Bailiffgate Museum
Formerly St Mary’s Church – now Alnwick’s town museum.
Alnwick's Bailiffgate Museum was formerly the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary, and stands on the site of earlier Catholic chapels. The site is therefore of historical interest as well as being a visible reminder of its former role.
The story of worship on this site goes back to the late 1750s, when the Society of Jesuits furnished a room for religious services. People attending Mass there often had to stand in the passageway outside due to lack of space. A larger chapel was opened in the same building in 1796, and this was in turn replaced on the same site between 1835 and 1836 (at a cost of £2,100) by the building seen today. The Jesuits handed over the Parish Church of St Mary to the local RC Bishop in 1855.
The building became redundant when the congregation transferred to the larger (formerly Anglican) church of St Paul in Percy Street in 1982. Fittings from St Mary's such as The Stations of the Cross, and the reredos from behind the altar can now be seen in St Paul's.
Bailiffgate Museum has kept most of the fabric of the former St Mary's Church intact. The organ has been restored and recitals and the sound of sacred music once again echo in the old building.
A lift was installed to make the museum fully accessible and the first floor gallery extended to provide display and working areas. An interesting modern feature is the new mezzanine floor, which barely touches the side walls as it is suspended from its own supporting columns.
Other original features which can still be seen include the oak roof with its gargoyles and inset stained glass windows, the arch above the site of the altar, and the commemorative stained glass windows on the front facade.
Additional information:
Bailiffgate Museum website: http://www.bailiffgatemuseum.co.uk
Listed Grade II http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-235604
Memorial windows: Blessed Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, is depicted in the window on the west side of the building which was gifted in 1896 by seven of his descendants. Following the failure of the "Rising of the North" of 1569, he was beheaded in York for his part in the attempt to restore Catholicism to England.
At the same time the window depicting St Hilda, Foundress of Whitby Abbey in AD 657, was installed on the east side. The Percy family had held the Lordship of Whitby prior to their purchase of the Barony of Alnwick in 1309, which explains the connection between the Yorkshire saint and a Northumberland church.
Further reading: "A Centenary History", by parish priest the Reverend Canon Alfred Chadwick, tells many stories about the former St Mary's church.