St. Hugh, Lincoln

Introduction

Saint Hugh, Lincoln, in the town of Lincoln, was opened by Cardinal Vaughan on 19 December 1893 and dedicated to St Hugh of Lincoln. The church was designed by Albert Vicars in the late Victorian gothic style to seat 500 people.

Architecture and furnishings

Bishop Bagshawe laid the foundation stone on 17 November 1892. The church was restored and redecorated in 2010.

The church is built of rockfaced stone with ashlar dressings and a slate roof, in Early English style. The church has a north-west tower with spire, nave with aisles, clerestory and double side chapels, canted apsidal east end, west porch, and attached vestry to the north.

The total length of the church is 117 feet and the spire rises to a height of 140 feet above the ground. The bell tower houses three bells, two of them being pre-reformation and having the original inscriptions.

The church has a stained glass memorial window from 1921. The church has a wreathed brass tablet memorial from 1908. The church has a barrel vaulted wooden roof with round wall shafts on corbels. The apse contains a mosaic dado.

The west porch has a canopied niche with a figure of St Hugh. Two pointed arched moulded doorways have shafts and relief scenes in the tympana. A half-round conical roofed stair turret stands to the east. The west end has a 5-light window with tracery, and above it a blind arcade.

The canted apse has angle buttresses and three single lancets with trefoil heads. The north aisle has an off-centre segmental pointed opening to a side chapel, with an ogee crested canopied gradine. The south aisle has a similar chapel with a canopied and crested gradine, and to its right single and double doors to confessionals. The east end has a double chamfered arch with round responds on foliage corbels.

The north-west tower has a double chamfered plinth, moulded string courses and an arcaded corbel table. The nave has six bays, plain pilasters, a coped gable with cross, and a south-west angle buttress topped with an arcaded square pinnacle. The clerestory has two lancets in each bay on each side. The north aisle has three single lancets and an off-centre lean-to side chapel.

The south aisle has to the left two small buttresses, to their right two lancets, and a lean-to projection with three round windows. Major side chapels to the east have coped gables and square headed windows, two to the west and single to the east. The aisles have lean-to roofs with wall shafts, and a doorway at each end, those to the east with a pointed opening above containing organ pipes. The bell stage has paired louvred openings with shafts on each side.

The second stage has a quatrefoil light to the north and west. The west side has a two-light window with hoodmould and above it an empty niche. Angle buttresses rise to the second stage, becoming octagonal turrets topped with pinnacles above. The south aisle has to its right a porch with coped gable and a canted side chapel with two lancets.

St Catherine of Siena is a secondary patron saint of the church. The church has an elaborate Decorated style crested reredos with crocketed canopies and spires.

Music and liturgy

A Prayer Network of parishioners prays for parishioners' intentions. A Coffee & Tea Rota provides tea and coffee in the church hall after each Sunday Mass. The Confirmation programme is celebrated each year in Lincoln and rotates around the parishes. The Hospital Visiting ministry sends Eucharistic Ministers regularly to hospitals, nursing homes, and private homes to take Holy Communion to the sick.

Marriage Care offers counselling to anyone with a relationship problem. The Hall Committee arranges and puts on parish events such as Harvest Supper and Christmas Party. Flower Arrangers arrange the church flowers. The parish has a children's liturgy and an increasing presence and participation of young adults.

Parish life

A Pre-Baptism Course is offered for parents requesting Baptism for their child. A Parish Pastoral Council is responsible to the Bishop of Nottingham through the Parish Priest. First Communions are normally celebrated on or near the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Couples considering marriage are urged to approach the priest at least six months before the wedding date. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) offers regular courses for anyone who would like to learn about the Catholic faith. The parish has a Student Chaplaincy.

Visiting

The church has a car park accessible from Unity Square and Friars Lane. The church is at the junction of Monks Road, Broadgate and Silver Street.

The church has a Prayer Network box located in the church for prayer intentions. The church has a Sunday Refreshments rota serving the Sunday morning Masses.