Church Heritage Record 632348

Nave with lean-to west exonarthex with stairs to corner turrets, nave and small apsidal chancel with clasping vestries.

Nave and chancel c 18m (60ft) x 9m (29ft).

The area has always been very rural with small settlements dotted along the River Lea. There were medieval hamlets at East Hyde and New Mill End and there may therefore be some archaeological potential for settlement evidence on the site, but there is no firm evidence for this.  Since the 18th century it has been on the edge of the large landscaped park of Luton Hoo.

The church was built in 1840-2, designed by Benjamin Ferrey, one of the foremost Victorian architects, a pupil, friend and biographer of A W N Pugin.

The church was originally a daughter church of the parish church of Luton St Mary, and was built by subscription after the Marquis of Bute (owner of Luton Hoo) gave the land. The Marquis also contributed £600 towards the total subscription of £3096 and the Ames family gave £700 for the organ and the communion plate. It became a parish church in 1859.

This is an early and modest work by Ferrey.  The architectural detailing is reserved for the west façade, the rest of the church being relatively plain and standard Romanesque. There is a stepped triple lancet in the gable, the outer lights being blind. Only the north turret is complete, of three stages, the lower square with a long round-headed lancet (all windows like this), the middle stage octagonal and blind, the upper taller stage also octagonal with louvred openings under a hoodmould and capped with a conical turret.  The south turret is capped at the first stage.

There is a protruding open porch with a Lombard corbel frieze to the shallow lean-to roof.  Under this is a tall central rounded entrance with a moulded arch on plain imposts carried by columns, this leads to steps to the west entrance to the nave, which has a shouldered arch.  It is flanked by external stairs leading up to the turrets, set behind 4-bay arcades of thin brick colonettes with moulded arches.  The lower parts of these are obscured by ornamental bushes each side of the entrance.

The rest of the church exterior is simpler. Large lancets to each bay of the nave, and smaller ones to each bay of the apsidal chancel, all with hoodmoulds divided by strip pilasters.  Simple corbel table. Low vestry blocks wrap around the apse at low level, accessed by a round-headed doorway at each end of the east wall.

The interior is simple but pleasing, with details of quality. The light is suffused through many brightly coloured stained glass windows.  Looking west, there is a large west gallery with the organ in the middle. The gallery front is plain with a Lombard arcade along the rail, it is supported on wooden columns with cushion capitals.  It is accessed through a round-headed doorway in the south side of the west wall leading to stairs, a plain doorway on the other side leads to a cleaning room. The central doorway is rectangular inside with modern double doors.

Looking up, the nave roof is very good, tie beams and moulded king-posts and flanking posts with tracery spandrels, and diagonal struts. The ceiling above has small holes with horsehair fill hanging down.

Looking east, the nave is fully pewed with dark-stained pitch pine benches with moulded squared ends. Plain dado strip, with a paint scheme of white below and cream above, with gray from half way up the walls. The east bay functions as the chancel, with three rows of choir stalls on the south side, plain. There is a plain doorway in the east wall north of the chancel arch to the vestries flanking the sanctuary. Quarry tiled floor with red carpet down the central alley, yellow carpet to the chancel. The choir stalls on the south side have roundels to the ends with sexfoils within, and nailhead to the backs.

The sanctuary is highly decorated, with a High Victorian scheme. Scroll with texts around the round headed chancel arch, which has vine scroll plaster decoration.  Painted Commandments and Creed flank texts (the Beatitudes) in gilded scrolls in an arcade of round-headed niches under the stained glass windows of the apse. Painted red and gold decoration around the windows, blue with gold star ceiling. Encaustic tile floor.