Diameter: 19" Bell 1 of 1
1823
Dove Bell ID: 51591 Tower ID: 18701 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Brixton Road: Christ Church
Diocese of Southwark
Major Parish Church, 637053
http://christchurchbr.org.ukOverview
Grid reference: TQ 311 770
Christ Church was built in the Byzantine style by Beresford Pite for his brother-in-law, the Reverend William Mowll, after whom the adjoining side street is named. Designed during the 1890s, the foundation stone bears the date 1898, and the church was consecrated in 1902. The church replaced a smaller Georgian building on part of the existing site which had started life as the independent Holland Chapel. During the construction the Church Hall was used for worship; this having been built in a plainer style behind the church on Mowll Street between 1897-8. Pevsner (Buildings of England : London South p.333) points out the buildings stylistic similarity to Westminster Cathedral. It is constructed of red and yellow brick in bands and Portland stone dressings to doors and windows. The roofs are slate and tile. A dome covers the centre of the cruciform plan. Traditional orientation is reversed with the liturgical west front facing east onto Brixton Road. The imposing West front is formed of a central octagonal tower, with three arched openings at first floor level over the doors. To either side the façade terminates in low towers which are slightly recessed and have domed roofs. The remarkable external pulpit, not part of Pite’s original plan and added in 1907 at the insistence of the Reverend Mowll, is the only element which upsets the rigid symmetry of the West front. The brick and stone gateposts along the Brixton Road frontage, with their elaborate lanterns, are contemporary with the church, although the railings are a modern replacement of originals removed during the war.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Western vestibule with a room on each side, wide aisleless nave and transepts, polygonal apse with an ambulatory, flanked by two vestries.
Footprint of Church buildings: 1057 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was built by A. Beresford Pite, and consecrated in 1907.
Exterior Description
The exterior of the church is neo-Byzantine in style, but on it are superimposed a number of details in the classical idiom. This is particularly noticeable on the entrance front (the liturgical west front, though it faces east). Here are three entrance doors, each set in classical aedicules, and above them is a blind arcade of short attached pilasters. Above this again is a triple arcade of Venetian windows, the centre bay filled with a rectangular three-light window. At roof-level the tall octagonal central tower with its domed lantern is flanked by the lower roofs of the corner towers. All the aedicules and detailing on this front are of Portland stone, but the main fabric of the building, as well as the arcades and window-piers of the other fronts, is of grey stock brick, relieved with bands of purple Berkhampstead bricks. The joints of the brickwork have been raked out, and the pointing is kept back about in from the face. The bands of purple bricks are varied in number on the different planes of the building, those parts most recessed having more bands than the rest of the structure. The exterior walls, apart from the "west" front, are all articulated in the same way; arcaded for their full height with semi-circular headed brick arches and attached brick piers. The head of each arch is filled with a Diocletian window, and another of the same type is recessed under a pair of blind arches at ground level. Over the corssing is a large dome with a small wooden lantern; the podium of the dome is octagonal and has a. Diocletian window on alternate sides.
Interior
Interior Description
The interior walls are limed washed and there is little decoration with the exception, below the dome, of remarkable mural inscriptions of the Ten Commandments and other biblical and liturgical texts designed by Edward Johnston. Johnston was also responsible for the design of the inscription on the stone lintel above the central west door. The lettering was cut by Eric Gill.
During the 1980s and 90s, to facilitate greater use of the building in the service of the community, the original (liturgical) West gallery was extended to the east to provide office space above and the area of the nave below was screened off to provide a multi- purpose space (the ‘Holland Room’). In the process the two-manual Hunter organ (which had been moved from the first building and enlarged in 1902) was removed. A second floor was added to the vestry to provide a clergy house, and toilets and a kitchen installed either side of the West entrance vestibule. Additional single story constructions were also inserted in the transepts to provide meeting rooms to the South and a chapel to the North.
Fixtures and fittings
Pulpit
Octagonal, of panelled oak on a stone base. The pulpit is very large and, like the one on the external wall, is in the Baroque style with a heavy tester suspended above it.
Desk
This is in the same idiom as the pulpit with a suspended tester, though the desk itself rests on the ground.
Lectern
Made from the designs of Martin Travers, who was at that time a pupil in the office of Beresford Pite. Three large volutes support a ball, which in turn supports the massive double-sided lectern. The whole is of oak.
Altar
On six columns of wood, with a pair of matching book-stands.
Rail
Wood, of a piece with the altar.
Chair
Two Bishop's chairs of wood, of a piece with the altar.
Font (object)
A huge globe of serpentinemarble with a shallow depression in the top for the Holy water. The body of the font rests on a white stone column of cruciform section.
Bells
Churchyard
Grid reference: TQ 311 770
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Sources
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