The Sixteen's Blog

Croydon Parish Church, soon to be Minster

Few will, I suspect, claim Croydon as being one of the nation’s architectural gems, but you may recall our pleasant surprise last year, when we gave our first concert in Croydon Parish Church, to discover an oasis in and around the church.  Such discoveries are one of the many things the Choral Pilgrimage is all about, so we were delighted to return last Friday for another full performance of our Victoria programme.   

Croydon Parish Church has a long and distinguished history. It is believed to have been founded in Saxon times, since there is a record of “a priest of Croydon” in 960, although the first record of a church building is in the Domesday Book (1086). The church has had close links with the Archbishops of Canterbury who had a Palace in Croydon. Much of that building still stands next to the church and is now the Old Palace School. Six Archbishops of Canterbury are buried in the church and many more would have worshipped here. In its final medieval form, the church was mainly a Perpendicular-style structure, but this was severely damaged by fire in 1867, following which only the tower, south porch and outer walls remained.

Zoe at our Patrons Circles desk at Croydon

Under the direction of Sir George Gilbert Scott the church was rebuilt, incorporating the remains and essentially following the design of the medieval building, and was reconsecrated in 1870.  It seems highly appropriate that the Parish Church will become Croydon Minster later this month. This elevation in status will be confirmed on the 29th May at the 10am service by the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun. The title is being bestowed as a reflection of the Church’s work in the community, the history of the church and the Church as a centre for civic services.  The Sixteen looks look forward to returning next April.  Membership of our Patrons Circles was further boosted in Croydon, not least because of our team’s skills of persuasion.  This support is invaluable in enabling us to continue to broaden our Choral Pilgrimage to take in more splendid buildings.

And thence to the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday for the Massive Messiah.  Over 350 singers (including a contingent from the USA)  joined The Sixteen in a performance of Handel’s masterpiece.   That frequent moment of hesitancy – to stand or not to stand – was avoided by the entire audience being invited to rise and sing the Hallelujah Chorus!

Massive Messiah