St Stephen's, Rochester Row, London

St Stephen's is a lovely church only a few minutes' walk from the bustle of Victoria Street, with an active and diverse congregation.

Built in 1847-49 by Benjamin Ferrey, a pupil of Pugin, it is an accomplished example of Victorian Neo-Gothic in the 13th century Decorated style. The ragstone exterior encloses a cool, largely whitewashed interior. There is an aisled nave of 5 bays, and a long chancel. A small south chapel, dedicated in 1904, was erected in memory of Angela Tennant, daughter of the first Vicar. This has an elaborate decorated scheme of mosaics in the vaguely pre-Raphaelite style.

Other elements of interest include a stained glass window of the Good Shepherd by Morris & Co, designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1890), and an original window of 1850 by Wailes in the south aisle.

The spire was damaged by lightning in the 19th century and again during World War II, and shortened in the 1960s because of the resulting safety concerns. It was restored to its original height by the addition of a lightweight extension in 1994.

Rochester Row, London SW1P 4NJ

St Augustine, Brookland, Kent

Set in the flat and bleak landscape of Romney Marsh, Brookland church looks weirdly out of place. The distinctive belfry, with its three conical tiers of wooden shingles, might look more at home in the Balkans than in the Garden of England. According to legend, the belfry was originally located on the roof, but leapt from the church in surprise when an aged batchelor married an equally elderly spinster.

The adjacent church is a little more orthodox, although still interesting. The porch, with its wooden half-gates is charmingly rustic, and adjacent is a narrow, low tower with a clock. Dating from around 1250, the gothic nave is wide and spacious, and it has equally generous aisles. The scarily odd angles of the walls and arcade arches betray serious signs of subsidence, all adding to the charm (and betraying the real reason for not building the belfry on the church roof). It still retains its original box pews, some pretty 14th-century stained-glass windows, and a well preserved pre-reformation wall painting of the murder of Thomas a Becket.

The most notable furnishing is a Norman font, made of lead: reputedly stolen by a local raiding party from a church in France, it features the signs of the zodiac and pictures of rural life. Close by are other artifacts of rural life, including a set of weights and measures, an unusual portable porch (supposedly intended to keep the priest dry at funerals), and the clock mechanism, set at ground level for all to see.

But most poignant for me is the memorial erected to John and Mary Munn and ten of their children, all of whom predeceased them. It was erected by the only survivor, Henry. You can almost feel his plight.

High Street, Brookland, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29 9QR

Cathedral Church of St Martin, Leicester

Leicester’s Cathedral was its parish church until the creation of the Diocese of Leicester in 1927. The church has mediaeval elements but was heavily restored in the 19th century.

History

Leicester was established as a diocese in 680AD by the Saxons, but after 200 years was abandoned as a diocese as the Danes invaded the East Midlands, and was ministered instead from Lincoln and then Peterborough.

The Normans built a church here to replace the Saxon one in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, which was progressively enlarged throughout the mediaeval period: the present nave and aisles date from the mid 13th century, and a large second south aisle (the “Great South Aisle”) was added in the 13th and 14th centuries. The nave was lengthened in the 15th century.

The building was heavily restored 1861-67 by Raphael Brandon, who replaced the original tower and spire with the present version, which rises 220ft. Further restorations were carried out by Street and Pearson, and the south porch added by Bodley in 1897.

The church was elevated to cathedral status in 1927 but, unlike many former parish churches, was not enlarged or rebuilt for the purpose.

The church

Most of the exterior dates from the Victorian rebuilding, but inside the church retains more of a mediaeval feel: the South Aisle in particular, with its large corbel statues depicting people’s ails and discontents, is well preserved. The only remains of the original Norman church of 1086 is a string of billet moulding in the north aisle.

Although not especially well endowed with notable furnishings, the church has a good collection of memorials, the oldest in the main church being that of John Whatton and his two wives, dating from 1656, in the north aisle. A defaced 14th century tombstone – said to be the oldest in Leicestershire – is hidden away in a corridor behind St Dunstan’s chapel. A modern memorial to Richard III lies in the chancel - and there are plans to reinter his recently discovered remains there. St Katherine’s Chapel, beyond the north aisle, has a large collection of memorials to the Herrick family.

The church has a cycle of daily services (details on the website), regular concerts and recitals, and is open daily for prayer and visitors. Guided tours can be arranged on request (advanced notice required).

Peacock Lane, Leicester, Leicestershire LE1 5PZ

Blackburn Cathedral

Blackburn has been a Christian site since the 5th century, yet it is home to one of England’s newest and smallest Cathedrals. This remarkable building is a mixture of Victorian and late 20th century architecture, and possesses an impressive array of modern religious art.

History

A church was recorded in Blackburn, possibly on the same site as the Cathedral, as early as 596AD. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin was erected in Norman times and enlarged throughout the mediaeval period, but the expansion of Blackburn in the 19th century resulted in a completely new church being erected on the site in 1820-26, designed by John Palmer.

In 1926 the Diocese of Blackburn was formed and the church became elevated to Cathedral status. Plans were put in place to enlarge it so that it could perform its new duties, and work began in 1938, but was not completed until the 1970s. The distinctive lantern tower, in the shape of a crown, was designed by Laurence King after the death of the original architect W A Forsyth.

The Church

The tower and nave survive from Palmer’s original church, and are in the Decorated Gothic style. For its date, these are remarkably faithful to the mediaeval form. The transepts, chapels and chancel are in a more spare 20th Century Gothic, but the lantern, with its slender aluminium spire, is unashamedly modernist.

Inside the church, the immediate impression is one of space and light: all the glass in the nave is clear, and the interior is whitewashed throughout. The rib vaults of Palmer’s elegant nave and aisles are picked out in gold and red, to stunning effect.

Furnishings are mostly modern: the high altar is situated beneath the lantern, surmounted by a corona (hanging crown) and on the west wall is the huge sculpture of Christ the Worker; both are by John Hayward, who also designed the striking stained glass of the lantern and south transept window. The only old furnishings are a set of 15th century misericords in the north transept, thought to have come from Whalley Abbey. The west window in the south transept also has some fragments of mediaeval glass. The church has a number of other modern religious sculptures and paintings.

Beneath the church is a crypt with a very popular café. The church is open to visitors every day, and has a cycle of daily services (see website).

Cathedral Close, Blackburn BB1 5AA

Cathedral Church of St Peter, Bradford

Formerly the parish church, St Peter's became the Cathedral of the new dioceses of Bradford in 1919. The building has an intimate interior with a 15th core, striking 20th century extensions, and some interesting fittings and furnishings.

History

There has probably been a church on the site since 8th century: the remains of two Anglo-Saxon crosses have been found on the site, one of which is incorporated into the present fabric. Described as 'waste' in Domesday, there may nevertheless have been a manor chapel on the site, and a church was recorded here in 1281.

Rebuilding commenced in in the 14th century: the present nave arcades were completed by 1458, and a clerestory was added later in the same century. The church also had chantry chapels, and the tower was completed in 1508. The church was bombarded by Royalist forces in the Civil War, when wool-sacks were hung to protect it. The roof was rebuilt in the 18th century, and the exterior considerably tidied up in the 1830s.

The church was elevated to Cathedral status in 1919, and extensions to the Chancel and West end were added in the 1950s to designs by Sir Edward Maufe. The Cathedral was rededicated in its present form in 1963.

The church

From the outside, the modern extensions are in a reasonably sympathetic but very spare neo-Gothic style, and contrast strongly with the Victorian and mediaeval elements. The site is slightly unfortunate in that the east end now abuts a busy main road; the church is best appreciated from the green on the north side, from which viewpoint it reflects its origins as a substantial parish church.

The interior is dominated by the handsome nave, of eight bays of regular Gothic arches, supported on delicate quatrefoil piers. The walls of the nave and aisles are heavily scraped, and give it a rather rustic feel - in sharp contrast to the tall and clean chancel, which is plastered and whitewashed. There are chapels in the transepts, as well as three new chapels attached to the Chancel, dedicated to St Aidan, the Holy Spirit and St Mary.

The church has a very rich and extensive collection of 18th and 19th century memorials, and glass by Kempe and William Morris. In the north ambulatory are the remains of an Anglian preaching cross. The Bishop's Chair (the Cathedra) has a tall canopy and an interesting bench end, with an image of the old tower, above a rock containing a dragon. The most striking modern furnishing is the Celtic Cross behind the altar of St Aidan's chapel, by Chris Shawcross, depicting people on their pilgrimage, towards an image of Mary and the infant Jesus.

The Cathedral is open every day (limited access on Sundays, only to services) and has a regular cycle of daily services and special events (details on the website).

Stott Hill, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 4EH

St Michael, Camden

St Michael's is the parish church of Camden, and is located (though easily missed) next to Sainsbury's. It has a lively congregation and an active social outreach into the local community.

History

The nave was built in 1880-1 and the sanctuary in 1893-4 to plans by the prolific church architect George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907) and Thomas Garner, with whom he had a 28-year professional partnership. A planned tower was never built. St Michael's subsumed the parish of All Saints in the 1950s, and since 2003 has been part of a team ministry with St Pancras Old Church, St Mary's Somers Town and St Paul's Camden Square.

The church

The church is orientated north-south, with the liturgical west end facing the road. The church is built of yellow stock brick with stone dressings in the Decorated Gothic style. Both the west window and the clerestory windows over the aisles have delicate geometric tracery and have recently been restored.

Inside, the stone-lined interior consists of a nave of 5 bays, which draws the eye to the large sanctuary: Bodley did not include a chancel arch in the scheme, so the nave and sanctuary form a single, unified space. The height of the nave is emphasised by the fact that the floor is lower than the street outside. There is a small stone-vaulted chapel to the north of the sanctuary.

The interior has interesting decorative stencilling, but is generally in need of some restoration. Fittings and furnishings include the original altar of 1880, and a selection of statues, some in the pre-Raphaelite style (though that of St George dates from 1939); an attractive coloured pulpit; a marble altar and Easter Sepulchre in the north chapel; and a brass to Edward Bainbridge Reynolds, incumbent, who died in 1907.

The church has a flourishing congregation, with worship in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, and the adjacent centre provides a range of outreach services for the local community.

Camden Road, Camden, London NW1 9LQ

St Alphege, Greenwich

The historic parish church of Greenwich sits imposingly in its town centre. Although unfortunately hemmed in on the east by the main road, both the green at the west end and the interior are oases of calm.

History

The church is built on the alleged site of St Alphege’s martyrdom at the hands of Viking pirates in 1012. Alphege, then Archbishop of Canterbury, had been taken hostage but refused to be ransomed, and so was (by tradition) killed by being pelted with animal bones, before one Viking struck him with an axe to the head to spare his suffering. He was canonized in 1078.

Details of the first church erected on the site after the martyrdom are scanty, but it was an important shrine. A new church was built to replace it in the 13th century, and was witness to many Royal visitors up to the 17th century due to its proximity to the royal palace at Greenwich. Thomas Tallis, the composer, was one of the notable people buried there.

The church roof collapsed in a storm in 1710, and the present church was built to replace it, as the first of the 50 churches sanctioned under the New Churches in London and Westminster Act of 1711. Designed in the Baroque style by Nicholas Hawksmoor, it was completed in 1714 and consecrated in 1718. The intended tower was never built: instead, in 1730, the remains of the old tower were encased to match the rest of the church to designs by John James. Much of the interior woodwork was by Grinling Gibbons.

The church was gutted by incendiary bombs in 1941. Restoration began in 1946 and was completed in 1953. The interior is largely new, but incorporates remnants from the original fabric and is largely faithful to the Hawksmoor's design.

The church

The exterior – particularly the splendid east front (oddly, the original entrance) with its bold Doric portico - is a beautifully balanced example of Baroque architecture, although the proportions of James's tower are unfortunately not a match for the rest.

The interior has galleries on three sides, with delicately carved wooden columns, and the ceiling consists of a huge plaster disc suspended on corbels on the exterior walls. At the west end, the organ is mounted a fine portico of a gallery. Fittings of note include two original benefactor boards on the east wall, impressive ironwork in the east galleries, memorials to James Wolfe and Thomas Tallis, and stained glass depicting other (mostly royal) associations with the church.

The church today is the centre of a bustling parish life, and is the venue for regular concerts.

Greenwich Church Street, London SE10 9LZ