St. Mary's Church: A History Of Helping The Destitute
A while back I went to visit Paul Burkitt, the vicar at St. Mary's Church in Lowgate Hull. The church is currently the base for homeless projects in the city, like Hull Homeless Outreach. But as Paul explained to me, St. Mary's has a long history of reaching out to and giving sanctuary to the poor and destitute citizens of Hull, that goes back hundreds of years.
There has been a church on the site since the early 1300s, making it the oldest church in the city. It has gone through a series of renovations and additions to the building over the centuries, with the current building reflecting the restoration work 1861-3, carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Sadly, the church today is in desperate need of major restoration work, and is under threat of closure if much needed funds cannot be raised.
Aside from a place of worship, the church is at the heart of the city centre community. It is used as a music venue and art space, with artist in residence Marcel Craven displaying his works in the church. But above all, what St. Mary's has become well known for is it's work with homeless in the city. With soup kitchens open three times a week, and a weekly food bank drop-in and support service. Also the church yard is often used as a place of refuge on a night for some of the rough sleepers in the city centre. |
When I visited Paul, he explained that the history of St. Mary's reaching out the most in need of Hull stretches back centuries. On the north-side of the building of a door that is commonly referred to as the "beggars door". It is at this door in the 1800s that the destitute of the city would line-up to be given loaves of bread provided through a programme of charitable aid established by the third of the famous "3 John Scotts", who were three generations of vicars who served the parish between 1816 and 1883.
The latter of the three, Rev'd John Scott, took up his position at the church in 1865. He was a great believer in social change, and instigated what we would today call "community projects". A set-up a soup kitchen, a penny bank for the poor and funding for a parish nurse. And the regular weekly, to use today's language, "food bank drop-in".
The latter of the three, Rev'd John Scott, took up his position at the church in 1865. He was a great believer in social change, and instigated what we would today call "community projects". A set-up a soup kitchen, a penny bank for the poor and funding for a parish nurse. And the regular weekly, to use today's language, "food bank drop-in".
There's a bitter sweet irony to the fact that today the very same work is being carried out at the church. That still in Hull in the 21st century there is an on-going need for charitable projects like those at St. Mary's, that reach out to the most destitute in the city. Yet we all should be thankful that such a place of help and sanctuary does still exist after all these years.
A place where the homeless sleeping rough around the city centre know they can come and get a meal, warm clothes, bedding, toiletries, and a friendly greeting from all the volunteers that run the projects that are based out of St. Mary's. |
We Shall Overcome is pleased to be supporting the homeless projects at St. Mary's. And that Paul Burkitt has been kind enough to give over the church on the evening of Friday the 2nd of October as a venue for one of our many events that we are holding over the weekend.
For Further Information On Homeless Projects In Hull...
As mention in the article Hull Homeless Outreach operate out of St. Mary's Church. For further information about homeless projects in Hull and the Humber region you can go to the Humber Help website, for a directory of projects.