Stoke Minster

[Stoke Minster] [http://www.stokeminster.com] is the town centre and civic church in Stoke-upon-Trent in England. Legally known as the church of St. Peter ad Vincula, it was informally renamed Stoke Minster in 2005 in recognition of the important role it plays in the Civic life of Stoke on Trent and north Staffordshire.

It is dedicated to St Peter ad Vincula (Saint Peter in Chains), an ancient and unusual dedication deriving from San Pietro in Vincoli in the city of Rome.

The first church on the site was built in wood in 670. This was replaced by a stone building in 805 and this was further extended over the years. The remains of this old Anglo-Saxon and former collegiate church can still be seen in the churchyard although the prominent re-erected arches date from the 13th century when the chancel was rebuilt. Saxon evidence survives in the baptismal font rescued from use as a garden ornament and restored in 1932 for baptismal use in the church. [Richard Talbot; "The Church and Ancient Parish of Stoke-upon-Trent", Webberley Ltd, Hanley, 1969 (page 41)]

The present parish church was designed by "Trubshaw and Johnson" [Nikolaus Pevsner; "The Buildings of England - Staffordshire", Penguin Books Ltd, 1974. ISBN (page 262)] and built from 1826 and consecrated on October 6, 1830. There are ceramic memorials in the church to many of the great potters of the district and there is a fine modern memorial to the great football player Sir Stanley Matthews. The title of "Stoke Minster" was conferred on this parish church by The Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill, Bishop of Lichfield, at a ceremony on May 17, 2005. [http://www.lichfield.anglican.org/pressr/articles/2005/050314a.htm]

Notes