Why St Seps?
Many people - especially visitors - ask how this church comes to be called St Seps or St Sepulchre's. First of all it has to be said that the dedication of the church is not to Saint Septimus.
In fact the explanation is very simple since the church was built to the same circular design as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which was erected by Emperor Constantine over the site of the empty tomb from which Jesus had been resurrected on the first Easter Day in about the year 33AD.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem
The early Christians considered that the empty tomb was a sacred place. At that time Jerusalem was the capital city of the Roman Province of Judea and the Romans there spoke and wrote in Latin. The Latin for 'sacred' or 'holy is sanctus or sanctum. The Latin for a tomb - a sepulchre - is sepulchrum. So a sacred or holy tomb is Sanctum Sepulchrum and when translated back into English this becomes Holy Sepulchre.
Similarly it is a very short step from Sanctum Sepulchrum to St Sepulchrum or St Sepulchrum.
Needless to say St Sepulchrum becomes St Sepulchre in English, as in the full title - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre - but St Sepulchre gets shortened even more to St Sep's (as if the church had been dedicated to some mysterious saint called Sep; in the same way that a church dedicated to St Mary would become St Mary's). The final stage drops the apostrophe and we are left with the locally familiar St Seps.
Nationally and internationally the church is usually called Holy Sepulchre and that is the formal style in Northamptonshire. But St Sepulchre's and the friendly St Seps will live on to remind us of the original Latin name.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
is also called
The Church of the Resurrection
In Greek it is written: Ναός της Αναστάσεως (or Naos tis Anastaseos).
In Arabic it is written: كنيسة القيامة (or Kanīsat al-Qiyāma).
In Armenian it is: Սուրբ Հարություն (or Surp Harutyun).
Contact
Office: Church Lane
Northampton, NN1 3NL
Tel: 01604 627988
Vicar: 01604 230316
Restoration Trust:
Tel: 01604 754782