Tudhoe: Holy Innocents
Overview
Grid reference: NZ 268 339
Typically of "first churches" by good nineteenth-century architects (compare Scott or Pearson, for example), Tudhoe is a plain building in the lancet style, of little pretension. Its redeeming features, in fact, belong to a later improvement, for the tower and porch make quite a pleasing composition at the south-west angle. Otherwise the building is all under one long unbroken roof ridge, with the only interest given by the fact that the chancel is less wide than the nave and that the nave has little gablets over the eastern windows in the north and south walls to give the suggestion of transepts.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Aisleless nave with south porch and south-west bell tower; chancel with north vestry.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was designed by Charles Hodgson Fowler and built in 1866 at a cost of £1,788. Whellan in 1894 records that it was "improved later" by the addition of the porch and bell tower at a further cost of £1,000. This work was doubtless also carried out to designs by Hodgson Fowler. Fowler was born in 1840, the son of a Nottinghamshire parson, and became a pupil of Gilbert Scott with whom he worked on the restoration of Durham Cathedral in 1874-6. Throughout his life he was an active church builder and ecclesiologist and he became architect to Rochester Cathedral in 1898 and in 1900 succeeded Sir Arthur Blomfield as architect to Lincoln Cathedral, acting also as Diocesan Architect for York and Durham. His long list of works includes many churches in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and County Durham, of which Tudhoe is said to be the first. He died in 1910.
Exterior Description
Typically of "first churches" by good nineteenth-century architects (compare Scott or Pearson, for example), Tudhoe is a plain building in the lancet style, of little pretension. Its redeeming features, in fact, belong to a later improvement, for the tower and porch make quite a pleasing composition at the south-west angle. Otherwise the building is all under one long unbroken roof ridge, with the only interest given by the fact that the chancel is less wide than the nave and that the nave has little gablets over the eastern windows in the north and south walls to give the suggestion of transepts. These windows are of two lights with a quatrefoil above, but for the rest the nave is lit by lancet windows, set in alternating groups of two and three without even moulded hoods. The bays are marked by small buttresses. The west wall has two lancets with, oddly, another small buttress below. A stringcourse surrounds the building at sill level, running continuously round the nave and at a slightly higher level in the chancel.
The chancel has lancets with trefoiled heads in the south wall which may be part of the later improvement and an east window of three lights with a roundel above. On the north side there is a vestry under a hipped roof with an east window and a west doorway. To the west of this is the organ chamber under the same roof slope as the chancel and nave.
The south porch is much more refined, with diagonal buttresses and a traceried gable above the doorway, the latter having mouldings round the arch which die into the responds and carved decorationin the spandrels. To the left, at the south-west corner of the nave is a slender square bell-turret with an octagonal open belfry stage housing one bell, provided with gargoyles and an embattled parapet above which rises a slender lead- covered spike, altogether much more typical of the refined and scholarly work which one associates with the name of Hodgson Fowler. The inner doorway, part of the original building, has nook shafts, foliate capitals and two chamfers round the arch.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
c.1875
The east window shows The Flight Into Egypt, The Crucifixion and The Slaughter of The Innocents; in the tracery light is Christ in Glory Raising the Souls of the Innocents. The window is signed by Barnett of Newcastle.
Stained Glass
c.1880
South chancel I : The Annunciation and The Nativity
Stained Glass
c.1880
South chancel II : The Resurrection
Stained Glass
c.1875
South chancel III: The Ascension
Stained Glass
c.1874
South nave I : St. Peter and St. Andrew
Stained Glass
c.1888
North Nave I : Christ The Good Shepherd
Interior
Interior Description
Inside the church its long, rather narrow proportions are emphasised by the whitewashed walls (originally these seem to have been plaster relieved by bands of brick) and the lack of furnishings of a scale comparablewith the building. The alley is paved with black and white marble and there are wooden boards under the pews. The stone dressings of the windows which were formerly exposed are now painted grey. The font stands at the west end and a small pulpit is placed in the north-east corner. The roof is of eight bays with collars and arch braces and small wind braces. Alternate bays are supported on stone corbels and on the wall plate above the windows.
The chancel arch consists of a timber arch between plain brick responds and the chancel beyond, unlike the nave, is appears small, a feeling accentuated both by the timber screen in the chancel arch and the fact that the chancel is the same height as the nave. The organ stands in a small chamber on the north side and beyond it a door leads into the vestry. All the windows are filled with stained glass and the walls are whitewashed like those in the nave. There is a stone credence shelf against the north wall within the sanctuary and the altar has been moved forward slightly.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
The altar is a plain construction of pine.
Pulpit
1866
The pulpit is probably by Hodgson Fowler, of 1866; it is merely two panels set across the corner of the nave and decorated with pierced sexfoils containing crosses.
Lectern
The lectern is a brass eagle.
Font (object)
1866
The font is large, probably of 1866, octagonal with the sacred monogram IHS, Alpha, Omega and the cross in recessed roundels on the principal faces of the bowl.
Organ (object)
The organ is a small two-manual instrument.
Rail
The communion rails are of iron with oak capping.
Churchyard
Grid reference: NZ 268 339
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 | N/A |
| Solar Thermal Panels | N/A |
| Biomass | N/A |
| Wind Turbine | N/A |
| Air Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ev Charging | N/A |
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
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