St Bridget's Church, Brigham
Encyclopedia
St Bridget's Church, Brigham, is in the village of Brigham, Cumbria
, England. It is an active Anglican
parish church
in the deanery of Solway, the archdeaconry of West Cumberland, and the diocese of Carlisle
. The church has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building.
was re-built in the 14th century. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner
was of the opinion that this was founded in 1323 as a chantry
for the rector, Thomas de Burgh. Restoration
of the church was carried out between 1864 and 1876 by William Butterfield
; this included adding the east window and the south windows of the chancel, and the saddleback roof on the tower. The timber roofs of the nave
and chancel also date from this restoration. Fletcher Christian
, leader of the Mutiny on the Bounty
, was baptised in the church on the day of his birth in 1764.
ashlar
, and has a green slate
roof. Its plan consists of a three-bay
nave with a south aisle and south porch, and a two-bay chancel with a north vestry. At the west end is a three-storey tower with a saddleback roof, and at the ends of the gable
s are cross finial
s. The church contains elements of Norman
, Gothic
and Gothic Revival
architecture. The Norman features include a blocked doorway in the north wall, and the arcade
between the nave and the south aisle. The ground floor of the tower is tunnel-vaulted
. Medieval
cross slabs have been incorporated in the north wall and in the blocked west door.
, a sedilia
, and a recess for the tomb of Thomas de Burgh, who died in 1348. In the church are pieces of carved stone; these include an Anglo-Danish cross-socket, and fragments dating from the pre-Norman period. The east window contains stained glass depicting the Ascension, designed by Alexander Gibbs
, and is a memorial to Rev John Wordsworth, son of William Wordsworth
, who was vicar of the church for 40 years. On each side of the east window are niches
for statues. There is more glass by Gibbs in other windows, dating from 1865, and glass elsewhere by Cox & Buckley and Sons, from 1870. The font
dates either from the 13th century or possibly from the 17th century. The two-manual organ was built in 1895 by W. Hill and Son of London.
sundial
dated 1684. It has a square shaft, the head is weathered and the gnomon
is missing. The sundial is a Grade II listed structure. The churchyard also contains many carved gravestones from the 17th to the 19th centuries, and the table tomb of Fletcher Christian's father.
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, England. It is an active Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
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....
in the deanery of Solway, the archdeaconry of West Cumberland, and the diocese of Carlisle
Diocese of Carlisle
The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 1133 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Celtic descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, formerly the king's confessor and now prior of the Augustinian priory at...
. The church has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade I listed building.
History
The church dates from the later part of the 11th century, with additions and alterations in the 12th and 13th centuries. The south aisleAisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
was re-built in the 14th century. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
was of the opinion that this was founded in 1323 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...
for the rector, Thomas de Burgh. Restoration
Victorian 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 was carried out between 1864 and 1876 by William Butterfield
William Butterfield
William Butterfield was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement . He is noted for his use of polychromy-Biography:...
; this included adding the east window and the south windows of the chancel, and the saddleback roof on the tower. The timber roofs of the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and chancel also date from this restoration. Fletcher Christian
Fletcher Christian
Fletcher Christian was a master's mate on board the Bounty during William Bligh's fateful voyage to Tahiti for breadfruit plants...
, leader of the Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
, was baptised in the church on the day of his birth in 1764.
Exterior
St Bridget's is constructed in calciferous sandstoneCalciferous sandstone
Calciferous sandstone is a geological term relating to strata at the base of the Carboniferous formation, below the entire sequence of coal measures...
ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
, and has a green slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roof. Its plan consists of a three-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
nave with a south aisle and south porch, and a two-bay chancel with a north vestry. At the west end is a three-storey tower with a saddleback roof, and at the ends of the gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s are cross finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
s. The church contains elements of Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
, Gothic
English Gothic architecture
English Gothic is the name of the architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520.-Introduction:As with the Gothic architecture of other parts of Europe, English Gothic is defined by its pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires...
and Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
architecture. The Norman features include a blocked doorway in the north wall, and the arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
between the nave and the south aisle. The ground floor of the tower is tunnel-vaulted
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
. Medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
cross slabs have been incorporated in the north wall and in the blocked west door.
Interior
Both the nave and the chancel have painted timber roofs. The south aisle contains a piscinaPiscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium...
, a sedilia
Sedilia
Sedilia , in ecclesiastical architecture, is the term used to describe stone seats, usually to be found on the south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for the use of the officiating priests...
, and a recess for the tomb of Thomas de Burgh, who died in 1348. In the church are pieces of carved stone; these include an Anglo-Danish cross-socket, and fragments dating from the pre-Norman period. The east window contains stained glass depicting the Ascension, designed by Alexander Gibbs
Alexander Gibbs
Alexander Gibbs was the name of a British firm of several generations of the Gibbs family, who commenced business in 1813 and in 1848 began producing stained glass windows.- See also :* Stained glass* Stained glass - British glass, 1811-1918* Victorian Era...
, and is a memorial to Rev John Wordsworth, son of William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
, who was vicar of the church for 40 years. On each side of the east window are niches
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
for statues. There is more glass by Gibbs in other windows, dating from 1865, and glass elsewhere by Cox & Buckley and Sons, from 1870. The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
dates either from the 13th century or possibly from the 17th century. The two-manual organ was built in 1895 by W. Hill and Son of London.
External features
In the churchyard is a red sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
sundial
Sundial
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...
dated 1684. It has a square shaft, the head is weathered and the gnomon
Gnomon
The gnomon is the part of a sundial that casts the shadow. Gnomon is an ancient Greek word meaning "indicator", "one who discerns," or "that which reveals."It has come to be used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields....
is missing. The sundial is a Grade II listed structure. The churchyard also contains many carved gravestones from the 17th to the 19th centuries, and the table tomb of Fletcher Christian's father.