St Stephen's Church is a Church of England parish church in Bournemouth, Dorset (formerly in Hampshire), England. The liturgical life of the church is rooted in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, and the building features a noted lady chapel. The church is close to Bournemouth town centre and Meyrick Park.
Location
1 explorer visited this place
History
The church was designed by the architect John Loughborough Pearson as a memorial to Alexander Morden Bennett, first vicar of St Peter's Church, Bournemouth. It is constructed with Purbeck stone and Bath stone. Its nave was built from 1881 to 1883 and the chancel from 1896 to 1897. The tower was built from 1907 to 1908. It is a Grade I listed building. It was in here, on 15 March 1888, that the wedding between Oscar Bernadotte of Sweden, son of King Oscar II, and Ebba Munck af Fulkila, took place.
Vicars
1881–1911 Alexander Sykes Bennett 1911–28 George Philip Trevelyan 1928–44 Philip Harold Rogers 1944–52 Geoffrey Heald 1952–58 Francis John Michael Dean 1958–62 Charles Edward Burnett Neate 1962–70 George Percy Wilkins 1970–73 Anthony Douglas Caesar 1974–83 John David Corbett 1983–87 John Catlin 1987–94 Paul Hastrop 1994–2012 Robin Harger 2009–2023 Ian Terry 2024– Nicholas Lawrence Jepson-Biddle
Music
The church has an organ by William Hill dating from 1898. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. There is also a small five-stop chamber organ dating from 1870. The specification of the chamber organ can also be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.
List of organists
1881–93 T. J. Baker 1894–1930 Henry Holloway 1930–35 Percy Whitlock 1936–66 Cyril Knight 1967–75 Spencer Fackerell 1976 Roger Hill 1976–82 Cyril Knight 1982–88 Ian Harrison 1988–94 Anthony Wood 1994–2019 Ian Harrison 2019–2024 Sean Tucker 2026- Nigel Groome
See also
List of new ecclesiastical buildings by J. L. Pearson