Ask Great Grimsby residents about their Parish church and they will mention Grimsby Minster, usually referring to it as the Church of St James. While St James church dates from at least the 1100's it wasn't the first Grimsby parish church, that honour belongs to the long gone church of St Mary. The two churches co-existed for centuries but only one survives. St Mary's Churchyard Grimsby - Click for a better image Geography St Mary's church was on the same road as St James, originally named "Bethlem Street", a reference to the Nativity. On the splendid 1840's map image I have highlighted the church location with a red cross. St James church can also be seen lower left. The street names have changed with time. North St Mary's Gate became Victoria Street. East and West St Mary's Gate retain their names today, though in the past they have carried others. Today Grimbarians usually refer to the road to the south as Bethlehem Street thou...
I've another page regarding the history and former location of the ancient Church of St Mary ( HERE ) but thought it better to keep this page on its own until I further research the names listed below. It can be interesting to research the lives of the clergy. Below is a list of those whom I think served at St Mary's. I've assembled the list from a multitude of sources; patent rolls for the early data, later records from the Church of England database, Victorian texts, and so on I need to do more with this list when I get the time. John de Perton, 1245 Robert de Auna, 1263 Robert de Ebor, 1266 Robert Champeneys, parson of the church of St. Mary, Grymmesby 1297 Nicholas Makerel, 1305 Geoffrey de Grymesby, 1310, he later served at the nearby Saxon church of Scartho village (then Scarthhou) Geoffrey de Stenyngg, 1327 William de Horncastr, 1329 Roger de Teyden (or Theyden), a former vicar of Goxhill, presented to the chur...