to replace it with an Abbey of Cistercian monks, an ascetic French order dedicated to a radical and literal interpretation of the Benedictine Rule. The plan was approved by both King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
and Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
, a reforming pontiff. John gave his formal consent for the new abbey in January 1203, although it appears that he had already appointed one Nicholas to the deanery. John handed over the prebends and deanery of Wolverhampton to the archbishop in order to support the abbey. Over the next two years, John also granted it the manors of Wolverhampton and Tettenhall
Tettenhall
Tettenhall is a historic part of the city of Wolverhampton, England. The name Tettenhall is probably derived from Teotta's Halh, Teotta being a person's name and Halh being a sheltered position...
, gave it the wood of Kingsley in the Forest of Kinver, and granted it a charter of liberties. The archbishop put the plan to the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order and brought some Cistercian monks to Wolverhampton in readiness.
Just as all these preparations were about to bear fruit, Hubert Walter died. Without him, the entire scheme collapsed. Within a month, John had changed his mind completely and appointed a replacement dean of Wolverhampton: Henry, son of Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex
Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex
Geoffrey Fitz Peter, Earl of Essex was a prominent member of the government of England during the reigns of Richard I and John. The patronymic is sometimes rendered Fitz Piers, for he was the son of Piers de Lutegareshale, forester of Ludgershall.-Life:He was from a modest landowning family that...
, his Chief Justiciar
Justiciar
In medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius In...
. Even before he was chosen, the first phase of a new church building had been started. The most logical starting point, given a clean slate, was the tower crossing: it remains to this day, the sole relic of the 13th century building, and a reminder of the near-dissolution of the church. Henry Fitz Geoffrey, well-connected to all the centres of power in the kingdom, held the post of dean for nearly two decades, blocking reform or abolition.
1224-1300: Disputes and prosperity
Giles of Erdington, who became Dean of St. Peter's around 1224, was a talented lawyer and was already set on a career that would make him one of Henry IIIHenry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
's most eminent judges, a Justice of the Common Bench. Erdington was to remain dean for 45 years and he placed all his skill at the service of the college. On appointment, he seized the opportunity afforded by the appointment of a new and inexperienced bishop, Alexander Stavensby
Alexander de Stavenby
Alexander de Stavenby was a medieval Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield.Alexander was probably a native of Sainsby, Lincolnshire and had two brothers, William and Gilbert, who held land there. He may have studied under Stephen Langton, later Archbishop of Canterbury, as Langton was from a village...
, to make a formal deal with the Diocese of Lichfield. The dean's right to appoint and discipline his prebends was recognised. The bishop was to intervene only if there was evidence the dean was not carrying out these functions. For his part, the dean recognised the bishop's right to be received with honour at St. Peter's and to administer the sacraments there. In 1260 Erdington repelled an attempt by Bishop Roger de Meyland
Roger de Meyland
Roger de Meyland was a medieval Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, England....
to hold a visitation, in contravention of the agreement with the diocese, by appealing directly to the king and getting a royal prohibition.
Erdington was equally vigorous in promoting the economic interests of the college. Throughout, Erdington was concerned that the church benefit from the town's booming trade, which was based mainly on wool, promoting general growth rather than exacting every penny. To make clear the college's territorial sway, he had the boundaries walked ceremonially. In 1258 he secured from Henry III the lucrative right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair, both of which took place thereafter at the foot of the church steps. In 1263 he won the support of the town's burgess
Burgess
Burgess is a word in English that originally meant a freeman of a borough or burgh . It later came to mean an elected or unelected official of a municipality, or the representative of a borough in the English House of Commons....
es by granting them the right to succeed to their burgages without fee. The town is sometimes described as a "deanery borough". A borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
had no fixed legal status before the 19th century municipal reforms, but was generally understood to be a town with a community of free townspeople and civic institutions. The college was now recognised as the collective lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
, and through the dean recognised the effective autonomy of the civic community, explicitly placing the burgesses on an equal footing with the county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of Stafford
Stafford
Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
The next dean, Theodosius de Camilla, appointed in 1269, was just as vigorous as Erdington in defending the college, but his tenure began to demonstrate some of the disadvantages of royal appointment. He was prepared to defend the college even against the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Second Council of Lyons in 1274 denounced a number of abuses of which the prebendaries were plainly guilty, including non-residence and pluralism. In fact Camilla himself was non-resident, as he was mostly involved in royal business, and it is not even certain that he ever visited Wolverhampton: he operated mainly through bailiff
Bailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
s, who carried out his instructions and transactions. At least three of the canons were Camilla's relatives, and they seldom seldom appeared in the town either. Archbishop 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...
was determined to bring the royal chapels to book. On 27 July 1280 the archbishop, against an explicit prohibition of Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, appeared at the doors of St. Peter's, which were promptly shut in his face. He summoned the prebendaries to meet him on 31 July but they, together with the canons of all seven royal chapels, ignored him and were excommunicated. Proceedings were launched against the seven chapels in the ecclesiastical courts. This forced the king to act, and he swiftly brought the archbishop to heel, pressuring him to agree that he would accept a royal decision on the chapels within the Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, and also in London. Bishop Meyland too was induced to agree never to visit six of the chapels, including Wolverhampton.
The archbishop's feud with Camilla continued, however. In 1282 Camilla was excommunicated and deprived of two other churches that he held. Peckham even claimed that Wolverhampton was not rightly his, as Canterbury had the patronage. However, he obtained monetary compensation for his two lost churches in 1286. He also pursued the local dispute with the diocese until 1292, when Bishop Meyland finally recognised that all seven royal chapels within its bounds were subject only to the Pope. Camilla developed the lands of the college by encouraging the tenants to enclose
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
wastes, although he also encouraged his bailiffs to over-exploit woodlands. When he died in 1295, he was still Dean of Wolverhampton, despite all opposition.
Erdington and Camilla brought St. Peter's to its medieval peak of prosperity and influence, although its spiritual standards were already notorious. The economic well-being of the church was greatly improved by their unwillingness to pay tax. Camilla was deriving 50 marks
Mark (money)
Mark was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout western Europe and often equivalent to 8 ounces. Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages Mark (from a merging of three Teutonic/Germanic languages words, Latinized in 9th century...
a year from the deanery by the 1290s, but declared only 20 marks for tax purposes. The total taxable value of the church was declared in 1293 as only £54 13s. 4d. This included six prebends, which are named for the first time at this point: Featherstone, Willenhall, Wobaston, Hilton, Monmore, Kinvaston. In addition there was the chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
of St. Mary in Hatherton, which was shortly to become a seventh prebend. Deans and canons alike increasingly gained an income from their estates not through their own management, but by farming, which in this period meant leasing the right to receive rents and dues to someone else, who then made a profit by exploiting them to the fullest possible extent.
1300-1479: Neglect and revival
While the 13th century deans had been shrewd business men on behalf of the church, the 14th century deans stripped its assets, and in some cases resorted to plain embezzlement. One of the most important problems was that they began to enclose waste for themselves and then to sell it off, alienating it from the church's estates. John of Everdon (1295–1303), Philip of Everdon (1303–23) and Hugh Ellis (1328–39) all pursued personal enrichment in this way. Hugh also gave away much of the stock of the deanery and left the buildings dilapidated. By 1368, things had reached such a pass that Edward IIIEdward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
himself ordered a visitation of Wolverhampton to investigate loss of property and privileges, fraud, loss of books and ornaments, neglect of services and misconduct by the canons. In fact, Wolverhampton's deans had remained zealous in maintaining the college's rights and privileges, getting successive kings to confirm its charters, but most of the other accusations were true.
The king's enquiry had no effect. Dean Richard Postell (1373–94) embezzled an income set aside for six priests to celebrate the liturgy - something the dean and prebendaries themselves no longer did. Lawrence Allerthorpe (1394–1406) and Thomas Stanley (1406–10) continued to neglect the deanery and enquiries followed both their deaths. In addition, the townspeople complained about the neglect of spiritual duties under both Postell and Allerthorpe. Enquiries generally found that the dean and all the prebendaries were absentees. The prebendaries actually employed vicars to perform their duties for them. This was the age of the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
, which brought about a spiritual crisis that the church was ill-equipped to confront. Despite this neglect, there were still plenty of pious people prepared to make large donations and bequests to the church. There were two chantry chapels in the collegiate church, both well-endowed. A special body, the "wardens of the light", was founded in 1385 to tend a light in honour of St. Peter. Priests were maintained at Pelsall, Willenhall and Bilston from special, earmarked endowments left by parishioners.
A remarkable product of this piety was St. Mary's Hospital - not a centre for medical treatment but an almshouse
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
. It was established through the efforts of William Waterfall, a generous layman, and Clement Leveson, a chaplain at St. Peter's, during the years 1392-95. First they obtained a royal licence for the hospital, then Waterfall endowed it with three acres of land and obtained the lord of the manor's permission. The land was only 400 metres south east of St. Peter's but it fell outside the manor of Wolverhampton, in the manor of Stowheath
Stowheath
Stow Heath is an area and ancient manor in the city of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, located in the east half of the city.-Place name and origins:...
, which was held by Hugh, Lord Burnell, a powerful marcher lord. Finally they obtained Dean Allerthorpe's permission, as the land fell within the jurisdiction of the college. Patronage went to William and Joan Waterfall and their heirs, but was to pass to the Leveson family if they lapsed. The regulations bound the chaplain to say mass and vespers daily for the residents, and prayers were to be offered for the souls of Clement Leveson, William and Joan Waterfall, Lord Burnell, and Lawrence Allerthorpe. The first recorded chaplain was John Pepard, inducted in 1402. Presumably this is why the institution came to be known as Pepers Chapell and later Pyper's Chapel: Piper's Row is still a well-known street name.
Amid this clerical neglect and lay piety, some of the college's ancient privileges were again challenged. In 1401 Allerthorpe had just been appointed Lord High Treasurer
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Act of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President...
by Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
, newly-established on the throne after overthrowing Richard II of England
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
. It was at this point that Archbishop Thomas Arundel
Thomas Arundel
Thomas Arundel was Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken opponent of the Lollards.-Family background:...
, a key supporter of the king, sent delegates to carry out a visitation of St. Peter's. Allerthorpe objected but had to back down, as there was little doubt whose support was most important to Henry.
However, the decline was stemmed by two vigorous deans, whose work in the town roughly spans the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
. John Barningham was appointed in 1437 and showed a genuine interest in the church, the town and its people. It was he who began the rebuilding of the church in approximately its present form. When he died in 1457, he left money not only for the rebuilding but also for the poor of the town. William Dudley, his successor, managed much of the rebuilding. He was also Dean of Windsor
Dean of Windsor
The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The Dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as primus inter pares.-List of Deans of Windsor:* William Mugge, 1348* Walter Almaly, 1380...
, the first Dean of Wolverhampton to hold both posts. He resigned in 1476 to become Bishop of Durham and was later a key supporter of Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
. By simply spending some of their time on its affairs, after a century of neglect, these men were able partially to rebuild the college's relationship with the town.
After Dudley moved to Durham, Lionel Woodville
Lionel Woodville
-Life:He was a younger son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg; his siblings included Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort from 1464 to 1483....
, the Queen's
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...
brother was dean for a few years, but he resigned when he became Chancellor of the University of Oxford. In 1479, Richard Beauchamp, already Bishop of Salisbury
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset...
and Dean of Windsor
Dean of Windsor
The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The Dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as primus inter pares.-List of Deans of Windsor:* William Mugge, 1348* Walter Almaly, 1380...
, was appointed.
1479-1603: Royal Peculiar and Reformation
The year after Beauchamp's appointment, Edward IVEdward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
resolved that, thereafter, the same person should be Dean of Windsor and Dean of Wolverhampton. It is from this point that Wolverhampton is generally considered a Royal Peculiar
Royal Peculiar
A Royal Peculiar is a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, rather than under a bishop. The concept dates from Anglo-Saxon times, when a church could ally itself with the monarch and therefore not be subject to the bishop of the area...
or Peculier. In fact, it had claimed and vindicated its status as a royal chapel, independent of the diocesan authorities, for many centuries already. From 1480, however, it was formally placed on a footing with St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
St George's Chapel is the place of worship at Windsor Castle in England, United Kingdom. It is both a royal peculiar and the chapel of the Order of the Garter...
, the monarch's own household chapel. It was never subsumed into Windsor. For about half a century, about half of the prebendaries were also canons of Windsor, but this practice petered out in the 16th century.
As the deans and most of the canons continued to be absentees, their lands and rights were increasingly farmed out. From 1516, it was James Leveson, one of the immensely rich and powerful Merchants of the Staple
Merchants of the Staple
The Merchants of the Staple, also known as the Merchant Staplers, was an English company which controlled the export of wool to the continent during the late medieval period....
who increasingly took over responsibility for exploiting their estates. The rent agreed for the deanery holdings was £38, and Leveson managed to keep it fixed for 25 years, despite steady inflation. He also gradually extended his investments into the prebendary holdings. The Leveson family inherited and extended his interests after he died.
The Reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
brought dissolution for the second time in the college's history. It was threatened under the first Chantry Act in 1545 but survived because Henry VIII died before it could be implemented. Edward VI's
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
Protestant guardians brought in a second act in 1547. The Dean argued that Wolverhampton should be exempt, as Windsor was specifically excluded from the terms of the act. Nevertheless, the college was dissolved and replaced by a vicar and curates, on £20 a year. This was not a great hardship for the dean and canons, as they continued to receive pensions at the same level as their former income from their benefices. Moreover, the canons had farmed out most of their holdings on perpetual leases, at fixed and very low rents, to the Leveson and Brooke families - allegedly in the hope of recovering them later and protecting the college's investments, but probably to make a quick gain before dissolution. The sale was authorised by the chapter of Windsor, which was not lawful, as the two colleges had separate seals and finances. The prebendary and the deanery estates themselves were confiscated by the Crown, then granted to John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...
, the leading figure of Edward's later, and more radically Protestant, government.
However, Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
's Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
soon restored the old regime. As Northumberland was attainted, his property was forfeit, so it was relatively easy to restore the college's property. This was presented by Mary's letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
as a favour to St. George's College, Windsor. However, Mary's gracious act left the years 1547-53 in legal limbo, with the status of any transactions carried out by the canons during those years uncertain. St. Peter's was the only royal peculiar in the region to be restored: all the others proved intractable, as the property had been sold or given to landowners in good standing, many of them pious Catholics. The little hospital of St. Mary was not so fortunate. The provision to say prayers for the dead would have guaranteed its dissolution as a chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
and it is never heard of again, apparently absorbed into the Leveson estates.
Despite a decision to follow a broadly Protestant path, Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
did not pursue the matter further, and confirmed the restoration of the college by royal charter in 1564. This meant a restoration of the old abuses. The deans and most of the canons stayed away, failing to attend even the quarterly chapter
Chapter
Chapter, as an organizational class title, may refer to:* A main division of a piece of writing or document, as a Chapter and a chapter in legislation...
meetings and paying scant wages to deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
s, and in some cases unordained readers, to perform their functions at St. Peter's. The running of Wolverhampton's church devolved upon the sacrist, who was paid a separate income, amounting to the reasonable sum of £26 by the mid-17th century, and given a seat on the chapter. In the satellite chapels at Bilston, Pelsall and Willenhall, curates were paid £4 or £5 a year to maintain an active ministry. A Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
survey carried out in 1604 found that all three curates then in office were drunkards and non-preachers.
1603-1660: Religious strife and civil war
For Puritans, who wanted to renew and broaden the Reformation, the running of St. Peter's was one of the most notorious scandals in the Church of England. Locally, the initiative was taken by Richard Lee, who was appointed to the prebend of Willenhall in 1622 by a sympathetic dean, and who denounced what he saw as the sins of his time. The temper of the town was mainly Puritan and anti-royalist, so Lee seems to have met a warm response. However, Matthew WrenMatthew Wren
"Matthew Wren" is also a British actor who appeared in BBC children's show Trapped!.Matthew Wren was an influential English clergyman and scholar.-Life:...
, appointed Dean in 1628 was a supporter of William Laud
William Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
, leader of the High Church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
party that came into the ascendancy with the accession of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. He particularly objected to the fact that Lee had taken up residence in Wolverhampton and preached regularly. Wren became a bishop in 1634 and was succeeded by Christopher Wren, his brother and the father of the famous architect
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
. This Wren immediately realised that Lee was beyond his control and took panic measures to deal with him. Surrendering a privilege that had survived since 1280, he called in Archbishop Laud himself to conduct a visitation. Lee was suspended and a purge of Puritan parishioners was launched. Wren celebrated with an elaborate ceremony to consecrate a new High Altar in the church, with incense and music, all calculated to offend the Puritans.
This short-lived triumph for the Laudians came at a price. When the Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
assembled in 1640, Laud's arrest was one of its first acts. In 1644, during the English Civil war
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, he was brought to trial for treason and the events at Wolverhampton were high on the list of accusations brought against him. Evidence against him was given by two Wolverhampton men, Leonard Lee, Richard's brother, and William Pinson. Although the trial itself was inconclusive, Laud was attainted and beheaded a few months later.
St. Peter's church itself suffered considerable damage at the hands of Parliamentary soldiers in 1642. Much worse was an attack on the chapter house
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
by royalist soldiers under Colonel Leveson, which resulted in the loss of all its records. A law of 1643 suppressed all deans and chapters and, after the fighting drew to a close in 1646, the college was dissolved, for the third time in its history. Its assets were vested in trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
s, and they provided £100 for a minister - none other than the apparently stainless Richard Lee. However, Lee appears to have taken on two other parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es - Melbourne
Melbourne, Derbyshire
Melbourne is a Georgian market town in South Derbyshire, England. It is about 8 miles south of Derby and 2 miles from the River Trent. In 1837 a then tiny settlement in Australia was named after William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister, and thus indirectly takes...
and Rugby
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
- and was in no great hurry to quit either. The post of sacrist was abolished and his £26, together with a further £50, was provided for an assistant minister. This allowed the trustees to raise the incomes of the other ministers to a viable levels too. The minister at Shareshill was granted £100 and the minister at Wednesfield £50. However, this all happened in the absence of the Levesons, who had claims on six of the prebends since the reign of Edward VI, but whose property was sequestrated
Sequestration (law)
Sequestration is the act of removing, separating, or seizing anything from the possession of its owner under process of law for the benefit of creditors or the state.-Etymology:...
. Once the sequestrations were discharged in 1652, the Levesons reclaimed their lands at the former low, fixed rents, and the trustees' careful financial management fell apart.
The Restoration of Charles II automatically brought the restoration of the college at St. Peter's, as the legislation abolishing it was regarded as invalid. Everything was restored very quickly. However, the loss of the records at the hands of Leveson, whose family coincidentally had important claims on college property, was a serious problem for the restored institution.
1660-1848: Decline and demise of the old order
The college was hampered financially from its restoration. It challenged the Levesons legally but the Court of ChanceryCourt of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...
dismissed the case in 1667 and awarded Robert Leveson costs. Leveson sold his Wolverhampton estates to the Earl of Bradford
Francis Newport, 1st Earl of Bradford
Francis Newport, 1st Earl of Bradford PC , styled The Honourable between 1642 and 1651, was an English soldier, courtier and Whig politician.-Background:...
, his nephew, in 1705 and the college went to court again to recover its alienated lands. This time the case was dismissed immediately. Not until 1811 did the college finally abandon its attempts to recover its property - more than two and a half centuries after its loss.
All the dependent chapels but Kinvaston were now very poorly funded and unable to attract able or dedicated ministers. They were still expected to contribute to the upkeep of St. Peter's and to the expenses of the sacrist, who doggedly defended his income from burials and other rites. They were now starting to chafe at the bit. Bilston revolted against the dean's attempts to impose a curate twice - in 1730 and 1735 - and the congregation elected their own.
The population of Wolverhampton itself and of the towns to the east was growing rapidly as manufacturing took hold. Peniston Booth, a dean who actually spent some of his time at the deanery house in Wolverhampton, was sufficiently in touch with opinion to authorise the building of new chapels of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
at Wednesfield, Willenhall and Bilston. With considerably more persuasion, and after a major public campaign fronted by Lord Grey
Harry Grey, 4th Earl of Stamford
Harry Grey, 4th Earl of Stamford was an English peer, styled Lord Grey from 1720 to 1739.Harry Grey was born in Enville Hall, the eldest son of Henry Grey, 3rd Earl of Stamford. He was educated at Rugby and Westminster. In 1736, he married Lady Mary Booth, the only daughter and heiress of George...
, he acquiesced in the building of a new chapel of ease in Wolverhampton itself. It was authorised by a private Act of Parliament
Private bill
A private bill is a proposal for a law that would apply to a particular individual or group of individuals, or corporate entity. If enacted, it becomes a private Act . This is unlike public bills which apply to everyone within their jurisdiction...
in 1755, and the fine Neo-Classical St. John's quickly rose on a site enclosed in a square to the south of St. Peter's.
The college, with its deanery and prebends, was increasingly proving a straitjacket for the Anglican Church in Wolverhampton. The increasing population was a challenge in itself, but it also brought social misery and discontent as the crowded housing of the Wolverhampton and the Black Country
Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
failed to keep up with demand. Increasing religious diversity was another consequence. There had been Protestant Dissenter
Dissenter
The term dissenter , labels one who disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England and Wales, however, it refers particularly to a member of a religious body who has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church.Originally, the term...
s since the Civil War, but their numbers were greatly increased by the preaching of Methodism
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
: in 1761 John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
himself preached at an inn-yard in what he called "this furious town" of Wolverhampton. Catholic recusancy
Recusancy
In the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...
was strong in the surrounding countryside. Despite the Penal laws, in the 1730s the Giffard family of Brewood
Brewood
Brewood refers both to a settlement, which was once a town but is now a village, in South Staffordshire, England, and to the civil parish of which it is the centre. Located around , Brewood village lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton city centre and eleven miles south of...
succeeded in building a Catholic chapel in the guise of a private house, just to the west of St. Peter's. As Catholic Emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
approached, this was rapidly expanded into a functioning Roman Catholic church. Already, distress in Ireland was bringing immigration and a large working class, Irish Catholic community, concentrated to the north of St. Peter's in the slums of an area known as "Caribee Island".
In 1811 a special Act was passed to reform St. Peter's church itself. The post of sacrist was replaced by that of perpetual curate
Perpetual curate
A Perpetual Curate was a clergyman of the Church of England officiating as parish priest in a small or sparsely peopled parish or districtAs noted below the term perpetual was not to be understood literally but was used to indicate he was not a curate but the parish priest and of higher...
. Three readerships were abolished and their income signed over to the curate. A fund was established from proceeds of mining on the deanery land to improve the income of the curate. This did not go far enough. The curate was still heavily dependent on fees from the dependent chapels and friction over this continued to sour relations. However, the curates initially performed their duties very much better than earlier sacrists and things were improved further by the building of a new chapel of ease in the town: St. George's, another Neo-Classical structure, completed in 1830 to a design by James Morgan
James Morgan (engineer)
James Morgan was a British architect and engineer, notably associated with the construction of the Regent's Canal in London....
.
It was in connection with a possible post at St. George's that William Dalton, an Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Anglican clergyman from Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
first visited Wolverhampton. He returned in 1835, after marrying Sarah Marsh, the widow of a Bilston ironmaster, to take up the living of St. Paul's, yet another chapel of ease on the south-western edge of the town. Dalton began a lifelong campaign to build more churches to serve the growing population. Dalton's agitation had a venomously anti-Catholic edge, attacking both Anglo-Catholicism
Anglo-Catholicism
The terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism describe people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm the Catholic, rather than Protestant, heritage and identity of the Anglican churches....
and Roman Catholicism, but his church-building campaign won wide support. It further undermined the relevance of the dean and the Royal Peculiar. St. Peter's itself and all the new chapels already operated as parish churches in all but name, but were hampered by lack of funds. The deanery was a sinecure
Sinecure
A sinecure means an office that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service...
that took £600 a year out of the town - largely the product of coal mining on deanery lands.
The radical Whig administration of the 1830s was determined to remedy a wide range of abuses at the local level. The establishment of elected municipal self-government
Municipal Corporations Act 1835
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 – sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales...
for Wolverhampton and most of England's towns and cities came in 1836. This swept away the last vestiges of ecclesiastical influence in the politics of Wolverhampton and created a much stronger expectation of local accountability. In the same year, the Ecclesiastical Commissioner was established, aimed at rationalising the finances and structures of the Church of England, and charged with recommending further legislation to reform the Church. Henry Hobart, the Dean of Windsor and Wolverhampton, was generally considered a wealthy nonentity and had failed to win any real support at Court. The perpetual curate, Dr. Oliver, appointed in 1834, was a quarrelsome man who had alienated all the local clergy, mainly in disputes over burial fees. The Cathedrals Act of 1840 decreed that the deanery should be suppressed on the death of Dean Hobart. The prebends were left vacant in readiness and, on Hobart's death in 1846, the deanery was wound up. In 1847, Dr. Oliver resigned and the post of perpetual curate was suspended, with John Dakeyne appointed sacrist, pending a full reorganisation. In 1848, a specific piece of legislation for St. Peter's, the Wolverhampton Church Act, abolished the ancient college altogether and transferred all its assets to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. They swiftly oversaw the establishment of a rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
for St. Peter's and confirmed Dakeyne as rector. All the dependent chapels were turned into separate parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
es, each with its own 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...
. From the available funds, the Commissioners were able to grant the rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
a living of £750 a year, and to improve the incomes of all 13 of the other clergy involved, as well as to contribute to building repairs. St. Peter's and all the newly-established parishes became part of the Diocese of Lichfield
Diocese of Lichfield
The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers 4,516 km² The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England...
, subject to the bishop as Ordinary.
Architecture
St Peter's Church is built of red sandstone on an elevated site in the centre of the City of Wolverhampton. The oldest part of the building above ground is the crossing under the tower, which probably dates from the beginnings of the Abbey in 1200, followed by the Chapel of Our Lady and St George (Lady Chapel). Much of the Church was rebuilt and extended in the fourteenth century, in the Decorated Style. However, the Church was to be substantially altered in the middle of the fifteenth century at the expense of the town's wool merchants, with the addition of a clerestory to the nave, and reduction in height of the north and south aisles. The upper part of the tower was rebuilt around 1475 to a height of 120 feet, and the Chapel of St Catherine and St Nicholas (Memorial Chapel) was completed at the end of the fifteenth century. The chancel was reconstructed in 1682 following considerable damage caused to the original medieval one during the Civil War, and it was again completely rebuilt in 1867 as part of the extensive restorationVictorian 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...
of the Church under architect Ewan Christian
Ewan Christian
Ewan Christian was a British architect. He is most notable for the restoration of Carlisle Cathedral, the alterations to Christ Church, Spitalfields in 1866, and the extension to the National Gallery that created the National Portrait Gallery. He was architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners...
.
Unique features include the carved stone pulpit with a figure of a lion at the foot of the steps to protect the minister delivering the sermon. The font dates from 1480 with several stone carved figures and the west gallery dates from 1610, paid for by the Merchant Taylors' Company for use by the boys of Wolverhampton Grammar School
Wolverhampton Grammar School
Wolverhampton Grammar School is a co-educational independent school located in the city of Wolverhampton.Initially Wolverhampton Boys Grammar School, it was founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who was also Lord Mayor of London in the year of...
.
Near the south porch is a 14 foot high stone column, carved in the ninth century with birds, animals and acanthus. It may have been a column pillaged from Roman Viroconium
Viroconium
Viroconium Cornoviorum, or simply Viroconium , was a Roman town, one corner of which is now occupied by the small village of Wroxeter in the English county of Shropshire, about east-south-east of Shrewsbury...
and brought to Heantune, either as part of a preaching cross or memorial. The carvings have deteriorated, but a cast made in 1877 can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
in London.
Bells
The bells of St. Peter's are the second oldest complete ring of 12 in the country and third eldest in the world, all twelve cast in 1911 by Gillett & JohnstonGillett & Johnston
Gillett and Johnston is a clock and formerly bell manufacturing business in Croydon, England.-History:William Gillett started a clock making business on Union Road in Croydon, England in 1844. Charles Bland became a partner in 1854 and the company became known as Gillet and Bland. In 1877, Arthur...
of Croydon.
Five bells are known to have existed at St. Peter's in 1553. In 1698 a new 23 cwt. ring of eight was cast by Abraham Rudhall I. In 1740 Henry Bagley III of Chacombe cast a large ‘funeral’ (or hour) bell of some 35 cwt. In 1827 the eight were augmented to ten by Thomas Mears. The ten ringing bells were rehung by Barwells in 1889 and the seventh was recast in 1895 by Mears & Stainbank after cracking during a peal attempt.
The bells, including the hour bell, were recast and two new trebles added to produce a new ring of twelve by Gillett & Johnston
Gillett & Johnston
Gillett and Johnston is a clock and formerly bell manufacturing business in Croydon, England.-History:William Gillett started a clock making business on Union Road in Croydon, England in 1844. Charles Bland became a partner in 1854 and the company became known as Gillet and Bland. In 1877, Arthur...
. This was their first complete ring of twelve, to be followed by Coventry in 1927, Croydon in 1936 and Halifax in 1952. They were tuned on the 5 tone Simpson Principle in the key of C sharp major. Gillett also provided a new single-tier steel and iron H-frame with new fittings throughout. The clock chime was connected to the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th and the clock generally rearranged. They were rung for the first time as 12 for the coronation of King George V after a silence of three years. The front eight were subsequently rehung in 1977 and the tenor in 1985.
In April 2000 maintenance work was carried out. The 9th, 10th and 11th were rehung on new bearings and the pulley on the 10th was renewed. The 12 ductile-iron clappers were replaced by the original, overhauled wrought-iron clappers and other minor works carried out. All work was carried out by Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
of London.
The bells are rung twice weekly, on Mondays for practice and for the main Sunday service.
Music
The three-manual Father Willis organ, was built in 1860. A campaign to raise £300,000 towards its restoration was launched in 2008. The restoration work, designed to return the organ to its former glory after the wear and tear of near-daily use, is due to be completed by Principal Pipe Organs of York.On Saturday 25 September 2010 a concert of Elgar's greatest pieces was held at the church which included the very first Football Chant, He Banged The Leather for Goal, written by Elgar himself, in respect of Wolves star of the time, Billy Malpass. The concert was a joint venture between the church and Wolverhampton Wanderers to raise funds for the organ appeal and to firm the link that Elgar had between respective organisations. Elgar was a Wolves fan and cycled from Malvern (a good 40 miles approx)) to watch the Wolves with close friend Dora Penny, daughter of then St Peter's Church Rector Revd Penny. St Peter’s director of music Peter Morris said: “We wanted to celebrate the connection between Elgar and the church, so we got in touch with Wolves and it just grew.
“We knew about Elgar’s connection with the club because the rector’s daughter Dora Penny used to write about him going to watch them when he came to visit.”
Read more: http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2010/09/23/choirs-songs-to-honour-wolves-legend-malpass#ixzz10NgekIlZ
There is a strong choral tradition: more than 70 children and young people are involved in the Music at St Peter's, along with Lay Clerk
Lay clerk
A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in a Cathedral or collegiate choir in the United Kingdom. The Vicars Choral were substitutes for the Canons...
s and choral scholar
Choral scholar
A choral scholar is a student either at a university or private school who receives a scholarship in exchange for singing in the school or university's choir...
s. There are separate boys' and girls' choirs, each of which generally sings at a Cathedral during the Summer holidays. The Boys' Choir sang at Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...
in 2007, York Minster
York Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
in 2008, Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral is a cathedral located in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Formerly a Catholic church, it has belonged to the Church of England since the English Reformation....
in 2009 and Rochester Cathedral
Rochester Cathedral
Rochester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Norman church in Rochester, Kent. The bishopric is second oldest in England after Canterbury...
in 2010, with the girls choir singing at Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of Chester, and is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly St Werburgh's abbey church of a Benedictine monastery, is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
in 2007, Chichester Cathedral
Chichester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, otherwise called Chichester Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in Sussex, England...
in 2008 and 2010, Carlisle Cathedral
Carlisle Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, otherwise called Carlisle Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Carlisle. It is located in Carlisle, in Cumbria, North West England...
in 2009 and Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
in 2011.
The church is involved with the Choristers Outreach Programme of the Choir Schools Association and Sing Up
Sing Up
Sing Up is a UK Government funded national singing programme which aims to ensure that all primary school-aged children are able to access high-quality singing activities every day and that, over time, all primary schools should become 'singing schools'...
which takes choristers into Primary Schools in the city to help the singing programmes in schools.
The Director of Music is Peter Morris and Assistant Organists are James Luxton, Toby Barnard, Dr. David Rendell (Organist Emeritus) and Brian Armfield.
Several of the lay clerks and choral scholars are members of Aftershave, a close-harmony acappella group. (currently on hold)
List of organists
- Arthur Henry MannArthur Henry MannArthur Henry Mann was an English organist and composer of hymn tunes including "Angel's Story" which was originally written for the hymn 'I love to hear the story', but is also sung to the words 'O Jesus, I have promised.'-Education:Mann graduated from New College, Oxford...
1870 - 1871 - ?
- F. H. Houldershaw ca 1921
- Sidney CampbellSidney CampbellSidney Schofield Campbell, , was an English organist.-Education:He studied organ under Ernest Bullock and Harold Darke. In 1931 he was awarded the FRCO.-Career:He was*organist of St...
1943 - 1947 - Charles Hutchings 1947 - 1964
- David Jones 1964 - 1970
- Brian Armfield 1971 - 1979
- Andrew Newberry 1979 - 1983
- Timothy C. Storey 1984 - 1993
- Alistair Pow 1994 - 1998
- Gary Cole 1998 - 2001
- Nicholas P. Johnson 2001 - 2003
- Peter Morris 2003 -
Today
Worship is in the CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
tradition 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...
. Vestments, reservation and the sacrament of reconciliation are all part of its tradition with incense used at festival services. Sunday services usually comprise Holy Communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
, Choral Eucharist, and Choral Evensong
Evening Prayer (Anglican)
Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
. Choral Evensong is also sung on Wednesdays at 5.30.
St. Peter's is open on weekdays and Saturdays, and before and after services on Sundays. There is a shop within the church and a coffee lounge in the nearby St. Peter's House.
The church has links with St. Peter's Collegiate School, which, although originally founded adjacent to the church in 1847, is now located at Compton Park, along with St Edmund's Catholic School and part of the University of Wolverhampton.
Timeline
This summary is based on a University of WolverhamptonUniversity of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton is a British university located on four campuses across the West Midlands and Shropshire. The city campus is located in Wolverhampton city centre with a second campus at Compton Park, Wolverhampton; a third in Walsall and a fourth in Telford...
publication, supplemented by the Victoria County History
Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 and was dedicated to Queen Victoria with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of...
.
- 994 - Lady Wulfrun gave lands (given to her by King Aethelred II) to the Church of St Mary at Heantune. Wulfrun + heantune = Wolvernehampton - the town is named Wolverhampton. The church is run by a college of canons, who are secular priests.
- 1066 - The Norman Conquest leads to the church being granted to Samson, a royal chaplain, who alienates its lands and gives it to Worcester cathedral priory.
- 1135 - The church enters a period of great turbulence in the anarchy of King Stephen's reign, with several changes of control.
- 1152-54 - The church emerges triumphant, recognised as a royal chapel and independent of Lichfield's diocesan control, constituted as a dean and prebendaries, newly-dedicated to St. Peter or St. Peter and St. Paul.
- 1203-05 - The college is dissolved because of corruption and abortive plans are laid to replace it with a Cistercian monastery. Tower crossing (oldest extant part of the church) constructed. College restored, now recognised as lord of the manor of Wolverhampton.
- 1258 - Right to hold a weekly Market and an annual Fair on the feast of St Peter and St Paul.
- 1263 - Autonomy of burgesses recognised.
- 1280 - Archbishop of Canterbury turned away at the doors of the church. Independence from Canterbury formally recognised.
- 1350? - Chapel of our Lady and St George is built
- 1358 - Edward III orders an inspection because of notorious abuses at the church.
- 1440 - Nave roof raised to current height
- 1450 - Stone pulpit built
- 1479 - King Edward IV united the Deaneries of Wolverhampton and Windsor in a single holder, establishing the Royal Peculiar. Deans and prebends are mostly absent and poorly-paid curates do most of the work, as before.
- 1540 - Bells from Much Wenlock PrioryMuch Wenlock PrioryMuch Wenlock Priory is a ruined 12th century monastery, located in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, at . The foundation was a part of the Cluniac order, which was refounded in 1079 and 1082, on the site of an earlier 7th century monastery, by Roger de Montgomery...
installed to replace old bells (in 1729 more bells added to make a total of 10; in 1911 the frame replaced and bells recast) - 1547 - The Reformation sweeps away the college and turns it into a parish church.
- 1550 - The canons alienate much of the college's property to the Leveson family on perpetual leases.
- 1553 - Queen Mary restores the college.
- 1560 - The college becomes an Anglican institution, unique in the Church of England.
- 1635 - Dean Christopher Wren calls in Archbishop Laud to purge Puritans and triumphantly consecrates an altar.
- 1642-43 - The church is damaged by Parliamentary troops, while Col. Leveson's royalists destroy all the college's records.
- 1646-60 - Under the Commonwealth, St. Peter's is a parish church with Puritan incumbents.
- 1667 - The restored college lose the first of many actions to recover their property from the Levesons.
- 1755 - The building of St. John's marks the end of St. Peter's church's monopoly in the town, although it remains merely a chapel-at-ease for over a century.
- 1811 - St. Peter's church is partially reformed with the appointment of a perpetual curate. The futile legal wrangle with the Levesons is abandoned.
- 1836 - Wolverhampton gains municipal self government as a borough.
- 1840 - The Cathedrals Act declares the deanery and the Royal Peculiar abolished from the death of the current dean.
- 1846 - Dean Hobart dies and the deanery is suppressed.
- 1847 - St. Peter’s Collegiate School established adjacent to the church.
- 1848 - The college is wound up and St Peter’s becomes a parish within the Lichfield Diocese, with its own Rector. The dependent chapels become new parishes, each with a vicar.
- 1860 - "Father" Henry Willis built a new organ (in 1882 the organ was enlarged; revamped with an electrical blowing installation in 1914; rebuilt in 1970 and "restored" in 1983)
- 1865–Present chancel completed in decorated Gothic style
- 1937 - A civic and public appeal raises £10,000 in a few days for restoration of the tower and other important repairs.
- 1968 - Sanctuary re-panelled
- 1978 - Parish of Central Wolverhampton established: St Peter’s with All Saints, St Chad and St Mark. Later, the two latter were amalgamated and St John in the Square was added. Team ministry established under leadership of the Rector.
Deans of Wolverhampton
The deanery was probably established in the mid-12th century. The names of earlier heads of the chapter and any deans before Peter of Blois have not survived. Samson the chaplain was feudal overlord of the canons, but there is no evidence he headed the chapter and he was not ordained priest until he became bishop of Worcester.- Peter of BloisPeter of BloisPeter of Blois or Petrus Blesensis was a French poet and diplomat who wrote in Latin. Peter studied law in Bologna and theology in Paris...
, before 1190 - Nicholas, 1203
The deanery was suspended 1203-5
- Henry Fitz Geoffrey, 1205. (fn. 199)
- Giles of Erdington, by 1224
- Theodosius de Camilla, 1269
- Philip of Everdon, 1295
- John of Everdon, 1303
- Godfrey of Rudham, 1322
- Robert of Silkstone, 1326
- John of Melbourne, 1328
- John of the Chamber, 1328
- Hugh Ellis, 1328
- Philip Weston, 1339
- John of Newnham, 1368
- Amaury Shirland, 1369
- Richard Postell, 1373
- Lawrence Allerthorpe, 1394
- Thomas Stanley, 1406
- Robert Wolveden, 1410
- William Felter, 1426
- John Barningham, 1437
- William DudleyWilliam DudleyWilliam Dudley was Dean of Windsor and then Bishop of Durham.A younger son of John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, Dudley was nominated to Durham on 31 July 1476. He was consecrated between 1 September and 12 October 1476. In 1483 he supported Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the future King...
, 1457 - Lionel WoodvilleLionel Woodville-Life:He was a younger son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg; his siblings included Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort from 1464 to 1483....
, 1477
From 1480 the deanery of Wolverhampton was united with the deanery of Windsor.
- Richard Beauchamp, 1479
- Thomas Danett, 1481
- William Bealey, 1483
- John Morgan, 1484
- Christopher UrswickChristopher UrswickChristopher Urswick was a priest and confessor of Margaret Beaufort. He was Rector of Puttenham, Hampshire, and later Dean of Windsor...
, 1495 - Christopher BainbridgeChristopher BainbridgeChristopher Bainbridge was an English Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of York from 1508 until his death.-Early life:...
, 1505 - Thomas Hobbes, 1507
- Nicholas WestNicholas WestNicholas West , English bishop and diplomatist, was born at Putney, and educated at Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1486....
, 1510 - John VeseyJohn VeseyJohn Vesey or Veysey was an English bishop.-Life:He was born John Harman, probably about 1462, the son of a yeoman farmer, in a farmhouse now known as Moor Hall Farm, Sutton Coldfield...
alias Harman, 1515 - John ClerkJohn Clerk (bishop)John Clerk was an English bishop. He was educated at Cambridge University, and went on to serve under Cardinal Wolsey in a variety of capacities. He was also useful in a diplomatic capacity to both Wolsey and Henry VIII of England....
, 1519 - Richard SampsonRichard SampsonRichard Sampson was an English clergyman and composer of sacred music, who was Anglican bishop of Chichester and subsequently of Coventry and Lichfield.-Biography:...
, 1523 - William Franklin, 1536
The deanery was suspended 1547-53.
- Owen OglethorpeOwen OglethorpeOwen Oglethorpe: Bishop of Carlisle was an English academic and bishop.-Childhood and Education:He was born in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, in approximately 1505-10 and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was elected a fellow in 1526 and received his MA in 1529 and his DD in 1536...
, 1553 - Hugh WestonHugh WestonHugh Weston was an English churchman and academic, dean of Westminster and Dean of Windsor, and Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford.-Life:...
, 1556 - John Baxall, 1557
- George CarewGeorge Carew (dean)-Life:He was the third son of Sir Edmund Carew. He graduated B.A. at Broadgates Hall, Oxford in 1522.Carew was archdeacon of Totnes from 1534 to 1549, becoming precentor of Exeter in 1549, and was archdeacon of Exeter from 1556 to 1569. He was dean of Bristol from 5 November 1552, but he was...
, 1559 - William DayWilliam Day (bishop)William Day was an English clergyman, Provost of Eton College for many years, and at the end of his life Bishop of Winchester.-Life:...
, 1572 - Robert Bennett, 1595
- Giles Thompson, 1602
- Anthony MaxeyAnthony MaxeyAnthony Maxey , was the dean of Windsor.Maxey was apparently a native of Essex. He was educated on the foundation at Westminster School, whence he was elected to Trinity College, Cambridge, on 18 April 1578, and graduated B.A. in 1581, M.A. in 1585, B.D. in 1594, and D.D. in 1608, but he failed to...
, 1612
- Marco Antonio de DominisMarco Antonio de DominisMarco Antonio Dominis was a Dalmatian ecclesiastic, apostate, and man of science.-Early life:He was born on the island of Rab, Croatia, off the coast of Dalmatia...
, 1618 - Henry Beaumont, 1622
- Matthew WrenMatthew Wren"Matthew Wren" is also a British actor who appeared in BBC children's show Trapped!.Matthew Wren was an influential English clergyman and scholar.-Life:...
, 1628 - Christopher Wren, 1635
The deanery was suspended 1646-60.
- Bruno RyvesBruno RyvesBruno Ryves was an English royalist churchman, editor in 1643 of the Oxford newsbook Mercurius Rusticus, and later dean of Chichester and dean of Windsor...
, 1660 - John Durell, 1677
- Francis TurnerFrancis Turner (bishop)Francis Turner D.D. was Bishop of Ely, one of the seven bishops who petitioned against the Declaration of Indulgence and one of the nine bishops who refused to take the oath of allegiance to William III.-Family and education:...
, 1683 - Gregory Hascard, 1684
- Thomas ManninghamThomas Manningham-Life:He was born about 1651 in the parish of St. George, Southwark, the son of Richard Manningham, rector of Michelmersh, Hampshire. He was admitted in 1661 scholar of Winchester College, then going with a scholarship to New College, Oxford, where he matriculated on 12 August 1669. He was fellow...
, 1708 - John RobinsonJohn Robinson (1650-1723)John Robinson was an English diplomat and prelate.-Early life:Robinson was born at Cleasby, North Yorkshire, near Darlington, a son of John Robinson . Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, he became a fellow of Oriel College, and about 1680 chaplain to the British embassy to Stockholm, and...
, 1709 - George Verney, 12th Baron Willoughby de BrokeGeorge Verney, 12th Baron Willoughby de BrokeGeorge Verney, 12th Baron Willoughby de Broke and de jure 20th Baron Latimer was a peer in the English peerage.George Verney was born on October 13, 1659, the second son of Richard Verney, 11th Baron Willoughby de Broke , and Mary Pretyman, daughter of Sir John Pretyman, at the Verney family seat...
, 1713 - Peniston Booth, 1729
- Frederick KeppelFrederick KeppelFrederick Keppel , styled The Honourable from birth, was a British clergyman.-Background:Keppel was the fifth and fourth surviving son of Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle and his wife Lady Anne Lennox, daughter of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond...
, 1765 - John Harley, 1778
- John Douglas, 1788
- Hon. James CornwallisJames Cornwallis, 4th Earl CornwallisJames Cornwallis, 4th Earl Cornwallis was a British clergyman and peer.Cornwallis was the third son of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis and his wife, Elizabeth...
, 1791 - Charles Manners-SuttonCharles Manners-SuttonCharles Manners-Sutton was a priest in the Church of England who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1805 to 1828.-Life:...
, 1794 - Edward LeggeEdward Legge (bishop)Edward Legge was an English churchman and academic, bishop of Oxford from 1816 and Warden of All Souls College, Oxford from 1817.-Life:...
, 1805 - Henry Lewis Hobart, 1816
The deanery was abolished in 1846, on the death of Henry Lewis Hobart.
Rectors of St. Peter's Collegiate Church
After the suppression of the deanery, a new sacrist, John Dakeyne, was appointed in 1847, with a view to making him rector on the winding up of the college. This duly occurred in the following year.- John Dakeyne, 1848
- John Iles, 1860
- John Jeffcock, 1877
- Alfred Penny, 1895
- Joseph Stockley, 1919
- Robert Hodson, 1929
- John Brierley, 1935
- Francis Cocks, 1965
- John Ginever, 1970
- John Hall-Matthews
- David Frith, 2003
- David Wright, 2009