Church Heritage Record 627833

Nave of 3 wide bays with narrow aisles continuing along the chancel; short projecting sanctuary;  baptistery and north porch at the west end; organ chamber projecting north from the eastern bay of the nave, shallow porch adjacent to the east.  Crypt underneath the chancel with boiler room and vestries, with access from the stair passage running north along the chancel north aisle.  Circular stair turret at junction with the  organ chamber. 

Nave c 23m (70ft) by 10m (33ft).

The present church was preceded by an iron mission church, built in 1883 on land donated by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.  The present church was designed by W D Caröe (1857-1938), one of the leading figures of the Arts and Crafts movement, an architect of some renown both as a master of spatial planning and a designer of striking originality (both evident, though sparingly, at this church).  The church was designed in 1901 and consecrated in 1903, but was never completed, the west end finished behind brick façade walls with a lean to of dark-stained wooden boarding.

The church has all the hallmarks of a Caröe design, with lofty dimensions and superb massing, and clever use of fenestration to provide dramatic lighting - though this last quality is marred by the lack of windows at the west end, and the unfinished nature of the south aisle. However, the overall concept can be discerned and is still impressive, if not in the first class of this architect’s work.

The building has no tower, a small open belcote of banded brick and stone marking the junction of nave and chancel giving little extra emphasis.  Nevertheless the height of the building is imposing, emphasised by the narrow dimensions and steeply pitched roof, with the nave and chancel in one sweep, the organ chamber roof curiously just deviating in pitch. 

The fenestration is typically varied.  There are pairs of 2-lights with Decorated tracery in the nave and chancel, the organ chamber has two tall plain pointed lancets. Entry is gained at this side via two shallow porches with gabled facades, approached by steep flights of steps; the north-west porch is no longer used.  The stairs to the crypt are contained within a wall with a straight parapet which curves back to the aisle wall at the east end, pierced by small pointed 2-lights.

Walking around to the south side, the lack of money to finish the project in 1904 becomes even more evident. The south aisle has square domestic windows in the eastern two bays, and dark-stained wooden boarding across the chancel aisle.  Only one of the three plain nave buttresses has been finished. A nicely articulated chimney rises from the roof.

More typical of Caröe in terms of attention to detail is the fenestration of the sanctuary, with square-headed 3-lights in the side walls, and a short 7-light in the east gable of the chancel, allowing light from the east despite the lack of a window in the sanctuary east wall. This has instead a moulded brick cross with a calvary base merging into a central buttress below, the roof hidden behind a shallow gabled parapet.  There is a row of lancets low in the wall to light the crypt.

The interior is architecturally much more homogenous and impressive, with the exception of the west wall lean-to which has grey panelling. Floors are woodblock, with red carpet in the nave and podium, and geometric tiles in the chancel.  The nave is characterised by slender stone piers which rise without capitals to form high pointed arcades. 

The chancel is treated differently, reflecting the archaeological progression of the design from west to east, from lancets to Tudor, as with the fenestration. The chancel arch is tall and just pointed, the sanctuary arch of the same profile but much lower. There are lower arches in the side walls with the same profile giving access to the aisles. A tripartite sedilie in the south sanctuary wall and an aumbry opposite it are typically Caröe in their careful detail.

A heavy dark oak rood is suspended in front of the chancel arch. The chancel and sanctuary have pointed barrel-vaulted roofs. The east wall of the sanctuary has an arch-headed recess with carved stone frame serving as a reredos.