St Mary's Coslany.
St Mary Coslany is one of over thirty surviving medieval parish churches in old Norwich. Prior to this, an Anglo-Saxon church existed in Coslany. Post Industrial Revolution, Coslany was home to factories, warehouses and breweries. St Mary's Works west of the church is the former printing works of a religious publishing house. St Mary's Works is an area designated for major rejuvenation. All three surviving Coslany churches are redundant today.
St Mary's is the only surviving complete medieval round-towered church in the Norwich. By the end of the Victorian Age, the church was derelict and only used irregularly for services, in fact it was reported that in rainy weather umbrellas were needed inside as well as outside the church! The church was restored in 1908 and it was only when the semi-collapsed 14th Century tower was removed and the belfry widows uncovered that the true age of the round tower was revealed. All the glass dates from this restoration. The church was redundant again before the Second World War and the tower was considered too unsafe to ring the bells and they were removed in 1937 to be housed in the new modern St Catherine's which served the congregation of the newly built Mile Cross council estate to the north.
St Mary's bells waiting to be installed at St Catherines 1937 (George Plunkett)
Indeed St Mary's came trough the Blitz relatively unscathed as the bombs dropped on 2nd August 1942 only destroyed part of the roof. Some of its treasured bosses have survived including the wooden Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven which was pulled from the rubble.
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
A 1605 brass to Ann Claxton, a memorial to Martin van Kirnbeck, who died in 1579 and Clement Hyrne's memorial of 1596, with a painted skull at the bottom, also survived.
Clement Hyrne's memorial
The church was once again restored restored to use and a reopening service was held in 1950, but finally declared redundant for the last time in 1974.
In 1979 plans were drawn up to convert the church into a theatre but the idea never materialised instead the Friends of Norwich Churches decided to rent St Mary's from the Norwich Historic Churches Trust as their new headquarters and it was officially opened as such in June 1981. Eventually towards the end of 1985 the building was opened as a craft and design centre.
A number of the Norwich School of Painters have had connections with the church. John Crome was married here in 1792, and several of his children were baptised here. John Sell Cotman was also baptised here in 1782, and Robert Ladbroke was buried in its churchyard in 1843.
Today St Mary's, Coslany is home to an internet bookshop.
http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichmarycoslany/norwichmarycoslany.htm
Other Points of Interest at St Mary's Plain
Zoar Baptist Chapel
Also to be found on St Mary's Plain is the Zoar Baptist Chapel. It originated when members of the St Mary's congregation became suspicious that the vicar was inclining in an Arminian direction and a break away group was formed. They were finally able to build a chapel in 1866.
Pykerell's House
Adjacent is a small blue house which is easy to walk by without a second glance. This is infact one of the oldest inhabited dwellings in Norwich and one of only six remaining thatched buildings in the city. A plaque on its wall installed by the Noreich ArchaeologicalSociety reads: "In this 15th Century House 'Pilgrims Hall' and latterly 'Rosemary Tavern' lived Thos Pykerell Mercer Thrice Mayor of Norwich 1525, 1533 & 1538." In 1931 the building was purchased by the Trust and thus saved from demolition in the extensive slum clearance that took place at this time.
Norwich Central Baptist Church
Originally St Mary's Baptist Church The Baptist movement begaan in the 17th Century. After the Yoleration Act of 1686 the Free Churches were able to own property and worship openly. In 1744 a community of 50 poor men and women purchased the present site in St Mary's parish and a brick and flint meeting house was adapted from existing buildings. In 1812 a new chapel took its place, which was enlarged and extended on several occasions. On Sunday, 10th September 1939, a fire spread from the organ gallery via the choir pews to the fine vaulted ceiled roof which crashed down, damaging the pulpit (one of the treasures of the church) and many of the pews. Enough of the building remained to reconstruct the chapel to its original design.
In the early morning of 27th June 1942 the Chapel fell victim to the Blitz and was totally gutted by fire. On 5th July 1951, the foundation stone of the newly named Norwich CentrAl Baptist Church was laid and the opening service was held one year later on Saturday, 27th September 1952.
St Mary's Baptist Chapel (George Plunkett 1939)
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