St Michael, Croydon

Some churches appeal because of their architecture; others from their history or location, and still others for their atmosphere. Saint Michael is one of the last group: located in an unprepossessing part of central Croydon, sandwiched between dull tower blocks on one side and bus and railways stations on the other, the church belies its location. 

The architect was John Loughborough Pearson, whose cathedral at Truro and churches of St Augustine in Kilburn and St Stephen, Bournemouth, are rightly celebrated.  The foundation stone was laid in 1880 and the church consecrated just 3 years later. The exterior is in red brick with ashlar dressings, and impressive not just in its scale, but for the huge and fortress-like south porch, the base for an intended (but never-built) tower.

Inside, the layout comprises a soaring nave, transepts and an apsed chancel, complete with ambulatory, as at St Stephen Bournemouth. The piers, ribs and arches are executed in ashlar, with stock brick walls and vaults stained the colour of tobacco (it is vaulted throughout). The south chapel is itself aisled, the view across it to the ambulatory comprising a veritable forest of columns. This is all best viewed on a sunny day at the end of a service: shafts of light pour through the lancet windows of the nave clerestory, cutting dramatically through the clouds of the incense. If architecture can reflect the divine, this must surely be it.

Many of the richly coloured fittings, including the organ case, font and pulpit, were the work of G F Bodley; the south chapel furnishings are by Sir Ninian Comper. The church is the centre of a very active ministry, with daily masses in the Anglo-Catholic tradition supported by a rich choral repertoire, and extensive outreach to the local community.

St Michael, Poplar Walk, Croydon CR0 1UA

St John the Evangelist, Hyde Park

The former Connaught Chapel occupies an enviable site in the heart of the Hyde Park Estate, where (for once) the post-war rebuilding of the surrounding housing has respected the church in its design - though, not being on a major thoroughfare, it does take a little searching out.

When the area was being developed in the early 1800s, the original proposal was for a classical Ionic design by the architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell (best known for Admiralty House). On his death in 1827, the Church Commissioners turned instead to Charles Fowler, architect of Covent Garden Market. His design was very different - a Perpendicular church with a nave of 8 bays of clustered shafts, tall aisles and clerestory, and a small square chancel. As completed in 1832, the church had galleries above the aisles and could seat over 2,000. The large east and west windows were inserted in their present form by Arthur William Blomfield,  along with the addition of a front porch, in 1888.

The removal of the galleries and pews have a resulted in a feeling of lightness and spaciousness: the entry from the west door towards the altar is something of a coup de théâtre. That said, the huge east and west windows, filled with good early 20th century glass, rather steal the show by their sheer size.

The church today is home to a vibrant parish life in the Liberal Catholic tradition, with a particular reputation for music (concerts cover a wide repertoire) and a strong emphasis on inclusivity. The church is open weekdays for private prayer (evening prayer is celebrated Monday to Thursday) as well as Sunday services.

St John's Hyde Park, Hyde Park Crescent, London, W2 2QD

St Cyprian, Clarence Gate, Regent's Park

Tucked away, a short walk behind Baker Street station, St Cyprian is a favourite of church enthusiasts  (among them John Betjeman), and is notable for being the first complete design by Sir Ninian Comper.

Built in 1902-3, the exterior is plain red brick and hardly registers as you walk past the mansion blocks on Glentworth Street. It certainly gives little hint of what lies inside, which comes as something of a revelation: a nave of six bays of tall, slender, clustered shafts with generous aisles, lit by large Perpendicular windows on each side, filled with clear glass. This delivers a beautifully balanced but rather austere space, all the more to focus the eyes towards the chancel and its flanking chapels, which are filled with Comper's richly gilded fittings, sumptuous hangings and brilliantly stained glass. The nave is in fact modelled on that of Attelborough, Norfolk, and the English Heritage listing states that Comper's aim was to "to fulfil the ideal of the English Parish Church... in the last manner of English Architecture". 

Foremost of the fittings is a tall but delicate screen, with figures of saints and apostles very much in the Norfolk style, running the entire width of the church. Above the Rood, the roof is similarly richly decorated, with a painted tympanum depicting Christ seated in glory. The stained glass is also by Comper, as is the later font at the west end: indeed, he worked on the church, completing the various elements, for over 30 years (early photographs show a much plainer interior). The evolution of his style is seen most clearly in the font and its tall, gilded cover, which were completed in 1930-32. The  inclusion of more classical forms illustrates his concept of "Unity by Inclusion", blending the best of gothic and classical.

The church today has regular services in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, and I received a cheerful welcome on my visit.

St Cyprian, Clarence Gate, London NW1 6AX

St David, Garthbrengy

The tiny church of Garthbrengy sits just shy of 1,000ft up, on an exposed hillside above the valley of the Rover Honddu, 4 miles north of Brecon. On my visit, the weather was suitably harsh, with cold, thick, drizzle sweeping across the site. 

Unusually for this blog, this church is redundant and has been in private ownership since 2019, although the graveyard on the south side is still accessible and maintained by the Church in Wales. I include it partly as a wonderful example of a Welsh hilltop church, and partly because of my own family links: my Great-great-great grandparents were married there in 1841. At that time, the substantial employment provided by the nearby dairy farms supported a much larger population than now.

Parts of the building may date from the 12th Century, and it is referred to in a taxation roll in 1291. The church has nave and chancel all in one, with a south porch and west tower. Prior to closure, the interior had a mediaeval stoup and font, and there is a stoup in the porch as well. Some sources claim the squat, thick-walled tower as 17th Century on the basis of windows, but these may have been replaced: it is typical of small mediaeval churches in the area - which often had a defensive function for locals in times of trouble. But there were certainly works undertaken in the 17th century and in the 19th century the restoration included the removal of the north aisle, the piers and arches of which remain in the north wall and are in the Perpendicular Gothic style.

Note that the north part of the churchyard is now a garden belonging to the property, which is being converted into a private home. The only part of the site publicly accessible is the graveyard on the south side - though this provides fabulous views south towards Brecon.

St David, Garthbrengy, Powys (1.5m north-east of Llandefaelog fach). 

St Mary, Brecon

St Jerome, Llangwm Uchaf

St Tysoi, Llansoy

St John, Apostle & Evangelist, Llandenny

St Peter, Dixton

St James, Spanish Place, Marylebone

 

Hinde Street, Methodist Church, Marylebone