St James' Church, Great Packington
Encyclopedia
Packington Hall
Packington Hall is a 17th century mansion situated at Great Packington, near Meriden, Warwickshire, England the seat of the Earl of Aylesford. It is a Grade II* listed building....
, near Meriden
Meriden, West Midlands
-External links:*****...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. It is a Grade I listed building.
The church was built in 1789 to a design by architect Joseph Bonomi
Joseph Bonomi the Elder
Joseph Bonomi the Elder was an Italian architect and draughtsman notable for his activity in England.Born in Rome, he made his early reputation there, then moved to London in 1767....
for the Earl of Aylesford
Earl of Aylesford
Earl of Aylesford, in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1714 for the lawyer and politician Heneage Finch, 1st Baron Guernsey. He had already been created Baron Guernsey in the Peerage of England in 1703...
as a private family chapel. It is said to commemorate the recovery of George III from insanity.
The red brick church, in neo classical style, has an unusual square plan with four corner turrets topped with domes and finials.
It houses an organ built by Thomas Parker, to specifications outlined by Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
in 1749, for Charles Jennens
Charles Jennens
Charles Jennens was an English landowner and patron of the arts, who assembled the text for five of Handel's oratorios: Saul, Israel in Egypt, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Messiah, and Belshazzar...
, a cousin of the 4th Earl, owner of Gopsall
Gopsall
Gopsall is an area of Crown Estate land in North West Leicestershire, England. It is located between the villages of Appleby Magna, Shackerstone, Twycross and Snarestone....
Hall. The organ was filmed and recorded for the documentary The Elusive English Organ
The Elusive English Organ
The Elusive English Organ is a documentary film co-written and presented by Daniel Moult and directed by Will Fraser. It is the only film to trace the development of the English pipe organ from 1550 to 1830, discovering why so few pre-1830 English organs survive and to what extent it is possible to...
.