St Wulfran's, Ovingdean

The charming village of Ovingdean, tucked away in its own little valley a mile inland from the sea, is now part of Brighton but remains a world away in spirit. It is also famous as the birthplace of Charles Eamer Kempe, the renowned designer of stained glass: his work fills the church and he is buried in its churchyard.

History

There was a ‘little church’ and settlement here in Saxon times, recorded in the Domesday book, and it seems that it was rebuilt almost immediately after the Conquest, when the current Nave and Chancel were erected. This was followed by the short, robust tower early in the 13th century, followed by the south porch around 1300 (rebuilt around 1867). The south wall shows the unmistakeable signs of a south aisle of two bays also built around the 13th century, and which may have been destroyed during a French raid. A south chapel was added leading off the chancel in 1907 on the foundations of an earlier structure.

The dedication to the 7th century French Bishop St Wulfran is unusual, shared only by the Parish Church of Grantham and the collegiate church in Abbeville, in France, where he is buried.

The Church

The church is set into a steep hillside, and the floor progressively descends from the tower to the chancel. Save for the corner stones, its walls are entirely of flint, with a red tiled roof and a typical Sussex pyramidal cap on the tower. The walls are pierced only by narrow Norman windows or simple lancets, save for the Decorated Gothic windows in the south wall of the nave. These, as well as others through the church, contain glass by Kempe, with his tell-tale wheat sheaf signature.

Inside, the interior is something of a surprise: the walls of the nave are bright with whitewash, and the eye is immediately drawn to the unusual arrangement of three chancel arches, underneath a rood screen. The plain central arch is the Norman original, with the two flanking arches added in the 17th century and rebuilt in the 19th; the rood is Kempe’s work from 1867. Opposite the south door are the remains of the original Norman north door, complete with water stoup. To the west, a generous pointed tower arch leads to a spacious tower room, which now contains additional pews and the font. High the east wall above the arch is the original mediaeval bell wheel.

Turning east, the Chancel has yet more lancets and Norman round-headed windows; the tiles reredos and painted wooden panels either side of the East Window are late Victorian, while those in the gable above by Maude Bishop were painted 1957-63. Of greater interest to most visitors, however, is the painted ceiling: although the ceiling is a 19th century replacement, the paintings of birds and foliage was done was Kempe in 1867. Off the Chancel is the small south east chapel, built in 1907 on the foundations of an earlier chapel.

Back outside, the old churchyard is worth a look; as well as the Kempe family tomb, is that of Magnus Volk (1851-1937), builder of the electric railway which still plies its trade along Brighton’s seafront.

The Green, Ovingdean, Brighton BN2 7BA

St John the Evangelist, Preston, Brighton

St John’s an impressive late 19th century church on the London Road just north of Preston Park in Brighton. Completed in 1902 to designs of the famous Victorian architect Sir Arthur Blomfield, it was extended with the addition of a chancel in 1926, and is a Grade-II listed building. It is one of the most prominent buildings on the approach to Brighton from London.

The church consists of a nave and chancel, with a baptistery and narthex at the west end. Built of ragstone, with a tiled roof, the exterior is dominated by a tall wood-and-lead fleche at the junction of the nave and chancel. The style is essentially Early English, with simple lancets throughout, except for the impressive Decorated Gothic East Window.

The church is entered through the baptistery and narthex, separated from the nave by a three-bay arcade. The nave is impressively spacious - both long and generously aisled, with an Early English style arcade of five and a quarter bays on round piers, and a tall clerestory. There are lancet windows in both aisle and clerestory in five sets of matching pairs. These are all filled with clear glass which, with the pale cream walls, gives the interior a bright and spacious feel.

A simple Gothic screen separates the nave from the chancel, which has a sedilia, an elaborately carved stone reredos and a mosaic tiled floor. Fixtures and fittings of note are limited to the impressive carved Gothic pulpit, a brass eagle lectern and attractive stained glass in the East window. The church has a busy parish life, and adheres to a liberal catholic tradition.

The Lord Mayor's Chapel, Bristol

The Lord Mayor’s Chapel is often overlooked by those visiting the nearby Cathedral, which it faces across College Green. But this small, Grade I Listed chapel contains a wealth of history, including an impressive collection of tombs and stained glass behind its modest but attractive west front.

History

The chapel was established to serve a religious hospital foundation in 1230, to care for the sick, feed the poor and educate 12 poor boys. Originally administered by the Cathedral, it became a separate institution in the late 13th century. It was endowed with lands by wealthy Bristol merchants until it was dissolved, along with other such religious foundations, in 1539.

Fortunately, it was purchased by Bristol Corporation in 1541, and has remained in their possession ever since: it is now the country’s only functioning chapel in civic ownership. Most of the foundation’s other buildings have long-since disappeared.

The building

The nave was erected around 1230, followed by the south aisle around 1280. The tower – visible from the passage at the side – was erected in 1487, and the chancel was rebuilt and the south aisle chapel added in 1500. In 1523, Sir Robert Poyntz, a close associate of Henry VII and Henry VIII, built a chantry chapel south of the chancel. The church underwent a major restoration in 1889, undertaken by the renowned church architect J L Pearson, who rebuilt the West Front (albeit retaining the window design) and North Transept. The original west window now resides in a garden, as a romantic ruin, in the Bristol suburbs.

Although the chapel has some fine Tudor architecture – the nave roof, the fan vaulting of the Poyntz Chapel and the East Window are all impressive – the church is chiefly known for its rich stained glass and fittings.

Pride of place must go to the tombs, dating from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Most of these were moved to the south aisle and south aisle chapel in the 18th century. There are simply too many to describe in detail, but as a collection they would flatter any cathedral.

The earliest are two crusader tombs in the South Aisle Chapel, with effigies in full chain mail armour, believed to be of the co-founders, Maurice de Gaunt (d. 1230) and his nephew Robert de Gournay (d. 1269). In the south aisle is a very rare merchant’s tomb from around 1360, wearing civilian dress, including short ‘pixie’ boots, stockings and a full-length cloak. Most poignant is that of John Cookin, dated 1627, who died aged 11. He is depicted, life-size, on one knee, carrying his schoolbooks, under a fine classical canopy.

But the stained and painted glass is also impressive: although some is original, most came from the Abbey of Fonthill in 1823, and dates from the late mediaeval period. Made in England, France and Cologne, much of it was inserted in the East Window, but the south aisle chapel also has 23 roundels of German and Flemish glass from the 16th and 17th centuries, and the Poyntz Chapel roundels from the 15th century.

Also of note are the fine 15th century reredos, and a large number of mediaeval piscinas and carved heads (mostly corbels) - don't miss the wonderful grotesque face in the south transept. Finally, the Poyntz Chapel floor is laid with 16th century floor tiles from Spain - said to be the largest such collection outside the Iberian Peninsular.

College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TB

St Mary the Virgin, Eastbourne

The Eastbourne familiar to most visitors is that of the genteel, largely Victorian, seaside resort. But it will surprise many that the town's history goes back a lot further: the area has been settled since the Roman period, and the Domesday Book records a church, watermill, salt pans, fisheries and ploughlands.

This settlement was a mile or so inland, and is today known as the 'old town’. At its centre is the surprisingly large church of St Mary, which dates from the 12th-14th centuries: it was fortunate in being sensitively restored in the 19th century, and is full of fascinating architectural and historical details.

The church was built around 1200, and the nave and chancel both survive from this period. The church was enlarged in the 14th century, with an additional west bay to the nave, a robust tower and north and south aisles. On entering, the Norman arcades and chancel arch dominate the spacious interior: the chancel arch, strangely, is rounded, whereas the nave and chancel arcades are pointed, although they were probably built around the same time.

The nave arcades have alternating round and octagonal piers, with stiff-leaf carving. The chancel arch and chancel arcades have a type of zig-zag decoration, whereas those in the nave are plain. The clerestory has large, simple lancets. The 14th century gave the tall tower arch and the decorated style windows in the aisles, tower and chancel. Two windows at the east of the south aisle are slightly later, from the 15th century.

The interior has a wealth of interesting details, fittings and furnishings. The chancel has decorated sedilia, piscina and Easter sepulchre, all with decorated ogee arches from the 14th century, and the south chapel has a tomb recess from the same period.

There is a rare rood piscina high on the south arcade next to the chancel arch, and there are two delightful faces in the south aisles - the one under the rood stair has a wonderfully bulbous nose. Both north and south chapels have 14th wooden screens with delicate ogee decoration. The font is slightly later, in the Perpendicular style.

The church has a superb collection of memorials on the walls and floors, dating from the early 17th to the mid 19th centuries. Most notable are those of Katherine Gildredge and her two infant children (d. 1625), carved by Edward Marshall, master mason to Charles II, and located in the north chapel. More poignant is that to Henry Lushington in the South aisle, (d. 1763). He was the eldest son of the vicar and a member of the East India Company. He survived the 1756 'Black Hole of Calcutta' uprising, but died in another incident in 1763, defending his colleagues in Patna.

Outside, the “Old Parsonage” - actually a Rectory Manor house - survives from the 16th century, alongside a timber-framed barn. More oddly, the churchyard contains a tall Norman cross, brought from St Erth in Cornwall.

Church Street, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN20 9HR

St Saviour, Eastbourne

Pevsner’s Sussex volume of the Buildings of England is blunt: “Eastbourne, as against Brighton and Bournemouth, is poor in worthwhile Victorian churches. In fact, there is only one: Street’s St Saviour.”

Whatever one thinks of that view, there can be no disagreement that St Saviour is an impressive building. Its architect was George Edmund Street, best known for the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, and a favoured architect of the 19th century Oxford Movement, which espoused traditional catholic liturgy and theology.

For St Saviour, Street designed a building in his favoured Gothic style, mixing Early English and late 13th century styles in blood-red brick with ashlar trimmings. Begun in 1867 to replace a iron ‘mission’ church, the spire – its dominant external feature – marked its completion in 1872.

Moving inside, you are immediately struck by the sense of space: the nave is wide and tall, with generous aisles leading dramatically to an apsidal East End. The next thing to strike you, as your eyes adjust to the light, is the decoration: the interior abounds in it: glass, mosaics, tiling, murals, painting and marble. Most of this was executed by the firm of Clayton & Bell (normally better known for their stained glass), with marble by the Italian form of Saviati.

The decoration reaches its climax, appropriately enough, in the sanctuary, where the scheme is almost overwhelming in its richness and complexity. The gilded reredos (1937) is by W H Randolph Blacking, and is dedicated to Henry Urling Whelpton, second incumbent and son of the first Vicar: in any other church it would dominate, but here must jostle for attention. More restrained, but equally impressive, are the murals over the chancel arch, painted directly onto the brick, and depicting Christ in glory with saints and angels.

There are two chapels: that on the left is dedicated to St Peter, in recognition of the parish absorbed by St Saviour’s in 1972, and on the south side the memorial chapel to its first Vicar, Henry Robert Whelpton. The baptistery at the west end houses an onyx font designed by Street and has murals depicting St Augustine preaching at Canterbury and St Oswald.

As one might expect, the church has a vibrant parish life, with worship in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Happily, they keep their church open daily for private prayer.

South Street, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 4UT

St Andrew, Greensted

This unassuming church, tucked away in the Essex countryside, is not just rustic and charming - although it is both of those - but is also historically very important. A closer look reveals that the nave walls are built of upright, halved wooden logs, making St Andrew's Europe’s oldest extant wooden building, and the oldest wooden church in the world - as well as Britain's only log church.

The history of the site dates back around 1300 years: the land of the East Saxons - now Essex - was evangelised By Saint Cedd in 654AD, who was based at nearby Bradwell on the Essex coast. Remains have been found under the present church of a wooden building dating from the late sixth or seventh century, which may have been a sanctuary used by those early missionaries. The dedication to St Andrew also suggests a Celtic foundation.

The present nave is rather later, and has recently been dated by dendrochronology to around 1060. It was originally dated to some 200 years earlier, but, even with this later date, its status as Europe’s oldest standing wooden building and the world’s oldest wooden church remains.

The original church was probably thatched, and without windows. The Normans built a chancel, although all that remains now are the footings and a pillar piscina. The present brick chancel was erected around 1500, and at the same time the handsome chancel arch inserted, and roofs rebuilt and tiled. The date of the tower is uncertain, but it may have been added in the 17th century - one of the bells is dated 1618. The east wall of the chancel was rebuilt in the Victorian period and the roof and walls also repaired.

An interesting piece of local history is that some of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, after they were pardoned, were settled in Greensted on their return, and one of them, James Brine, was married here in 1839.

The church now is set in a pretty country churchyard, full of yews and lichen-covered gravestones. The porch was built next 12th century Crusader tomb, and leads directly into the Saxon nave. This is incredibly dark inside, despite the insertion of dormer windows, and retains its box pews. The chancel is somewhat brighter, and whitewashed.

The church has some interesting fittings: the pulpit was donated in 1698 by London pewterer Alexander Cleeve, and in the chancel are the Norman piscina and a memorial to one Jone Wood, dated 1585. The eagle lectern is an impressive bit of Victoriana: most of the glass is also Victorian, save a small but well preserved piece of 15th century glass set in the quatrefoil window in the west wall.

The rear of the church has all sorts of items for sale to help fundraising, from the usual postcards and guides to a wide selection of country jams and other sweet treats.

Church Lane, Greensted, Essex, CM5 9LD

St Martin, Chipping Ongar

St Martin’s is a historic Norman church in the pretty little town of Chipping Ongar, and is situated just off the High Street. Built just after the Norman conquest, around 1080, the original nave and chancel still survive, the flint walls incorporating reused Roman bricks and tiles which are clearly visible from the outside. The church was extended in Victorian times, but still retains its 15th century steeple, complete with 17th century clock.

Inside, the atmosphere in the nave is dark, thanks to the low, heavy 14th century roof, and some rather heavy Victorian stained glass. The porch, south aisle and nave arcade are also Victorian, and you have to look to find the mediaeval features: narrow, round-headed Norman windows in the north wall, above a stoup for Holy Water.

The chancel arch was rebuilt around 1350, but some Norman windows also survive in the chancel, alongside 14th and 16th century insertions, and some of the 'scissor’ roof beams are also thought to be Norman. The East window is a nice Decorated Gothic example from about 1300.

The fittings include a 16th century pulpit, a 15th century font and, on the south wall of the chancel, a memorial to Sara Mitford (d. 1776) by the noted English sculptor Joseph Nollekens. Under the south side of the altar is another memorial, to Jane Pallavicini, cousin of Oliver Cromwell (whose father fought on the Royalist side). Back outside, on the north wall of the sanctuary is a small recess (now with a door). This was originally an anchorite cell - where a hermit could take part in the service without being seen or coming into contact with the parishioners.

Finally, one of the Victorian windows depicts David Livingstone - who lived in Chipping Ongar in 1838-40 to undertake probationary year at the London Missionary Society school.

Off the High Street, Chipping Ongar, CM5 9JJ