St John, Frome

Frome’s large parish church – fitting for a town that was as large than Bath until 1650 - lies a short distance up a hill from the town centre. From the outside, much of what the visitor sees is Victorian, but inside are substantial elements from a complex mediaeval building.

History

The church was founded around 685AD by St Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury, and this Saxon building survived until the Norman period. It was replaced late in the late 12th century, and fragments of the new Romanesque church can be found in the present fabric.

Around 1300, the nave was replaced, and the lower stages of the tower were built. The nave was extended late in the 14th century (or early 15th), and the northern transept rebuilt and the tower completed. In addition, chantry chapels added to the east of the tower (around 1412) and to the west of the north transept (1517).

The clerestory was also raised in the 15th century but, like much of the fabric, rebuilt in the 19th century, as it was said to be in very poor condition. These works included rebuilding the chancel (1847-9), the north porch (1862), the north and south aisles (1862-5), and the west front (1865).

The church

The two approaches to the church could not be more different: from the end of King Street and Cheap Street, a series of steep steps rises alongside a stone wall with sculpted stations of the cross, forming a processional way (or Via Crucis) to the North door; to the west a spacious forecourt is closed off from Bath Street by a five arched screen, designed in 1814 by Jeffry Wyatt.

Once inside, one is struck by the scale of the building, and particularly by the long nave. Here, the division between the earlier and later 14th century parts is clear in the design of the arcades. Both the clerestory and the rather intrusive sculpted roundels are Victorian.

The north chantry chapel is entered through a fine panelled arch. This is now a baptistery and, besides the font, contains many wall monuments. An attractive round-arched doorway with continuous mouldings (ie no capitals) from the Norman church opens into the north transept. Another Norman fragment is the round-headed piscina on the north wall of the chancel. Architecturally, the ornate Victorian chancel is less interesting than the south chantry chapel and the room beneath the tower, both of which have elaborate rere arches.

The church has many interesting furnishings. In the baptistery chapel are a 13th font in the shape of a quatrefoil, with four shafts; fragments of 15th century stained glass and an unusual wall monument to Richard Stevens (d. 1796), depicting an urn with two orphan boys on one side and an elderly man the other, with an asylum in the distance.

The north transept has more 18th and 19th century monuments, but more unusual is the large table tomb with a cadaver underneath, to a member of the Leversedge family. The elaborate rood screen is by Kempe, and the reredos in the chancel (of Carrara marble) by the prolific sculptor, James Forsyth (1826-1910), beneath an East Window by Clayton & Bell.

Finally, in the tower room opposite are two fragments of Saxon sculpture, depicting a monster and interlaced carving. The accompanying description postulates that they may have been from a cross, one of several erected where St Aldhelm’s funeral procession stopped as it moved to Malmesbury for burial. It admits there is no evidence for such a claim but says, ‘we at St John’s like to think it is a reasonable assumption’.

St John's Parish Church, Bath Street, Frome BA11 1PL

St Julian's, Kingston Buci

St Julian’s is something of a surprise: set in the sea of suburban sprawl that stretches between Brighton and Shoreham, here is a reminder that some of the settlements, at least, have roots going back much further.

History

There was almost certainly a church here in Saxon times, but the present building dates back to the late 11th century, with the tower, chancel, north aisle and south porch being added (or renewed) in the 13th century, and the windows renewed in the 14th and 15th centuries. The proportions of the nave – narrow and tall - indicate that the Saxon plan may have been retained.

An interesting historic feature is the window in the north chancel wall, originally presumed to provide access to an anchorite’s cell, although some archaeologists have suggested that this window was a squint for a vestry or chapel.

Anchorites were religious people who withdrew from the world for prayer and contemplation, but could also pray for and offer advice to passing travellers. They were sealed into a small cell, with a small window to enable them to see (and participate in) the Mass, through which they were also fed and watered. Anchorites were meant to live and die in their cells, although many were let out and some could move more freely through larger openings (though not here judging by the size of the window).

The north aisle fell into disrepair in the 18th century and was rebuilt in the 19th century, but the church still retains fittings from the 15th-18th centuries.

The church

The building is unusual in being effectively divided by the squat but massive tower in its centre. The outside walls are of flint and rubble, all set in a small wooded churchyard.

Entering through the south porch, the interior is dominated by the handsome 13th century twin arched bay which separates the nave from the north aisle. The north aisle has a lancet, which contains fragments of 15th century glass, including a Tudor Rose and the shield of the Lewknor family. Above the west end is a gallery inserted in 1924, but the Perpendicular windows are of 15th century date. A new sanctuary has been placed against the south wall, incorporating the original 19th century altar rails.

A handsome 13th arch leads to the tower vault, in which are the 18th century pulpit (incorporating 16th century 'linenfold' panels) and 18th century box pews. Above the low round-headed doorway is a blocked opening that gave access to the now disappeared rood loft.

The original chancel, now used as a Lady Chapel, has fine (if restored) Decorated Gothic screen, dating to the 15th century. The East window is modern, but the side windows are 14th century Decorated Gothic designs. The principal items of interest here are the window to the anchorite’s cell on the north wall, and the large Lewknor tomb from around 1540, which takes the form of an Easter Sepulchre (ie a recessed tomb chest). The remains of statues can be seen, though much defaced during the Civil War, with the Resurrection in the centre flanked by the Virgin Mary with the body of Christ (West) and the Trinity (East). An unusual feature is that one of the rosettes on the roof of the tomb is actually a reverse image of the devil, poking his tongue out - helpfully painted in red!

St Julian's Church, St Julian's Lane, Kingston Buci, Shoreham-by-Sea BN43 6EB

St Paul's, Birmingham

For those who think central Birmingham is an unredeemed sprawl of 70s concrete, the short walk to St Paul’s church will come as something of a revelation. Head towards the Jewellery Quarter from the Town Hall, and you will discover streets of gorgeous red brick Victorian buildings, which slowly give way to modest but handsome Georgian counterparts. In the midst of it all is St Paul’s Square, centred around the lovely and historic church of St Paul’s.

History

St Paul’s is a fascinating church. It was one of two provided for by an Act of Parliament of 1772, to cater for Birmingham’s burgeoning population. It was designed by a local Wolverhampton surveyor, Roger Eykyn, with Samuel Wyatt, a distinguished local architect, acting as an advisor. The design is based loosely on that of St Martins-in-the-Fields in London. The church was consecrated in 1779, although it was 1823 before the handsome steeple was completed, to designs by Francis Goodwin.

The timing and location of the church in one of the heartlands of the industrial revolution meant that early worshippers included the likes of James Watt (1736-1819), inventor of the steam engine, and Matthew Boulton (1728-1809), metal and coin manufacturer, and Watt’s business partner.

In the mid 19th century the church was the centre of efforts to educate the local workers, and by the 1860s they had 120 reading and writing classes a week catering for 2000 adults and 2000 children. During the 20th century, the area became less residential as jewellery manufacturing developed, and the church became a centre for industrial mission, a role it still performs today, alongside a lively Sunday congregation and a strong musical tradition with regular concerts and recitals. It has also been associated with Polish Lutherans for over 60 years.

The Church

The church is essentially a classical box, of ashlar with rusticated detailing, and two tiers of windows, with tall rounded arches over smaller, squat segmental arches below. The west end has no portico, but a modest pediment, surmounted by Goodwin’s elegant Grecian steeple, provides a fitting focus.

Inside the immediate impression is of a time warp: the church retains its galleries and a complete set of high box pews and other 18th century fittings. The galleries are supported on tall Ionic columns, which also frame the astonishing Venetian style East Window. This was painted in 1785-91 by Francis Eginton, and is based on a painting by Benjamin West, a court painter to George III. Showing scenes from the life of St Paul, it is a dark and dramatic piece, and completely dominates the modest sanctuary.

Also worth a look is the east window in the south aisle, designed as a memorial to William Hollins, sculptor and architect, and executed by his son Peter in 1843. There are labels showing the location of the box pews of Watts and Boulton, and look out for the monument to the Forrest family, on the west wall, a sad testament to the high rate of mortality in the early 19th century.

St Paul's, St Paul's Square, Birmingham B3 1QZ

St Mary le Strand, London

'Often said to be the loveliest Baroque church in England', is how the church guide proudly describes this beautiful building, one of London's most distinctive landmarks.

History

The original parish church was built to the south of the present building, but was demolished in 1549 when the Duke of Somerset built the first Somerset House. At that time, the Strand was the main road between London and the then separate settlement of Westminster, and its name reflects the fact it followed the original shoreline of the Thames.

The present church was designed by James Gibbs (1682-1754) and built between 1714 and 1723. Gibbs was trained as an architect in Rome, and many of the architectural elements are based on churches there. Unusually, it survived the Second World War almost intact and, although the exterior is in good condition - the spire was completely rebuilt in 1984 - the interior is in need of further restoration. It is also something of a traffic island, although the interior is remarkably quiet.

The church

The exterior is one of the grandest in London, despite its relatively small size: it has two storeys of superimposed orders, the lower storey Ionic, the upper Corinthian, with nave windows only in the upper storey. Carvings of fruit, garlands and cherubs adorn every side, but the dominant feature is the famous west tower, of three stages, each set back, above a grand pediment over a curved portico.

The interior is easily a match for the outside: Corinthian pilasters and columns abound, rising to a richly decorated coffered ceiling. The sanctuary is an equally lavishly decorated apse, framed by a dramatic double-height arch. Furnishings include paintings in the sanctuary by the American artist Mather Brown, completed in 1785, and a magnificent pulpit, said to be the work of Grinling Gibbons.

St Mary-le-Strand, London WC2R 1ES

All Saints, Margaret Street, London

All Saints, located a stone’s throw from busy Oxford Street, is renowned among aficionados of church architecture: built in 1849-51, this shrine to Anglo-Catholicism was a landmark in the development of Victorian Gothic architecture.

The church was commissioned by the Cambridge Camden Society (which later became the Ecclesiological Society) and paid for largely by Alexander Beresford-Hope, son-in-law of the Marquis of Salisbury and later an MP. The architect chosen was William Butterfield (1814-1900). His design, which made clever use of the cramped site, also demonstrated that architecture and lavish decoration could work together to enhance the worship within.

The style is 13th century Gothic, the modest floor plan enhanced through the use of height and the celebrated decoration: in addition to the usual decorative carving, every surface is adorned with mosaics, tiling and murals – including the floor and roof. All this is set off with lavish gilding on the details. The furnishings – too numerous to mention individually – continue the theme of richness and quality.

The chancel is described in the church guide as ‘one of the most sumptuous and dramatic in London’, and is dominated by the brilliantly coloured reredos, completed by William Dyce in 1853-9, but reproduced on wooden panels by Sir Ninian Comper in 1909 when the original had been damaged by pollution. Comper also designed the ornate reredos for the Lady Chapel, of Caen stone and alabaster, in 1911.

The exterior is rather modest in comparison, though also decorated through the use of polychromatic brickwork and stone detailing, and is dominated by its spire, which rises 227ft.

The church is today equally famed for its high Anglo-Catholic style of worship, with generous use of incense and glorious music.

Margaret Street, London, W1W 8JG

St Peter, Chailey

Although Chailey is recorded in the Domesday Book, the first reference to the church is in a 13th century will of one Richard de Plaiz in 1269. The chancel, with its lancet windows dates from the 13th century, as does the tower, and there is 14th century work in the south aisle. It was substantially enlarged with the addition of a new north aisle in 1846, and a further north aisle was added in 1878.

The dominant feature from outside is the robust tower, capped by a substantial pyramidal cap. The chancel shows evidence of Victorian restoration, but the three northern lancets and east window are from the original 13th century design. The south aisle is believed to date from around 1350, and contained a gallery used by the servants of the Hooke and Ades estates, removed in 1878.

Two of the most interesting features can be seen in the chancel, where the shafts of the rere-arches of two of the north wall lancets have interesting capitals: the westernmost one shows a ‘Green Man’, spewing foliage from his mouth, while the easternmost has two entwined serpents biting each other. Four of the tower’s bells date from 1737, with additional bells cast in 1818 and 1882.

Chailey Green, Chailey, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 4DA

St Mary, Newick

St Mary’s is one of those churches which rewards careful study, of what is an unusually complex building history. Tucked off a lane to the east of the present (and very modern) expanse of the village, it has a lovely churchyard overlooking fields, sheltered by two particularly fine cedars.

The oldest part of the present building is the south nave wall, either side of the porch, which contains an original round-headed window. The church guide dates this to around 1080. The porch and tower are also mediaeval, the porch from around 1400 (still with some original roof timbers) and the tower a robust 15th century Perpendicular design with angled buttresses. In 1836 a north aisle was added.

However, in 1886-7, under the careful and sympathetic guidance of John Oldrid Scott (1841-1931), the chancel was taken down and rebuilt further east, and both the nave and north aisle were extended to match, doubling its size and altering its proportions from those of a humble village church to the impressive building we see today. Thus the chancel, although largely Victorian, retains late 13th century details in the bar tracery of three of its windows (a fourth was reset in the choir vestry).

Many of the most distinctive features belong to Scott’s work: at the east end of the north aisle, an unusual setting of twin gothic arches leads to the choir vestry. More impressive still is the chancel itself. This has a complete Victorian decorative scheme of high quality, with elaborate and rare encaustic wall tiling, above which are walls patterned with stencil designs, all covered with a wagon roof, also with stencil designs. Further decorative work is found in the beautiful, delicate wrought iron chancel gates.

The other furnishings of note are pre-Victorian, and include fragments of mediaeval stained glass in the chancel windows, a Decorated Gothic font with ogee panels, and a dignified Jacobean pulpit topped with a sounding board.

Church Road, Newick, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 4JZ