Penge: Christ Church
Overview
Grid reference: TQ 354 699
It is a building which impresses chiefly by its size and well-pleasing proportions. Externally it is faced with ragstone and dressed with Bath stone.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
A five-bay aisied nave with south porch. Chancel with north organ chamber and south chapel. Choir and clergy vestries to the north-east. A south-west tower was intended.
Description of Archaeology and History
By W. Bassett Smith, 1882-4. A hall was added to the west and vestries to the north-east as well as a south porch in 1936.
Exterior Description
It is a building which impresses chiefly by its size and well-pleasing proportions. Externally it is faced with ragstone and dressed with Bath stone. Nothing in the design is surprising - the five bays of the nave have paired windows at clerestory level and single windows of three lights in each bay of the aisles; the chancel chapel and organ chamber take the form of small projections roofed at almost the same height and pitch as the aisles; and the chancel, suitably lower than the nave, has a window in each side wall and a large five-light east window which would seem to be copied from a mediaeval church. The west window is also large and provides most of the light for the nave although from the ground outside it is all but concealed by the later brick hall.
The bays of the nave and aisles are articulated by buttresses and the most notable point is the variety of window tracery - no two aisle windows are the same on either side of the church although some do pair with their opposites. The corners of the chancel and the chapel are marked by two angle buttresses, and the east wall of the vestry has a two-light window with a quatrefoil in the head flanked by single lights with attractive slender ogee heads. The gables have the usual crosses and the roofs are covered with warm red tiles. The castellated parapet of the later south porch is not quite in keeping, but care was evidently taken to ensure that compatible materials were used.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1910
The east window is of five lights with Decorated tracery by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, 1910. It represents The Ascension and is notable for the richness of colouring and the almost over-careful drawing of the clouds in the sky.
Stained Glass
1930
The east window of the south chapel has more glass by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, (1930) and is of The Good Shepherd.
Stained Glass
1919
A three-light window in the south aisle is a memorial for the First World War and was presented in 1919. It is the work of Kelley and Co. of London and shows Christ flanked by St. Michael and St. George.
Interior
Interior Description
The interior of the church is uncommonly tall, even for an aspiring Gothic church as this evidently is. The lofty arches of the arcades are carried on four-fold attached pillars with Early English capitals. The arches themselves are moulded in two orders, the inner a plain half-octagon and the outer chiefly a roll-moulding. The walls are a pale ochre, a good warm colour which sets off the architecture well, and the stonework is carried out in the Bath stone which is also used for the details of the exterior. The roof of the nave is fitting to the grand scale of the building, with two cross beams in each bay, each one of which carries a king-post. simple hammerbeam effect is given by the further pairs of arch braces which curve from the ends of the cross-beams to the top of the kingposts. The roof members which correspond with the bays of the nave come down between the clerestory windows to the string-course below them, the intermediate ones do not. The corbels which carry the wall-posts are very plain, only slightly chamfered.
Tho west well is divided into two parts by a horizontal string-course below which there is an arcade of three arches. The middle of these contains the west door which is two-leaved within a trefoil head. Above is a cinquefoil and two roundels containing crosses, all blind. The flanking arches are of the Westminster Abbey triforium type, each containing a pair of trefoil-headed arches with a cinquefoil above. The large west window has five lights and geometrical tracery all with tinted glass; the label stops, as at the chancel arch, are uncarved.
The chancel arch is very tall and almost as wide as the nave. It is of two orders, the inner of which is semi-octagonal, carried on imposts of the same section: while the cuter is carried on attached columns. Two steps lead into the chancel which is furnished with oak of a dark colour. Arches on the left and right open respectively into the organ and a chapel. This arch is carrkd on semi-circular imposts but that to the chapel is on half-rounds. Again the label stops are unfinished.
The most striking feature of the chancel and, indeed, of the whole church, is the east window which is very large and is filled with glass by Heaton, Butler and Bayne with their customary deep tones. Two-light windows in the lateral walls each side of the altar admit most of the light to the chancel. The roof is arranged in three bays, and is of the wagon type but with the rafters left showing. The colours of the east window are dulled in effect by the vivid blue of the velvet curtains each side of the reredos. The floor is of red and yellow tiles.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
The Altar is of oak with an arcaded front incorporating in the central panel IHS and in the flanking panels Alpha and Omega. The two gradines have carved foliage along the front and the cross stands on a wooden plinth carved with the Agnus Dei.
Reredos
The reredos is of oak also, in five panels with cusped heads. Given in 1925.
Font (object)
The font is carried on a broad central column with stone colonettes attached and four Devon marble colonettes unattached. The bowl, square with canted corners, has foliated quatrefoils and trefoils in the panels and small ogee-headed niches on the corners.
Pulpit
The pulpit is by Hammer and Co of London, hexagonal with open traceried panels in the sides. Given 1906.
Lectern
The lectern is an eagle, probably of brass or iron but certainly painted with a brass-coloured paint. Given 1914.
Organ (object)
The Organ fills a chamber on the north side of the chancel. It was originally built by Brindley and Foster of Sheffield at a cost of £1,000, half of which was subscribed by Andrew Carnegie.
Churchyard
Grid reference: TQ 354 699
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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