St Michael the Archangel Church, Southampton
Visited on Friday, 22nd July 2022.
Up a slight hill from the southwest corner of Holyrood church is the glorious sight of St Michael the Archangel Church.
I wasn’t looking for it, but it caught my attention and so I went for a closer look, and to try and get a decent photo without it being back lit by the setting sun.
On the east wall is a plaque. It declares that the church is the oldest building in Southampton and parts of it dates from 1040.
The building is, apart from the lovely spire, a low rectangle shape.
To the west a square is laid out which gives the perfect angle to get that good shot of the church and its steeple with the light behind me.
The west doors are open which delights me. But it is a false hope. Four feet inside the doors are glass doors and glass screens, to the front, the sides and even above my head. The inner doors are locked and have a wooden barricade across them from the inside.
A sign says the church is not currently open to visitors. Another one says please do not lean on or touch the glass with your hands.
However, having the camera up nice and close to the glass means that I can still get a few decent pictures.
Along the nave and to the altar.
And up both the north and south aisles.
The one back over my head to the west stained-glass window doesn’t work as well, as it is a Perspex screen and out of reach, and not the best shot of the wonderful colours.
With a bit of zoom I got some good shots of the windows behind the altar.
And some memorial plaques on the north wall.
And the nave ceiling with the nice shade of blue it has been painted.
History
The town of Southampton was moved west from the Saxon settlement of Hamwic by the Normans. The foundations of the church date from that move and are said to be from 1070. It is the oldest building in Southampton. The lower stories of the tower are the only parts of the current building to date from this time.
The original church was built in a cruciform plan. Chapels were added to the northeast and southeast corners on either side of the chancel during the thirteenth century.
French raids on the town in 1338 resulted in the church being badly fire damaged and needing to be rebuilt. The north aisle was widened and lengthened in the late fourteenth century, and the south aisle was similarly altered in the early fifteenth century. The west door was rebuilt at the same time, and the church took its current shape. The spire was added during the fifteenth century as well, and reconstructed in 1732
From 1836 a major reconstruction was started, with the pitch of the roof being lowered, and galleries inserted. The pillars in the nave were replaced with the current cast iron and brick stucco ones. The floors were heightened, and the pews replaced.
In 1872 the galleries were removed as they were damaging the structure of the church. The spire was added to in 1887 to give it its current shape.
The entire church was restored in the 1960s ready for its 900th anniversary.
The font is a single block of Tournai marble and dates from 1170. One of the lecterns was rescued from the Holyrood church and dates from the fourteenth century, whilst the other dates from the mid fifteenth century.
The tower contains ten bells, with six being from the seventeenth century made by the Salisbury foundry. Two additional trebles by John Warner & Son were added in 1878. These eight were recast in 1923 by Gillett & Johnson. Two bells by John Taylor & Co were cast from bell metal salvaged from Holyrood Church.
For other posts on travels this year have a look at my list.
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