History II

Extension

However, this fine building quickly became too small and, in 1865, William Burges designed a parallel church which would incorporate Bodley's building as its south aisle. The rebuilding was not carried out until 1893, and took two years. Burges was a contemporary of Bodley; both men were born in 1827. It is not known for certain why a different architect was chosen for the redesign, and the changes reportedly caused Bodley some upset. Burges did not live to see his designs realised; he died in 1881.

The exterior decoration of the new building broadly matched that of the original church, consisting of bands of white stone contrasting with dark red brick, but there is a considerable difference in height. The original building's north aisle was demolished, and its remaining structure became the south aisle of the new church. In terms of the church's present arrangement, therefore, the main body and the adjacent north aisle date from 1893, while the south aisle is original.

The designs, as originally submitted, showed that a cloister and a campanile were planned to be built as well. Inside, additional decoration was to have been made in the chancel, and various additions were proposed for the sanctuary area. A predella (altar shelf) behind the altar, a set of sedilia within the sanctuary area and a baldacchino above the altar were all shown in the plans. However, none of these proposals were implemented, and no changes took place in this area until around 1900, when architect and interior designer William Henry Romaine Walker (1854-1940) provided a marble wall with Cosmatesque-style decoration between the chancel and the nave, a screen for the chancel itself, a new marble altar (in his wife's memory) and extra marble ornamentation for the sanctuary. A rood screen and new reredos were also installed at this time, designed by Romaine Walker.

A Parish Hall was built in 1970 on the site, to the north of the church, where the cloister was originally proposed.

As stated above, this building dates to two periods - Burges' enlargement substantially altered the character of the building, abandoning Bodley's polychrome brickwork interior for proper stone dressings, but he retained the polychrome style for the somewhat brutal exterior.

The interior featured a series of clerestory windows facing south, a stone arch in the chancel and a row of stone columns with foliated decoration (carved with leaf ornamentations). The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of people active in various areas of the arts who were influenced by the Quattrocento period of Italian art, were closely involved with the decoration of the interior. Bodley was informally associated with this recently formed group, in particular with Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, a long-term friend of his. William Morris himself, along with Philip Webb and Charles Faulkner, was responsible for the painting of the chancel roof. The large windows on the western face of the church were made and installed by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., the predecessor of Morris's firm Morris & Co.

There are many stained glass windows by Morris and Burne-Jones in the old building The east end of Burges' building features a large trio of stepped lancets with basic two-light tracery.

Internal fixtures include a grey marble font and a green serpentine and calcite (verde antique) pulpit, both designed and made by Bodley. The noted stained glass designer Charles Eamer Kempe was responsible for the restoration and installation of a 16th century reredos of Flemish origin. This depicts three scenes from Christ's life in the form of a triptych which sadly has been removed due to awaiting resoration.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE TO PAGE THREE