History of St Nicholas
In 1981 Maureen Abernethy prepared a more complete History of St Nicholas church . Please feel free to download.
St Nicholas has had a long association with the city of Durham. There has been a church on the present site from at least 994; and the building stands on Walker Gate, next to the site of Clayport, one of the ancient gates of the city. The church was once part of the city's fortifications and though the need for a city wall has passed, St Nicholas has always been inextricably woven into the life of the city. In 1283 the Archbishop of York attempted to excommunicate the Prior and Convent of Durham from the pulpit of St Nicholas, narrowly escaping a mob baying for his blood. It was the Guild Church of Durham and the inscription on the stone screens of the chapel and the shields in the East Window speak of a close connection between the church and the city.
The present building is the result of two restoration projects. The first, in 1858, involved taking the old church down to the foundations. The present ground plan and pillars are substantially those of this restoration. George Townsend Fox was vicar at the time and the evangelical character of St Nicholas probably dates from his 26 years of ministry. The church has had an unbroken line of evangelical incumbents ever since. The second major restoration programme took place in 1980-81 and dramatically affected the appearance of the interior.
George Carey, the vicar of the day, later to be Archbishop of Canterbury, had a vision of a church at the heart of the city. He wanted it to be 'an open, attractive building, properly furnished, decorated and equipped. A centre where there would be activity seven days a week…offering hospitality and social care…a place, in fact, that would be a natural bridge between the Christian church and the outside world.' The story of that restoration has been fully told in the book "The Church in the Market Place".
Rectors:
Name/Year
Galfrid De Elemer 1133
(Names Lost)
Galfrid De Elme 1267
Peter De Sharters 1308
Andrew Burgeis 1314
Richard De Eryam 1315
William De Orchard 1346
John De Appilby 1348
William De Adelstanes 1354
Robert Bulmer 1355
John Austen 1362
Thomas De Bryston 1376
William De Bowland 1378
John De Hayton 1392
John Burnham 1396
William De Yharum 1405
John De Stafford 1406
Richard Bukley 1418
Thomas Bukley 1437
Curate:
John Swan 1501
Perpetual Curates (Or Vicars):
William Headlam 1556
Christopher Green 1578
John Watson 1582
Robert Dobson 1591
Christopher Wright 1603
Edward Smurthwaite 1629
Francis Forster 1637
Jonathan Devereux
(An Intruder) 1649
Samuel Martin 1663
James Sanderson 1688
Henry Porter 1710
William Eden 1720
John Perkins 1722
Robert Pigot MA 1726
William Forster MA 1749
Jonathan Branfoot 1763
John Robson MA 1783
Edward Davison BA 1802
Edward Davison MA 1825
George Townsend Fox MA 1856
Henry Elliot Fox MA 1882
Robert Bruce DD (Hon Canon Of Durham) 1896
Westley Bothamley MA (Hon Canon Of Durham) 1904
Frederick Henry Pickering MA 1930
Hugh A Evan Hopkins MA 1944
John W Wenham MA BD 1948
George J C Marchant MA LTh (Hon Canon Of Durham) 1954
George L Carey BD MTh PhD 1975
Michael Wilcock BA 1982
Dale Robert Hanson MA 1998
John Stephen Bellamy MA PhD 2008