St James Church in Grimsby ~ A Look at the History
St James’ church in Grimsby Lincolnshire has always been a grand building, indeed it is now officially a Minster.
It has a long and interesting history - this article takes a look at that historical background and is illustrated with modern original photographs and old engravings.
It’s origins are very early
Saint James’s church dominates the town centre of Grimsby, an imposing building and the largest church in the borough.
As large and impressive as it is now it once lived, quite literally, in the shadow of a reputedly finer building, now sadly lost, St Mary’s
I’ve been unable to ascertain a definite ’start date’ but in 1110 the church of St James was gifted to the Augustinian Canons of Wellow Abbey by the King, Henry I, so that presumably makes the original building Anglo-Saxon. It does get mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book
Some 90 year later they began the first of many rebuilds and renovations.
1365 saw a rebuilt tower and this began a pattern over the years, some ‘improvements’ being less successful than others.
Some of the 13th century work is still extant though, parts can be seen in the nave, the north transept, the font base is also from the 1200s.
The 18th century saw the place take a turn for the worse, architecturally and historically speaking, with the chancel being reduced greatly in size and much of the interior being rebuilt in the Georgian style.
The 19th century also saw much of the same with many areas once again chopped and changed.
The picture left shows a commemorative stone dated 1920 for the memorial chapel or or Chapel of Resurrection was built in 1920 to hold a roll of honour for the men of Grimsby who lost their lives in World War 1
It caught my eye for the symbol below it - surely that of the Freemasons
The second World War saw the church damaged, most of the stained glass was lost I believe, during German Bombing Raids
There follows a few images, some original photographs I took last week and some slightly older images which I didn’t engrave
As Seen today from the ‘front’ / town centre
In 1586 saw the nearby church of St Mary’s ‘merge’ with St James. That is to say St Mary’s fate was sealed and it was sadly left to decay.
Early accounts suggest the St James’ has a ‘cathedral like appearance’ though much of this has subsequently been lost to ‘injudicious renovations over the years’
As Seen in 1834
Inside there is a late 14th century knight effigy, originally said to have been gilded according to George Oliver, a monument to Sir Thomas Haslerton of Aylesby. He was a benefactor of St Leonard’s Nunnery which originally housed the stone effigy before it was moved to St James at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
There would doubtless have been many other memorials and monuments to prominent people and families but alterations and rebuilds to the north and south aisles could well be responsible for their disappearance.
Grimsby Minster
The above shot of Grimsby Minster was taken by the road near Cartergate and I mean to return at some point in order to get some night shots as the whole place looks pretty spectacular under lighting at night
The View in 1875 from Renovation Plans
Above you’ll see a drawing from proposed renovation plans circa 1875, also included with this were ground plans and schematics etc
An Engraving Dated 1780
A last image from 1780 and time to bring this to a close but there will be much more !
There is a great deal more to add and it will be done so in comment form so as to stop this article becoming unwieldy, especially for those seeking only an overview.
Please do scroll down for subsequent comments which will build over time adding as much historical information as possible.
If you know anything of interest (please no large blocks of text pasted from other sites - thank you) or have any comments or opinions please do share them below
Many thanks in advance.
All the best
Rod
Rod said,
May 11, 2010 @ 7:58 pm
Sir Thomas haslerton effigy
Sir Thomas Haslerton of Aylesby
Amiguru said,
May 11, 2010 @ 9:26 pm
Rod,
Do you have a date for this imageof Sir Thomas? The reason I ask is that my engraving dated 1811 shows his left leg undamaged but his right with only minor marks. A recent photograph shows perfect legs so obviously they have been repaired twice. I just wonder if it can be determined whether it is sword damage as it looks on your picture as if someone had a symbolic swipe at what he represents.
Regards,
Neville
Rod said,
May 12, 2010 @ 6:34 am
Neville,
that’s a great catch - I’d noticed the damage of course but not compared it to other images.
Don’t know the date I’m afraid but it’s from MAGG.
Could the damage have been done at the Dissolution before it was moved perhaps ?
Best
Rod
Minster Minstrel said,
May 25, 2010 @ 11:12 pm
I hope that you don’t mind, but I have placed a link to this page on the Grimsby Minster Facebook site. Let me know if you would like the link taken down, and I will gladly do so.
Lovely photographs - thanks for posting them!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grimsby-United-Kingdom/Grimsby-Minster/123913940959903?ref=ts&__a=9&v=wall#!/pages/Grimsby-United-Kingdom/Grimsby-Minster/123913940959903?ref=ts&ajaxpipe=1&__a=5
Rod said,
May 26, 2010 @ 7:25 am
MM
I don’t mind at all in fact I’m honoured - many thanks, and for the kind words.
Welcome to the site and I hope you’ll return
All the best
Rod
Jo Middleton said,
November 17, 2010 @ 10:12 am
Hi Rod
I’m working on a brief history of the church/minster - could we meet?
Rod said,
November 17, 2010 @ 10:26 am
Hi Jo,
if you click on my name above this you’ll find my email address
Best
Rod
Kate said,
November 17, 2010 @ 2:27 pm
Thought this might be of interest, I found it recently… I have tried to reduce as much as possible, rather than post the full text.
Taken from Lincolnshire Notes and Queries Vol II, 1890-1891, P17-18
A letter to the editor from John Cordeaux discussing an interment exposed by the sea at Kilnsea of a skeleton in a wooden chest hollowed out of an oak tree trunk– the body was doubled up so that the knees were bent close to the chin: a Bronze Age axe head was found nearby (it may not have dated from the time of the burial though).
“Ancient British Interment
…When the foundations of the enlarged chancel of St James’ Church, Grimsby, were dug, a similar coffin or chest was exposed, partly within and partly without the wall. I remember it was conjectured at the time, from the comparatively small interior, that it had been used for the interment of a child. It is more probable, however that it had once contained an adult packed away in the manner indicated at Kilnsea.”
The full text is available at archive dot org
Sadly there is no indication as to what might have happened to this find and the technology to preserve the wood was not available then. However, does this perhaps mean that the earlier St Mary’s church was sited where once a much earlier barrow burial had been located? Reminds me of the early Bronze Age Gristhorpe Man burial now at Scarborough Rotunda Museum.
Kate
Rod said,
November 17, 2010 @ 2:44 pm
Kate
St Mary’s was said to be the grander of the two churches so it seems likely it would have been the ‘primary’ one initially. So for me of the two it would have been the one most likely to be sat on a pre-Christian site.
Best
Rod
PS - thanks for not pasting too much text as it causes huge problems
Kate said,
November 17, 2010 @ 9:40 pm
Hi Rod
You may well be right, but as the burial Cordeaux talks of was made under St James’, both churches may have been sited on barrows perhaps (they were often built in close proximity), and (if there was one) the one under St Mary’s destroyed during building in Medieval times??? - We only know about this find because Cordeaux wrote about it fleetingly (I’m going to write a comment about other possible barrows in Grimsby on your post about Grimsby’s origins in a little while BTW…)
This particular burial could perhaps be a case not of a barrow being ploughed out like many were in our area, but rather, the surrounding soil levels rising over time due to silt deposition during the higher sea & river levels during the Roman period, sand blows from the coast (these have been recorded as covering whole villages in the Medieval period!) and later habitation obscuring and covering it over time. Either way the burial ended up being covered quite deeply over the centuries; burials from the early Bronze Age period were usually dug quite shallowly, or in the case of tumuli, sometimes the body was placed at ground level, often on a pebbled or stone surface sometimes called a “dancing floor”, then the burial chamber of wood or stone and the barrow mound was built over it.
Interment of the body in a wooden chamber or hollowed log coffin/chest is known from other British (& European) Tumuli and the wet clay soil of the area would have preserved the wood very well over time. Usually the soils in the UK are pretty merciless when it comes to organic remains which is why so few are found. The crouched or bent double position of the body is mostly found in late Neolithic & early Bronze Age inhumations.
Kate
Rod said,
May 30, 2011 @ 2:39 pm
St James and Post Mill Picture:
This picture is mid Victorian in date and shows St James Church as well as a Grimsby Post Mill.
This mill was, I believe, at Cartergate and was ultimately sold and rebuilt in Tetney !