All Saints, Blackheath

Blackheath is perhaps best known for its broad, flat expanse of common land, of which All Saints church is a prominent landmark.

There has been a hamlet here since Saxon times, but there was no church, the area being served by neighbouring parishes. Nevertheless, it occupied a strategic location on Watling Street, the former Roman road which formed the main route from Kent to London. As such, the heath was a famous rallying point for all sorts of causes, most notably for the Peasant's Revolt of Wat Tyler in 1381 and later of Jack Cade's kentish Rebellion in 1450. In the era of the stagecoach, the area became notorious for its highwaymen.

Growth of the little hamlet began in earnest in the 18th century, with the development beginning with the Blackheath Park estate. Although churches were established on the estates in 1830 (St Michael's) and 1853 (St John the Evangelist), they were inadequate for the growing population. A petition by the local populace led to the founding of All Saints in 1857. The architect was Benjamin Ferrey, who chose a mixture of the Early English and Decorated Gothic styles, executed in Kentish ragstone with freestone dressings. The church was consecrated in 1858.

The church has a five-bay nave with chamfered columns and square, stiff leaf capitals, and generous aisles, but it is most notable externally for its prominent spire. The interior is bright and fiercely whitewashed, enlivened by a painted and gilded chancel screen, decorated ceilings and late 19th century Murano mosaics in the chancel. There is also some stained glass by Martin Travers (1886-1948).

Morning and Evening Prayer are said daily through the week and there are normally three services on Sunday in the church, which has a strong choral tradition.

Worcester Cathedral

Worcester is one of England's most ancient cathedral sites, having been founded as a Priory in 680AD. It occupies an attractive position on the banks of the River Severn and embodies the full range of mediaeval architectural styles, and retains its crypt and cloisters.

The oldest part of the cathedral is the crypt, built in 1084 by the Saxon Bishop St Wulstan. This has 'cushion' capitals in the Norman style, and is now used as a chapel. Also from the Norman period is the fine chapter house (1120) and the west bays of the nave (1170). The cathedral was rebuilt into its present form from the early 13th century onwards, with the fine Early English Gothic Lady Chapel (1224) followed by the Choir (1269). The Nave, along with the eastern range of the cloister and tower were rebuilt 1317-1395; the Perpendicular tower is often regarded as one of the most finely proportioned in England. The remaining ranges of the cloister were completed in 1404-1438.

The floor of the cathedral is tiled throughout, although the plaster has been stripped from much of the vaulting in the nave and aisles. In contrast, the Choir and Lady Chapel both have exquisitely decorated ceiling vaults. The cathedral contains some notable tombs, including that of King John (d. 1216), who is buried in the choir in front of the altar, and Prince Arthur, Prince of Wales and eldest son of Henry VII (the first husband of Katherine of Aragon, who later married Arthur's brother, Henry VIII). Arthur's tomb is contained in a magnificent chantry chapel on the south side of the choir, erected 1502-04. Other tombs include that of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (d. 1947) and a memorial to Sir Edward Elgar (d. 1934 and buried in nearby Great Malvern). The choir stalls also contain a notable set of 14th century misericords.

The Cathedral provides daily services and is noted for its choirs. Along with Hereford and Gloucester, Worcester Cathedral hosts the notable Three Choirs Festival. Dating from the 18th century, it is one of the world's oldest music festivals, and closely associated with the works of both Elgar and Ralph Vaughan-Williams.

Worcester Cathedral, College Yard, Worcester, WR1 2LA

Chelmsford Cathedral

Chelmsford has England’s second-smallest cathedral, set in an attractive square tucked away from the bustle of the city centre. Originally the main town parish church, it was elevated to Cathedral status in 1914 when the diocese was created to cater for the burgeoning population of Essex and the east of London. The Cathedral is dedicated to St Mary, St Peter and St Cedd.

History

A church was originally erected on the site around 1200, but the present building is largely the work of the early 15^th century. This church comprised an aisled nave, a chancel with chapels, a west tower and the magnificent south porch. The spire was rebuilt in 1749.

The church has been extensively restored and extended. The nave collapsed in 1800 following excavation in the vaults, and was rebuilt by John Johnson. Frederic Chancellor restored the chancel and south chapel in 1862, and also added the current north transept and outer north aisle in 1873. The east window and chancel clerestory is the work of the famous church architect A W Blomfield, dating from 1877-8. After elevation to a Cathedral, two east bays were added to the chancel to create more space in 1926-8 to designs by A K Nicholson.

The Church

The exterior is a mix of rubble and flint with brick and stone dressings. The style is largely late Perpendicular Gothic: the best features are the tower and the especially fine 15^th century south porch, with its fine patterned flush-work.

The spacious  interior largely reflects the various restorations, especially that of Johnson, whose fabulous Tudor Gothic nave ceiling was painted and gilded in 1961. The 3-bay chancel arcades and tower arch are original 15^th century work. 

The cathedral has many interesting works of art from the 20^th century, and good Victorian and 20^th century glass by Clayton & Bell, and Nicholson. There are some outstanding memorials: the large, brightly coloured wall monument in the north aisle to Thomas (d. 1566) and Avice Mildmay (d. 1557) has a dramatic ogee head, with excellent Jacobean strapwork, and panels depicting the husband and wife with their large family in procession in two panels. Also in the Mildmay chapel, the Earl Fitzwalter (Benjamin Mildmay), (d.1756) is commemorated by a striking monument with a large urn, flanked by cherubs and a pediment supported by Corinthian columns of Siena marble, signed by James Lovell.

The cathedral is open daily for services and visitors, and has a reputation for excellent music.

Chelmsford Cathedral, New Street, Chelmsford CM1 1TY

St George-in-the-East, London

St George in the East is one of six churches in London by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, and its distinctive tower is a prominent landmark in this part of Stepney.

St George's was built as one of the twelve churches commissioned under the Act of Parliament 1711, originally intended to build 50 new churches in London. Known as Queen Anne's Churches, they were intended to cater for the rapidly growing population and to counter competition from non-conformist churches.

For St George's, Hawksmoor designed a conventional neo-classical 'box' with rounded windows and an apsidal east end, but with a distinctive, crenellated lantern tower and four, smaller 'pepper pot' towers on each corner. Gutted by bombs in May 1941, in 1964 a new church was built inside the remaining structure, utilising the north south and east walls but with a new glazed west end, providing an interior courtyard at the west end of the old church.

The graveyard provides a pleasant oasis of green in the this part of London. The church has regular Sunday and weekday services, and hosts local groups, concerts and other arts events.

St George-in-the-East Church, Cannon Street Road, London E1 0BH

St Andrew, West Tarring

West Tarring is surrounded on all sides by the suburban sprawl of modern Worthing, but it much the older and, originally, more important settlement.

The village still retains its attractive original High Street, on which are several old pubs and a lovely 15th century half-timbered house, with a distinctive overhang (now the Parsonage Restaurant, and a grade II* listed building). It also contains the remains of an old palace belonging to the Archbishops of Canterbury (see separate review), now the Parish Hall. The origins of the town date back at least to 941AD, when King Athelstan gave the Manor of Terringes to the Church of Christ at Canterbury.

Domesday mentions two churches, although nothing of these buildings survives. Today, the skyline is dominated by the fine tower and spire of St Andrews, one of only a handful of Grade 1 Listed buildings in Worthing. Reflecting its status as a peculiar of Canterbury, it is a huge church for such a small village. Saint Richard, Bishop of Chichester, took refuge here in 1245-1247, when he was temporarily banished from his See by Henry III.

Although heavily restored by the Victorians, the five-bay Nave and aisles are essentially Early English Gothic from the 13th century, with lancet windows in both aisles and the clerestory. In the south aisle is a fine trefoil-headed piscina, preserved in fine condition by being plastered over in the Reformation rather than destroyed. In the 15th century, the present tower and chancel were built, both with fine Perpendicular windows. The spire  covered in wooden shingles - was added in the 16th century.

But the church's real glory lies in its woodwork: a fine 15th century chancel screen, complete with an impressive (and rather intimidating) row of spikes along the top, and a set of six misericords, with fine carvings underneath, including two bearded heads with flowing locks, and floral compositions. The Victorians continued the panelling around the chancel wall, but the very fine carved Communion Rail - described by Nairn and Pevsner in 'The Buildings of England' as 'perky'  is Jacobean.

Unfortunately, the original font was taken to New Zealand by the principal landowners in the 19th century, and the present one is a copy. However, the interior of nave is decorated by a complex mosaic decorative scheme of 1885, designed by the church architect William Butterfield. On my visit, I was made very welcome by the Rector and Churchwarden, very proud of their historic church.

Outside, the attractive churchyard is full of 18th and 19th century tombs, many of high quality. The oldest and most poignant is a table tomb to one John Parson, dated 1633. A listed monument in its own right, it carries a short but painfully evocative verse:

Young was his age
Virginity his state
Learning his love
Consumption his fate

It's a perfect antidote to some of the more sentimental Victorian epitaphs.

Church Road, West Tarring, Worthing BN13 1HF

St Peter, Petersham

Petersham is quite unexpected: a true village within suburban London, sandwiched between Kingston and Richmond. The quaint and large Georgian brick-built church of St Peter lies just off the main road, a little corner of tranquillity away from the bustle beyond.

It is thought a Saxon chapel existed here in the 8th century, and a church was mentioned in Domesday. The earliest part of the present structure, however, is the chancel, rebuilt in 1266 and now retaining a single simple lancet window. The rest of the church was rebuilt in 1505 and again in the 1700s with the expansion of the transepts, which effectively reorientated the church north-south. The south side was enlarged again in 1840, but has been little altered since.

Inside, the feeling is overwhelmingly of a well-loved Georgian chapel, with high box pews and galleries, a lofty hexagonal pulpit with a spiral staircase, and round-headed windows with pale glass. There are two memorials of note: a fine Jacobean memorial to George Cole (d. 1624) and his wife, and in the churchyard, that of George Vancouver (1757-1798), whose expedition in 1791-5 charted the north west coasts of America and Canada.

On my visit the church had two delightful and informative welcomers.

St Peter, Church Lane, Petersham, Surrey, TW10 7AB

Newcastle Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas was originally built as a parish church and was elevated to cathedral status with the advent of the Diocese of Newcastle in 1882. The largely 14th century building is a distinctive landmark in the city and retains much of its mediaeval fabric.

A church was built on the site soon after the erection of the castle, around 1091. Originally a wooden structure, it was rebuilt in stone towards the end of the 12th century. It was repaired and extended over successive centuries, including the raising of the clerestory above the nave in the 14th century, and the erection of the famous tower with its lantern spire, in 1442. Badly damaged by Scottish invaders in 1640 and 1644, the cathedral underwent heavy restoration in the 19th century under the supervision of Robert J Johnson.

The plan is conventional, with both the nave and chancel having 4 bays of aisles, with transepts and north and south porches. The mediaeval windows are a mixture of Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic. The building has a number of interesting memorials, including a 14th century effigy of a  knight with a shield and a lamb at his feet. On the south chancel wall is a large incised brass from the grave of Roger Thornton (d. 1429) and his wife, said to be the largest mediaeval brass in England. The city's growing mercantile prosperity is reflected in the many memorials from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, notable among which is that to Admiral Lord Collingwood (1748-1810), who assumed command at Trafalgar after the death of Nelson.

The Cathedral has a busy life of worship and music and is open every day of the year.

The Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas, St. Nicholas Square, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE1 1PF