St. Michael's Church, Basingstoke

St. Michael's Church is a notable Anglican parish church in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. It is located in the lower part of the town, near its centre, towards the northern end of Church Street.

St. Michael's
St Michael's Church, Basingstoke
St. Michael's
St. Michael's
St. Michael's
LocationBasingstoke, Hampshire
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
TraditionLiberal central churchmanship
Websitewww.basingstoketeamparish.org.uk/st-michaels-church-basingstoke
History
StatusParish church
Consecratedc.1510
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationGrade I listed building
StylePerpendicular
Years built14th–15th century
Specifications
Number of towers1
Administration
DioceseWinchester
ProvinceCanterbury
Clergy
RectorJo Stoker
Curate(s)Karen Wellman
Laity
Reader(s)Mike Browning
Alan Hoar
Director of musicPaul Nash
Churchwarden(s)Tony Patrick-Gleed
Virge Routlege

History
Front View of St. Michael's

St. Michael's is a Grade I listed building. It is largely of 16th-century construction in stone and flint. As with many British churches, there is evidence of much alteration made to the building over the centuries[1] The south porch of the church was built in 1539, and a War Memorial Chapel installed in 1920. The building takes the form of a double-aisled church with a west tower and two separate chapels either side of the chancel at the eastern end. There is an attached churchyard, which was closed to burials around 1860.

In the southeast corner, St Stephen's Chapel and the vestry are the earliest parts extant,[2] with exterior walls of rough flint and rubble, and a separate, steeply pitched, red tiled roof with an ostensibly Victorian chimney. During extensive repairs and changes to the interior of the church undertaken in 1840–1841, old foundations were met with, and it was noted that many stones had the remains of "ancient mouldings", suggesting that this part of the church was constructed on the site of, and using material from, an earlier construction.[3]

Interior and exterior evidence indicates that the roof of the chapel was once a lean-to. Interior fitments include an unornamented piscina and a wooden triptych (c. 1549) believed to be the work of Jan Sanders van Hemessen that was presented to the church by the then vicar James Millard in the 1870s.[4]

In his 1895 novel Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy described the church as gaunt and unattractive.

Services

St. Michael's Church conducts five weekly services catering for a number of worship preferences. 8:00 a.m. Sunday and 10:00 a.m. Wednesday services follow the traditional 1662 Book of Common Prayer format. 10:00 a.m. Sunday (except third Sunday) and 12:30 p.m. Friday services follow the liturgy of Common Worship using contemporary language.

Less frequently, St. Michael's follows a modern, informal style of worship at the 10:00am service on the third Sunday of each month and at a "Time Together" service at 5:00 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month.

Regular Sunday services
  • 8:00 a.m.: Traditional Book of Common Prayer Service
  • 10:00 a.m. (except 3rd Sunday): Contemporary Common Worship Service
  • 10:00 a.m. (third Sunday only): Informal Service
  • 5:00 p.m. (first Sunday only): Family Time Together Service
  • 6:30 p.m. (except first Sunday): Evensong

See also
  • Basingstoke Team Parish

Notes
  1. Betjeman, John (ed.) (1980). Parish Churches of England & Wales. Collins. p. 17.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. Pevsner, Nikolaus; David Lloyd (1967). The Buildings of England: Hampshire and The Isle of Wight. London: Yale University Press. p. 90. ISBN 0-300-09606-2.
  3. Cottle, Robert (1841). Picturesque Views in and near Basingstoke. R. Cottle.
  4. Lacon, C.H. (July 1878). "Our Parish Churches No. XXVI, St Michael's, Basingstoke". The Church Portrait Journal: 51..

References
  • Page, William (ed.) (1911). Victoria County History – Hampshire. Vol. 4. Victoria County History. ISBN 0-7129-0594-4.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  • Green, Margaret (1967). Hampshire Churches. Winchester: Winton Publications.
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