St Mary's Church pre and post the earthquake

A picture of the Church before and after the earthquake in 1884

Posted by Peter Hill

An early photograph of St Mary's Church, Wivenhoe, probably taken about 1875
Reproduced by kind permission of Essex Society for Archaeology and History
A picture of St Mary's Church taken after the 1884 earthquake. Notice the damage to the top of the tower.
From a picture postcard bought by Peter Hill
The tower has Roman bricks incorporated into it
Photo: Peter Hill
The gates were presented to the Church by Eliza Howard in 1901
Photo by Peter Hill

This is one of the first known pictures of St Mary’s Church which was probably taken in the 1870s. Notice the lantern supported on an iron frame above the entrance to the churchyard as well as the trees and the gravestones.

The top of the Church tower was damaged in consequence of the 1884 earthquake. It is not possible to see whether the lantern survived the earthquake from this picture, but they were certainly replaced in 1901 when Eliza Howard paid for new gates to be installed.

To read the story about the Earthquake – click here

The gravestones were removed by Wivenhoe Urban District Council in the 1950s and placed around the edge of the churchyard when the Council took over responsibility for managing it.

 

This page was added on 02/09/2016.

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