Warwick church has already raised £100,000 to pay for urgent repairs to the town's landmark tower

A procession by the great and the good held in Warwick 450 years ago to celebrate a visit to the town by Sir Robert Dudley has been restaged on a smaller scale by St Mary's Church as part of its £3million fundraising campaign.

Town councillors, the brethren who live at The Lord Leycester Hospital and Warwick Court Leet, wore their ceremonial robes to lead the procession from the historic hospital site to St Mary’s for the inauguration of the first members into the Order of St Mary, the church’s new fundraising fellowship.

They were joined by Reverend Vaughan Roberts, Vicar of St Mary’s and Team Rector of Warwick; Bishop of Warwick, The Right Reverend John Stroyan, who led the service; Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Tim Cox; High Sheriff of Warwickshire, Lady Willoughby de Broke; and Mayor of Warwick, Richard Edgington.

St Mary’s is raising money to pay for urgent repairs to its landmark tower and to ensure the fabric, music and ministry of the mediaeval ‘county church of Warwickshire’ for the next millennium.

The aim is to secure the majority of the money needed to coincide with its 900th anniversary in 2023.

The Order of St Mary has been established to provide a regular stream of income and so far more than 40 people have joined, raising over £100,000.

The inauguration service was held to coincide with the 450th anniversary of the visit to Warwick by the then Earl of Leycester, Sir Robert Dudley, on Michaelmas Day in September 1571 when St Mary’s Church hosted the feast of the Order of St Michel, the Archangel — the patron Saint of the French order of chivalry to which Dudley had been elected.

Warwick held a special significance to Dudley, as he was a descendent of Richard Beauchamp, the 13th Earl of Warwick, and it was also in 1571, under royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I, that he established The Lord Leycester Hospital for aged or injured soldiers and their wives, a charity that still operates today, similar to The Royal Chelsea Hospital and its famous Chelsea pensioners.

Sir Robert Dudley is buried at St Mary’s with his wife and son in a tomb within the ornate Beauchamp Chapel, which is considered to be one of the great funerary chapels in England.

The Reverend Vaughan Roberts said: “Written accounts of the celebration at St Mary’s of Robert Dudley’s investiture into the prestigious Order of St Michel tells of a momentous day in the history of Warwick, so its 450th anniversary was the right time to formally establish a new ‘Order’ whose members will help secure the future of our church.

“We know there are many thousands of other people who have a connection to St Mary’s, whether they were baptised here, were married here, or are among the 40,000 people who pay a general visit every year, and joining the Order of St Mary is one of many ways that they can contribute to our fundraising and in turn create a legacy for themselves in the timeline of our church.”

Membership of the Order of St Mary begins at £500 a year, with a programme of exclusive events and special visits to other places of ecclesiastical, heritage and cultural interest organised for those who join.

To join or to make a donation to the fundraising campaign, go to: www.stmaryscampaign2023.org.uk