St Paul's Church is a Church of England parish church located on St Paul's Square in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. Formerly a medieval collegiate church, the large building of cathedral proportions with its later additions and iconic spire dominates the town. St Paul's is the largest Anglican church in Bedfordshire, and the church exercises a ministry of welcome to thousands of visitors and pilgrims from far and wide each year. St Paul's is officially recognised as a Major Parish Church and is a member of the Major Churches Network.
Historically, St Paul's has played a key part in the life of the British nation: as the home for the BBC's daily worship during the Second World War; and the Service for the National Day of Prayer in 1941, at which the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang preached, was also broadcast to the UK and wider world from the church. St Paul's is today the Civic Church of the Borough of Bedford and the County of Bedfordshire; it is a focus for special commemorations and celebrations in the borough, county, and the wider region of the East of England, as well as being a central venue for concerts, recitals and exhibitions. As well as serving a diverse parish and ministering to a congregation of all ages, the church also enjoys fine choral and liturgical worship in the English cathedral tradition. It is a grade I listed building.
History
The first Minster
Some evidence exists for the founding of St Paul's Church as a new minster by King Offa (d. AD 796) to serve the inhabitants of his new fortified urban burgh. Offa is understood to have been buried in Bedford, and his Minster Church of St Paul has been identified as a probable site of his grave. The church mentioned by name in the Domesday Book of 1086 was a house of secular canons in the eleventh century, ruled by an abbot in 971, and the church in which Oscytel (or Oskytel), Archbishop of York was buried in 956, indicating that St Paul's was an important minster church from at least the tenth century onwards.
The second and third churches
From the early ninth century the priests’ mission was frequently interrupted by the invasions of the heathen Danes which continued at intervals until the arrival of the Normans in 1066. The Danes caused sporadic damage wherever they plundered or settled. They used the river to move inland to Bedford on their way westwards into the Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex, and in 1009-10 destroyed the church in the fighting. The Anglo-Saxon chronicles report that ‘forever they burnt as they went, then they turned back to the ships with their booty’.
Originally constructed in the early 13th century, the present church building has undergone numerous alterations, extensions, rebuilds and restorations since this time. An Early English south porch does survive from the original 13th-century structure, however, and records trace the existence of a previous Collegiate church on this site as far back as 1066. The Trinity Chapel of the church was first constructed in 1416, with maintenance of the chapel entrusted to the Holy Brotherhood of the Trinity. The church has long standing connections with Sir William Harpur and Dame Alice Harper, and the Trinity Chapel holds brasses of the couple. Sir William was the Lord Mayor of the City of London in 1562, and his Harpur Trust (which has a long history of operating independent schools in Bedford) has donated many of the stained glass windows in the church. Other improvements in the 15th century included Misericords in the Quire (or chancel) and two additional porches. The Trinity Chapel was used as an Archdeacon’s Court after the English Reformation.
On 23 May 1656, John Bunyan, the Christian preacher and author of "The Pilgrim's Progress", preached at St. Paul's. John Wesley, the Anglican cleric and Christian theologian (also one of the founders of Methodism) preached the Assize Sermon at the church on 10 March 1758. During the 19th century St Paul's adopted the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England, where it remains. In 1864 the Revd Michael Ferrebee Sadler was appointed taking over from the Reverend John Donne. Sadler was to encourage Fanny Eagles to become a deaconess. As a result, the Sisters of Saint Etheldreda began to be associated with the parish from 1869. Architectural work to the church in the 19th century includes the tower and spire, transepts, choir stalls, quire and quire roof.