St Nicholas' Church, Durham

St Nicholas' Church, generally known as St Nic's, is a Church of England place of worship located on Durham marketplace and is the city's civic church.

Related Topics:
St Nicholas - Church of England - Durham

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The current building dates to 1858, and was designed by Darlington architect J. Pritchett. The building was described by the Illustrated London News at the time as "the most beautiful specimen of church architcture in the north of England", but is not now regarded as of particular architectural interest.

Related Topics:
1858 - Darlington - Illustrated London News

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This building replaced one dating from the early 12th century, whose walls formed part of the city walls and abutted the ancient Clayport Gate (demolished 1791) on one side. Almost all that remains of this church is its font, dating from 1700, and its five bells, dating from 1687 and therefore the oldest ring of bells in the diocese. Though the bells were not rung from the 1970s onwards due to fears for the safety of the tower, ringing resumed in 2000 and the 17th-century bells, along with a sixth added in 1889, are now rung regularly.

Related Topics:
Clayport Gate - 1791 - Bell

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George Carey, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was vicar of St Nicholas' from 1975 to 1982. During that time he led a project in which the pews and the majority of the Victorian interior features of the church were removed to allow the church to be used more flexibly for worship and community activities. Carey's book The Church In The Marketplace describes the process and its impact on the life of the parish.

Related Topics:
George Carey - Archbishop of Canterbury - 1975 - 1982 - Victorian - The Church In The Marketplace

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One notable feature of the reordered church is the Gateway World Shop, which occupies the South-East corner of the church, having its own outside entrance, and sells Fair trade goods. The shop reflects the church's long involvement with the fair trade movement; Richard Adams, founder of Traidcraft, was a member of the church.

Related Topics:
Fair trade - Richard Adams

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The parish is small, being bound by the parishes of Durham's three other ancient city churches - St Giles', St Oswald's and St Margaret's. Historically the parish was densely-populated; however, slum clearance in the 1920s reduced the population of the parish almost to zero, and though more recent building has increased this a little, the church draws the majority of its congregation from outside its own parish. It has a large student population, and is classified by the Diocese of Durham as its own locality, meaning that its mission is recognised as distinctly different from those of other city centre churches. The church has a long tradition of evangelicalism, and its patronage has been held by the Church Pastoral Aid Society since the mid-19th century.

Related Topics:
St Giles' - St Oswald's - St Margaret's - Diocese - Evangelicalism - Church Pastoral Aid Society

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