St Mary's (RC), Newport

This is a very attractive Victorian Roman Catholic church, just up Stow Hill from Newport City centre.

History

A small chapel was built on the site of the then-expanding seaport and industrial centre in 1812, but the town's continued growth meant that a larger church was soon needed, and the original chapel was demolished in 1839. The new church was built in the neo-Gothic style, with a prominent tower at the west end, which also formed the main entrance. Inside, the nave arcade was built with slender columns made of cast iron - the first such use of metal pillars in Wales.

The construction of St Mary’s took place around the same time as the Chartist uprising; the Chartist rioters passed the church and ordered workmen to join them, although they declined. In 1901 the original east window was replaced by one of the Assumption of the Virgin by John Hardman, who worked with the Pugins.

The church

The church is essentially in the Early English Gothic style, with tall lancets with shafts and hoods, and the slender piers have frilly stiff-leaf capitals. The most notable feature of the church from the outside is its tower, the muscular design of which, decorated with abundant blind arcading, provides a distinct contrast with the light and airy interior. Indeed, the pale pink walls with white arcades and detailing gives almost a wedding-cake like appearance.

Today, the church is part of the united parish of 'All Saints' in Newport, formed in 2007 and incorporating six former parishes. Although the interior is not open outside service times, the outer doors are kept open, allowing one a good view into the nave.

 9 Stow Hill, Newport, Wales NP20 1TP

All Saints, Barry

All Saints church is one of Barry’s most imposing landmarks: set high on the crest of a hill, its tower can be seen from along the coast.

The decision to build a new Anglican church in Barry was taken in response to the rapid growth of the town in the late 1880s, following the construction in 1884 of the Barry Railway and Barry Docks. To begin with, much of the town was built hurriedly in wood, before the more familiar brick terraces began to be built. The original parish church of St Nicholas, overlooking the harbour, was no longer large enough for the fast growing new town. So, in 1902 a decision was taken to built a new church, named All Saints, on land vacated by the Admiralty, to plans by the local architect E M Bruce Vaughan. Construction began in 1907 and the church was consecrated in 1908. A second stage of building began the same year, including the familiar tower, and was completed in 1915. The ‘mother’ church of St Nicholas was closed in the 1950s.

The new church was largely built in the early Decorated Gothic style. The plan has large north and south aisles, a broad nave with simple Gothic arcades on round piers, and a chancel. The church retains much of its original appearance, although it has chairs rather than the traditional pews. For me, the interior is rather more successful architecturally than the exterior, which looks somewhat uninspiring - and its setting is not helped by being flanked by some rather dull, grey blocks of flats.

Worship is in a middle-of-the-road style, and the church has an active congregation and busy parish life, with a number of different groups meeting during the week (see website for details). The daughter church of St Baruc’s in Barry Island is also part of the parish.

Park Road, Barry, Wales CF62 6NU

Peterborough Cathedral

Peterborough has one of England’s best preserved large Norman churches. The former abbey has had a colourful past – raided by Vikings, attacked by both rebel Saxons and Cromwellian troops, and burned down twice. It is also the burial place of Katherine of Aragon and the temporary burial place of Mary, Queen of Scots. It is now known formally as the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew.

History
 
The Anglo-Saxon King Peada founded a monastery on the site in 655 although, like many, it was destroyed in a Viking raid in 870. Rebuilt as a Benedictine Abbey in 970, it survived a further attack around 1069, this time from Hereward the Wake, only to be destroyed by an accidental fire in 1116.

The present building was built largely between 1118 and 1238, although the central tower was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style 1350-80. The East End was extended behind the apse to form a retrochoir in the Perpendicular Gothic style, between 1496 and 1508. Much of the cost of building the cathedral was funded by Pilgrims visiting some of the relics of St Thomas a Beckett, brought to Peterborough by Abbott Benedict – a former Prior of Canterbury - in 1177.

Katherine of Aragon (Henry VIII's first wife) was buried here in 1536. After the dissolution of the monasteries, it became the Cathedral of the new Diocese of Peterborough in 1541. It was the also burial place of Mary, Queen of Scots, from her execution in 1587 until her reburial in Westminster Abbey in 1612. The cathedral was severely damaged during the Civil War by Cromwell’s troops in 1643, but restored by J L Pearson in 1882-6.

The Church

The most notable external feature is the unique great west portico, consisting of three huge arches in the Early English Gothic style, flanked by square buttresses decorated with Gothic blind arcading and topped with tall pinnacles. The narrower centre arch had a smaller porch inserted into it in the late 14th century.

Inside, the long nave of 10 bays is one of the best preserved examples of Norman (Romanesque) architecture in the country. Of particular interest is the wooden ceiling, a very rare survival, built in 1230-50 and consisting of lozenge-shaped panels decorated with figures of kings, queens, saints and monsters.

The crossing, transepts and choir are also Norman work, and contrast sharply with the Perpendicular retrochoir, which is notable for its profusion of fan vaulting. Most of the nave and choir windows were renewed in the 14th and 15th centuries, but only two windows above the High Altar retain fragments of mediaeval glass.

Cromwell’s troops destroyed many of the original fittings and furnishings, although the monument to Abbot Hedda (c. 800), caved with images of Jesus and Mary and ten disciples, survives in the East End. Also extant are a number of marble effigies of Abbots dating between 1195 and 1225, and a fine carved 13th century font in the nave. A marble slab on the north choir aisle denotes the resting place of Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536) and in the opposite aisle the location of the former tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots is marked. An interesting picture hanging at the west end of the nave depicts Robert Scarlett (1496-1594), a gravedigger who buried both Katherine and Mary, and who lived to the age of 98.

Today, the cathedral provides regular daily services and has a renowned choir, which sings a daily Evensong as well as during the Sunday services. It is open every day for visitors, except Boxing Day.

 Minster Precincts, Peterborough PE1 1XS

The Sacred Heart (RC), Wimbledon

The Sacred Heart is Wimbledon's Catholic parish church and a prominent landmark on the ridge between Wimbledon and Raynes Park.

The church was funded by Edith Arendrup, a member of the Courtauld family who, having moved to Wimbledon, persuaded the Jesuits to begin a mass at her home in 1877. Seven years later she paid for the building of the present church, to designs by the architect Fredrick Walters (1849-1931), who also designed Buckfast Abbey. The nave was completed in 1887 and the rest of the building by 1901. A planned tower was replaced by twin turrets flanking the west front.

The exterior is of knapped flints with stone dressings. Designed in the decorated Gothic style, the interior resembles an abbey: an aisled nave, beneath a tall clerestory, leads to a chancel with an ambulatory and radiating chapels. The dimensions are impressive: the nave is 100ft long and 60ft high. The arcades carry niches with saints connected with the Jesuit Order. The church has numerous late Victorian and 20th century fittings, the best of which are found in the St Ignatius Chapel in the north aisle.

The church normally has three daily masses (six on a Sunday, plus a Saturday night vigil mass) and is the centre of a vibrant parish life.

 Edge Hill, Wimbledon, London SW19 4LU

St John the Baptist, Peterborough

St John's is Peterborough's parish church, and sits in the centre of Cathedral Square, a few minutes' walk from the Cathedral.

Although Peterborough has had a parish church since the 11th century, flooding of the original site to the east of the abbey led to it being rebuilt in 1402 on the present site, and it was dedicated in 1407. It was much restored in the Victorian period, by the architect J L Pearson, architect of Truro Cathedral. The north porch dates from 1473.

Its bells sounded for the funerals of both Katharine of Aragon (1536) and Mary, Queen of Scots (1587) in the cathedral. The church sexton, Robert Scarlett, buried both Queens, and is himself buried in the cathedral, having died in 1594 at the age of 98. A portrait of him hangs at the west end of the cathedral.

The exterior is largely in the Perpendicular Gothic style, church itself has a long nave arcade and aisles, with a chancel and Lady Chapel, but no crossing. The most prominent external feature is the tower. The 15th century south porch is the best preserved part of the building, and its vault has attractive bosses depicting the Trinity, Annunciation and Crucifixion.

Furnishings of interest (most are Victorian or 20th century) include a 15th century font, and two rare framed examples of 15th century embroidery, probably from church vestments. The monument to the local MP, Matthew Wyldbore, d. 1781, is the most impressive of several in the church.

The church is open twice a week with a cafe at the west end, as well for services, which are traditional in style.

Church Street, Cathedral Square, Peterborough PE1 1XB

St Nicholas, Compton (Guildford)

The parish church of St Nicholas in Compton has the double honour of being Surrey’s best Norman church, and of possessing England’s only two-storeyed sanctuary. It is well worth a visit.

The lower part of the tower and the corners of the nave date from the earlier Saxon church. The Norman work is in two phases: the chancel arch and chancel date from 1080-1100, and the aisles with their solid, rounded arcades, together with the upper sanctuary, date from 1160-80. The only major later addition was the upper part of the tower with its shingle broached spire, in the late 13th or 14th centuries. The porch is Victorian.

Inside, the whitewash reveals a wealth of Norman decoration. The chancel arch has fine dogtooth carving, and the capitals of the arcade piers have scalloped and crude foliage designs. The east nave wall has the remains of an unusual 15th century painted decoration, of stepped cubes in perspective, instead of the usual Judgement.

The chancel is a gem: the lower sanctuary is framed by an exquisite arch with roll mouldings, saw-tooth and dog-tooth ornament. The balustrade of the lower sanctuary is Jacobean, c. 1620 (as are the fine pulpit and screen), but this is outshone by the Romanesque balustrade of the upper sanctuary: this is original Norman work (c. 1180), making it the oldest architectural timberwork in situ in England. Squints to the north and south chancel walls may relate to anchorite cells: that on the south side may have been a chantry chapel. An ancient wooden staircase joins the two sanctuaries.

The fittings and fixtures are  equally rich: the north aisle and lower sanctuary have 14th and 15th century tomb recesses, and piscinas and aumbries abound. The chancel arch has rare Crusader graffiti, a 12th century image of a knight with a pointed helmet, with crosses and intersecting circles. The east window has 13th century stained glass of the Virgin and Child, and in the nave floor are brasses to the Thomas Genning and his family (d. 1508), though sadly with some of the images missing.

The church has no fewer than four services on a Sunday. After your visit, the nearby Watts Cemetery Chapel provides a striking contrast of Arts and Crafts workmanship.
The Street, Compton, Guildford, Surrey GU3 1EG

Watts Cemetery Chapel, Compton (Guildford)

After the Romanesque delights of the parish church, the Cemetery Chapel provides a rich contrast.

It was funded by the Arts and Crafts luminary George Frederic Watts and his wife Mary. She assembled the designs for the chapel, but much of the decorative scheme of deeply coloured glazed tiles and hand-painted gesso, were made by the villagers under her instruction. It was completed in 1904.

The exterior is rich enough, with elaborate terracotta friezes depicting Hope, Truth, Love and Light, and a round-headed doorway with three orders of Celtic  style decoration.

But the interior takes the breath away.

Once your eyes become accustomed to the gloom, the richness of the decoration reveals itself: Celtic and religious symbolism, in flowing Art Nouveau style, with deep reds, blues and greens highlighted in gold. Every square inch of the interior is heavily moulded and painted - a true labour of love and dedication.

The sanctuary painting is also by George Frederic Watts (1904) and is entitled The All Pervading. It depicts a spirit, understood as an interpretation of God.

The chapel is used only for funeral services, but is open daily for visitors.
Down Lane, Compton, Guildford, Surrey GU3