Ecclesiology & Architecture in 19th Century Leicestershire Conference – April 2026.

Saturday 11th April 2026. 10:00AM to 4:30PM. St Mary’s Church, Wymeswold, Leicestershire.

The Rev. Henry Alford, A.W.N. Pugin and the Restoration of St Mary’s Church, Wymeswold.

Between 1844 and 1846, the Reverend Henry Alford, vicar of Wymeswold (later Dean of Canterbury)commissioned the architect A.W.N. Pugin to restore his parish church of St Mary’s. The Rev. Alford had an enthusiasm for ecclesiology; he had recently joined the Cambridge Camden Society and was a good friend of the Leicestershire squire and convert to Roman Catholicism Ambrose de Lisle. Pugin rebuilt the nave, aisles, and windows of St Mary’s, while the patrons Trinity College, Cambridge commissioned the refurbishment of the chancel roof. The interior of the church was completely overhauled, with altar, choir, screen, pews, lighting, and windows all of Pugin’s design and largely manufactured by Hardman of Birmingham. St Mary’s remains an important, Grade 1 listed, example of early ecclesiological design.

In 2025, the National Lottery Heritage Fund financed a major repair of the nave roof along with a heritage project focused on the history of the church. We are celebrating the end of the project with a study day on the Rev Alford and A.W.N. Pugin. We want to examine the form and style of the work; the context in which it took place; the music and liturgy designed for the interior; and to compare St Mary’s and her context to other contemporaneous projects in the region.

There will be a fee of £10 for lunch and refreshments.

Programme

• 10am. Session 1. Welcome and opening lecture
• 10.15 am Dr Peter Lindfield, FSA, University of Cardiff and The Pugin Society. ‘Pugin and The Past: Gothic Revival and Gothic Survival.’
• 11.15 coffee and biscuits
• 11.30 am Session 2. The Restoration of St Mary’s, Wymeswold
• 11.30am Richard Bimson, Churchwarden of St Mary’s. ‘St Mary’s Wymeswold: Church Restorations 1840-2026 and beyond’.
• 12pm Professor Carol Engelhardt Herringer, Georgia Southern University, USA. ‘A Church and a Mystery: Theology and the Interior of St Mary’s in Context.’
• 12.30pm Lunch and informal visit to St Mary’s church
• 1.15pm Session 3. The Restoration of St Mary’s in its Leicestershire and Rutland Context
• 1.15pm Bob Trubshaw, Wolds Historical Organisation. ‘Emerging Ecclesiology in Leicestershire’.
• 1.45pm Professor Chris Baker, Emeritus Professor, University of Birmingham ‘All Saints Oakham – Gothic despoiled, restored and justified.’
• 2.15pm Coffee Break
• 2.30pm Session 4. The Archaeology of St Mary’s
• 2.30pm Vaughn Ortner, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Archaeological Unit. ‘Scrape and Paste: Victorians and A Future for Medieval Archaeology at Restored Churches.’
• 3pm Tour of Victorian Wymeswold by Elizabeth Tingle
• 4pm Tea and cake
• 4.30pm Close of conference

There will be an opportunity to view the exhibition of the history of the churches and chapels of Wymeswold, before and after the conference.