St Thomas' Church

About

St Thomas’s belongs to the Church of England and is also part of the Inclusive Church initiative, which means that we are committed to ensure that all are truly welcome, whatever their story. There are services held daily (except Saturdays) – do join us if you can, or pop in on a Tuesday or Saturday morning to enjoy a hot drink and a cake, and a browse round our secondhand bookstall.

Our beautiful building is the latest one on this site which has been used for worship for nearly eight hundred years. Most of the building seen today dates from the 15th century, and the church houses many treasures from across the centuries. St Thomas's has always been the church of the City, and the painted badges of the Guilds are still visible in the medieval wall paintings of the Lady Chapel.

Visitors are drawn immediately to the 'Doom' painting above the chancel arch, perhaps St Thomas's single most famous feature. It is the largest and most complete example still surviving in the UK and was painted between 1470 and 1500.  However, it was whitewashed over in 1593 in the latter part of the Reformation.  It was uncovered in 1819, but then re-whitewashed! The final revelation occurred in 1881 and it was ‘restored’ according to the principles of the time.

In 2019, vital conservation work was carried out on the Doom, it was stabilised and cleaned; the removal of years of grime revealed the spectacular colours and detail you see today.

Visitors will also enjoy the strikingly modern altar table, built by local craftsman Matthew Burt, and created as part of a larger and ongoing project to reorder, repair and restore this wonderful church.