History

Although there is no known record of the date of the first church that was built on this site, documents show that the land in Sneinton was owned by Lenton Priory in around 1103-1108, and the parish paid a Pentecostal offering to Southwell in the 12th Century.

The first mention of St Stephen’s, Sneinton was 1234, when Lenton Priory supplied monks as priests to the parish. This first church was situated in the southeast corner of the churchyard and was probably built of stone, later used to repair the churchyard wall. In 1558 a severe storm damaged the church so badly that the bells ended up in the churchyard. It must have been possible to repair the damage as there is no record of a new church being built at that time, indeed the font you can see at the back is the original, probably dating from the 14th century, which amazingly survived the storm

In 1790 a second church was built, also of stone, in the same part of the churchyard. It was the same size as its medieval predecessor and was soon found to be too small for the growing population of the parish. Stone from this second church, when it was demolished, was used to repair the churchyard wall.

The third church, opened on 28th October 1810, was built of brick and is believed to have been to the east of the present church building. It had pinnacles on the tower and on each corner of the main building and the chancel extension. There were small low windows in the nave and a single three light window in the east wall of the chancel.

On the 3rd April 1838 the foundation stone of the fourth church, a much larger building, was laid by Earl Manvers. Although the prestigious church architects, Rickman and Hussey, were originally engaged by Reverend Whyatt, the eventual building was designed by local architect William Surplice. Like the previous building, it had pinnacles on the tower, which now had a clock with two faces on the north and west elevations. It was cruciform in shape with tall narrow windows, filled with stained glass. There was seating for a congregation of 1200; schoolchildren sat in the chancel while the choir was located in a gallery at the west end of the church.

Other notable items in the church are the medieval misericords, part of the choir stalls from St. Mary's. They are some of the finest in the country, and visitors from as far away as Brazil have come to see them. The high quality carvings feature many animals, including lions, a fox riding a hound, a goat, a cat, an ape, and even a unicorn. You will also find Jack in the Green or the Green Man. When St. Mary's in the Lace Market was refurbished in 1848 their medieval choir stalls were discarded. They were spotted on Sneinton Market and bought for ten shillings by the organist of St. Stephen's, Mr. W.H. Wilcockson. Another tale is that he actually saw them in a pile of builder's rubble in St. Mary's churchyard. Whichever story you prefer, they were installed in the 1838 church, then refitted into the chancel of the current building. The chancel screen, made entirely of oak, was erected in 1878 as a memorial to Reverend Whyatt.

From the Dissolution of the Monasteries the church was served mostly by clergy from St. Mary's Church, Nottingham until it became a parish is its own right in 1866.

The fifth and final church was designed by Bodley and Hare, appointed in 1908 to completely rebuild the church but it was thought that the costs were too high. One of the changes made was to incorporate the existing 1839 Rickman tower into the design making a considerable saving. Bodley and Hare’s plans were based on 15th century German Gothic designs. Pevsner attributes most of the design to Hare.

It was one of the earliest Gothic Revival buildings in Nottinghamshire. It is a Commissioners' church, having been given a grant towards the cost of its construction by the Church Building Commission; the full cost of the church was £4,511 (equivalent to £500,000 in 2023), towards which the Commission granted £1,303.

In more recent years the church was re-ordered and the nave altar was installed. It has a frontal of three etched glass panels and underneath is a small carved mouse. At the same time a new priest's chair, stools and paschal candle stand in matching light wood were purchased. The altar was consecrated by Bishop Glyn Webster, Bishop of Beverley, on St. Stephen's Day 2014.

The font is from the first church and probably dates from the 14" century. The font cover in 15 Century style, but probably carved much late, is dedicated to Francis Herbert Pratt, a churchwarden from 1902-1935.

Our Stations of the Cross were designed and presented to St. Stephen's in 1926/7. The were originally plain white, the colour being added in 1945. The main statues originally in St. Stephen's Church were St. Stephen, St. Alban, St. Peter and St. Francis of Assissi, and the tall statue of Our lady to the left of the Lady Chapel altar. These were augmented by statues from St. Matthias Church, mainly St. Matthias screen and the wooden carving of St. Joseph. Also around the church you will find Christ the King, St. Hilda and St. John Villani among others.

The ornate high altar reredos was designed by George Frederick Bodley and made in Oberammergau. It features scenes from the life of Christ.

The memorial tablet to George Green was installed at a service to celebrate his bicentennial. He is buried in the northwest area of the churchyard. Other notable occasions at St. Stephen's were the baptism of William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army who was born across the road in Notintone Place, and the wedding of D. H. Lawrence's parents. Since the first church services conducted by the monks from Lenton Priory there have been 39 incumbents at St. St. Stephen's, many being canons or curates at other churches at the same time, beginning in 1596 with Robert Aldridge.

The church featured in a 1959 British Pathé newsreel, which showed Reverend John Tyson, the local vicar, encouraging young people back to church. They helped with the cleaning, attended evening service and in return were able to build a cafe and rock 'n' roll club in the vicarage