St Alkmunds Church in Shrewsbury

Future events at St Alkmund’s

St Alkmund’s Church is one of Shrewsbury’s little known secrets, well worth finding. Reputedly founded circa 912 by Aethelfleda, daughter of King Alfred, its tower and spire were rebuilt circa 1475 and the nave in 1795. Over 2,500 listed buildings in Shrewsbury provide a marvellous skyline punctuated by the steeple of St Chad’s (1792), the tower of St Julian’s (15th century), the tall spire (220ft) of St Mary’s (15th century) and the lower spire of St Alkmund’s (184ft). This skyline is immortalised in the poet A.E.Housman’s A Shropshire Lad –

“High the vanes of Shrewsbury gleam Islanded in Severn stream”.

St. Alkmunds church inside St Alkmund’s nave is Shropshire’s first serious Gothic Revival building, and has three wonderful cast-iron framed windows with Gothic tracery made at nearby Coalbrookdale in 1795, The altar is made in Riga oak with a white marble top and also dates from 1795. Both were designed by the architect John Carline, whose partner was the architect/builder John Tilley. The greatest treasure in the church is the east window, enamel painted by Francis Eginton of Birmingham in 1795. Eginton based his design on a print in his possession of The Assumption of the Virgin by Guido Reni. This painting dating from 1638 is now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. Eginton copied the figure of the Virgin Mary, but altered the surrounding attributes, so that the figure now appears as a representation of the Christian Pilgrim, travelling through this life by faith, supported by the bible and the sacraments, and looking forward to the crown of everlasting life. This window is a national treasure, its colours aglow even on a dull day.

The doors of St Alkmund’s are open every day to enable visitors to enjoy its tranquillity in the heart of the town centre and to pray. Services are held as follows:

Sunday 10am Eucharist
Tuesday 1.05pm Eucharist
Thursday 10.30am Eucharist

Weddings and funerals are conducted when requested, as are Baptisms and other sacraments. The resident Priest conducts a ministry of one-to-one Spiritual Accompaniment at the church (by prior appointment Tel. 01743 244668).

St.Alkmunds Church in Shrewsbury Currently, St Alkmund’s congregation is working hard to raise money to repair and restore the church. Most valuable help has been received from English Heritage and the Georgian Group, and this has enabled the congregation to repair all three of the Coalbrookdale cast-iron windows during the past four years. English Heritage has now offered a significant sum for the complete repair of the roof and the re-leading of the gutters. The church has to raise £53,000 as its share of the total cost. At the same time, money is being collected to install toilets in the church. This will improve the facilities as a place of worship and also make it a suitable concert venue. It has excellent acoustics and clear sight lines, as there are no pillars.

Recent concerts have included a solo violin recital by Michael Bochmann and a classical guitar recital by Patrick Bashford. Other musical events will be held in the summer months of 2007 and the venue will be used during the Shrewsbury Summer Festival. The Harrison and Harrison organ (designed for Sydney Nicholson in 1931) has been placed in the church on long loan from the Royal School of Church Music. Kevin Bowyer gave the inaugural recital on this instrument when it was rebuilt in the church in September 2006. St.Alkmund’s church has been chosen as the headquarters for the Sam Baker School of Church Music, giving tuition to people wanting to lead music in their local churches. This is a major assets of benefit to many individuals and churches in the region.

We hope that you may be able to visit this church at some time in the future, and if you were able to support us financially in repairing and safeguarding this building for future generations, your gift should be sent to St Alkmund’s Restoration Fund, St Alkmund’s Church, St Alkmund’s Square, Shrewsbury SY1 1UH

God bless you on your pilgrimage.

For up-to-date information on any changes to the future events shown at the start of this page, please contact:
St Alkmund’s events: stalkmunds@stchadschurchshrewsbury.com
SBSCM events: davidleeke@stchadschurchshrewsbury.com

SBSCM refers to the Sam Baker School of Church Music, set up in 2006 and named after the former and distinguished teacher of its Director, David Leeke.