On the 19th July this year we celebrated the Bicentenary of George Edmund Street, the architect of the Parish Church of St Mary’s with a Heritage Day. St Mary’s was Street’s first commission at the age of 22 years and he went on to be famous culminating in the Royal Courts of Justice in London. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.
The day dawned sunny and bright, a good omen for the day ahead. We gathered together in St Mary’s at 9.30 for a service of Holy Communion celebrated by Fr Jake.
Coffee was then served giving those present, time to look at some of the information and displays in the church. We were then treated to a very interesting talk by the Rev Canon Michael Warner, who spoke about the life and works of our famous architect, G E Street, the first vicar George Rundle Prynne and the history of St Mary’s. There is always something new to learn and we were all interested in what he had to tell us.
Following the talk Diana Osborne led a large number of those present on a tour of part of the churchyard, giving an insight into the history of some of the people buried there, areas of particular interest and about the plants and wildlife found there.
A pasty lunch followed and it was good to see so many people both inside the church and outside on the seats and steps in the sunshine, enjoying a traditional Cornish lunch. Those inside the church were treated to some Victorian music provided by Fr Jake Loewendahl on violin accompanied by his wife Olivia on the keyboard. The music was greatly appreciated by those present.
The afternoon session began with a talk by Mr Michael Swift on stained glass windows, particularly the windows in St Mary’s. We were amazed to find that the windows had a historical value of their own, putting it on a parallel with the importance of the church being Street’s first commission. Medieval stained glass in churches was mostly destroyed during the Reformation and they were replaced with plain glass, however at the time of the building of St Mary’s there was a renewed interest in stained glass and churches were being built in the Gothic style with windows showing Bible stories and religious images.
St Mary’s was one of the first in Cornwall to have both, with the scenes from the Crucifixion, above the High Altar and Mary and her mother in the Sanctuary and Saints in the Chancel windows. Also the number installed far outnumbered other churches in Cornwall during the Victorian period. We are all looking at the windows with different eyes now and seeing things that we had not seen before and were all fascinated by the talk given.
There was then another chance to go around the churchyard and to look at the church and have a cream tea, while our talented organist Angeline played the organ which had been built originally for St Day Church in 1858 and moved to St Mary’s in the mid 1950’s.
The day ended with a short service of Compline, in thanksgiving and praise for the wonderful day we had all experienced. During the service we said Psalm122, the psalm that had been chanted at the service in 1848.
The Rev Canon Michael Warner said at the end of his talk, he wondered what Street, and all attending the first services held in St Mary’s, would think of the building today, and what would we ask Street if we met him. So many changes have been made to the interior although the outside remains the same beautiful rose colour it always was.
Everyone who came had obviously enjoyed the day and it was a day we can be proud of. Fundraising was not the ultimate or initial reason for the day, but people who came were generous and we received £426 in donations towards the Fund to restore the Organ, for which we are extremely grateful. Thank you everyone.
Anne Weaver