St Mary's Church - Sebergham
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Welcome to St Mary's Church, Sebergham |
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| Sunday Services |
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| 1st Sunday | 11:00 a.m. | Morning Prayer | |
| 2nd Sunday | 11:00 a.m. | Morning Prayer | |
| 3rd Sunday | no service | Links: |
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| 4th Sunday | 11:00 a.m. | Holy Communion | Staff & Churchwardens |
| 5th Sunday | to be arranged | Carlisle Diocese | |
| A Short History of St Mary’s Sebergham | |||
| This area was once covered by Inglewood Forest. In 1188, during the reign of Henry II, a hermit called William Wastell, or William de la Wastell, came to live on the site of this church. No one knows why he became a hermit. Perhaps, disgusted by the lawlessness of the times, he chose this place for a life of retirement. Imagine him in his earlier years felling trees on this very ground, helped by local inhabitants! He planted fruit trees and built himself, on the site where now stands the church, a cell in which to live, with a private chapel next to it. Into his chapel he used to call the local inhabitants, for whose spiritual welfare he was concerned. King John granted him the land he had cleared and William became the Lord of the Manor. He died extremely old and is remembered for the saintliness of his life.
There is little known as to how his chapel became replaced by the present church. The building is of plain and ancient structure, consisting of chancel, nave and tower (added 1825) with one bell. The church was restored in 1880, when the chancel was almost entirely rebuilt, the old east window restored and a new pulpit provided at a total cost of £300. There was a further restoration in 1905, at a cost of £1,000, when the western gallery was taken down, an entirely new roof provided, new windows on the south side and the nave seated in oak. The accommodation is 170. Three great names in Cumberland history are connected with this church: Josiah Relph, poet, curate and schoolmaster; Thomas Denton, parson and poet; and the renowned sculptor Musgrave Lewthwaite Watson. The carved memorial to his father, the marble plaque showing the graceful heads and outstretched arms of three women, adorns the north wall*. The magnificent statue in Carlisle Crescent is his work, too.The four lancet windows, retained in the restorations, are 13th Century. From the belfry a triple mullioned oriel window looks down on the nave and up to its hammerbeam roof. This dates from the 1905 restoration, replacing an oval one. A pair of windows in the North side of the nave contains a fine stained glass picture of the Good Samaritan and on the wall nearby is a charming memorial mosaic of our Lord with the little ones. In 1957, electricity and an organ blower were installed. The heavy oak door of the church was supplied by the national civic engineering and building firm of John Laing, which had it origins in the district and built their first house in Sebergham in 1848. It is a memorial to two members of the Laing family, one of whom still lived in Sebergham until 1963. * The Greek inscription translates: “Watch, for ye know not when the time is.” Mark 13.33
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