St Mary's Church Nottingham City Centre

About

St Mary’s Church in the Lace Market is now open Monday-Friday from 11am-3pm, for solitude and private prayer. It will be open for public worship on Sunday mornings from 5th July.

Top sights at St Mary’s Church

1.    Sensationally daring structure, crowned by a massive tower
2.    Stunning interior space (c1475), a medieval masterpiece
3.    Historic porch (c1400) with stone vault, lion’s face and exquisite bronze doors
4.    Vast windows, full of glowing glass
5.    Lion and unicorn sculptures (1707), everyone’s favourites
6.    Memorial to the ‘Lace Bride’ and a bronze relief of WW1 soldiers (both 1919)
7.    A tranquil garden in the busy city
8.    Grave of George Africanus, Nottingham’s first black entrepreneur

St Mary’s Church – Grade 1 Listed and the largest medieval building in the city of Nottingham - is an iconic example of Nottingham’s prosperity during the 15th century. Its magnificent architecture - massive tower, slender columns, huge windows and alabaster monuments – testifies to the wealth poured into its construction by the guilds, merchants, and gentry of Nottingham society.

The Reformation of the 16th century, the Civil War of the 17th and unsympathetic alterations in the 18th stripped St Mary’s of its medieval splendour but the last two hundred years have seen sensitive restorations and additions, for example the splendid west front, chapel of the Holy Spirit, glowing stained glass, fine furnishings and a stunning stone floor.

In the quiet churchyard the grave of George Africanus, a West African former slave who became a successful entrepreneur in Nottingham in the late 18th – early 19th century, has become a focus of much local interest.

There are guidebooks, trails and explorer bags in the church. Visitors of all ages can use these to interpret the building and learn about the people associated with its long and fascinating history.

Sunday Services: 10.45am and 6.30pm
Atmospheric choral evensong on Wednesdays during term time at 6.15pm