Parkeston: St Paul
Overview
Grid reference: TM 236 322
Constructed in 1914, designed by E Douglas Hoyland. WWI broke out during its construction. Nave and aisles are under a single pantiled roofslope with dormers. Built close to Parkeston Quay (now Harwich International port) on land owned by the Great Eastern Railway who built and owned much of the surroundings.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
7-bay nave and chancel with narrow aisles under one roof. North and south porches at west end. Small hexagonal projection at west end forming the baptistery. Octagonal apsidal sanctuary at east end. Choir and priest vestries attached to south-east corner. Boiler room beneath east end of north aisle.
Dimensions:
[Approximate] Nave 17m (56ft) long x 6.5m (21ft) wide, aisles 3m (10ft) wide, chancel 10m (33ft) long.
Description of Archaeology and History
Harwich Harbour is a natural harbour where the estuaries of the River Stour and the River Orwell meet. There is evidence for a Roman camp at Harwich and ships were built there by the 15th century. By the 17th century links had already been established with the Netherlands.
Parkeston Quay, now Harwich International port, was built by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) on reclaimed marshland and opened in 1883. A railway opened here on the Harwich branch line in 1882. The area was named after the GER chairman, Charles Parkes. Terrace housing was built around the port to house railway employees and a small village grew. There was no church until a tin tabernacle mission church, St Gabriel, was constructed in 1887 on a site owned by the GER. The building was used as a hall following the construction of the new church, St Paul, on a different site and was demolished in 1973.
There were many years of fundraising and discussion of plans for the new church. An application to ICBS in 1910 by JE & JP Cutts was rejected, but a second application in 1914 was approved. The architect, E D Hoyland, designed other similar churches around the same time. The foundation stone was laid at the west end of the existing building on 2 May 1914. The church was dedicated on 31 October 1914. WWI had broken out during its construction.
During WWI the port became the base for several Royal Navy submarine flotillas; four submarines sank between 1916 and 1917 outside the harbour. It again functioned as an important naval base during WWII. Today it is a major international passenger ferry terminal and its historic links with the Netherlands continue.
The archaeological potential of the site is low. There are no known designations relating to the ecology of the plot though the site is within the Essex Coast environmentally sensitive area.
Exterior Description
St Paul's is constructed of cream coloured glazed terracotta, or faience, blocks laid on top of a brick plinth which is visible at the east end due to the levels of the site. A consecration stone is placed within the wall at the west end.
Low eaves at the west end and along the north and south elevations give the church a squat appearance on approach from the west. High eaves around the projecting apsidal chancel give the effect of greater height anticipating the interior scale. A single roof extends across the main body of the church, hipped at the west end and with three rectangular, wood-framed dormers. Another dormer breaks through the north and south roof slopes towards the east end. A separate gabled roof covers the vestry which breaks away from the main footprint of the building to the south-east. An apsidal baptistery projects from the west end with flat roofed porches to either side. A timber-framed bell-cote, containing a single bell, rises above the west end. A copper clad cross sits above the east end. Lancet windows are grouped in twos and threes in the north and south walls, with those to the south boarded. Buttresses are placed between each set of windows.
Building Fabric and Features
Nave
20th century 7-bay
Aisle
20th century x2 narrow
Chancel
20th century
Porch
20th century x2 north and south
Baptistery
20th century hexagonal projection at the west end
Sanctuary
20th century octagonal apsidal sanctuary at east end
Vestry
20th century for choir and priest attached to south east corner
Boiler Room
20th century beneath east end of north aisle
Building Materials
Brick
20th century
Terracotta
20th century glazed
Pantile
20th century clay Roman pantiles
Interior
Interior Description
Principle entry to the church is through the south-west porch, where there is a single shallow step up. The walls are constructed from glazed terracotta, a continuation from the exterior. The mullions and door surrounds are also formed from the same material, and above the doorways, the blocks are moulded so as to form an interlocked effect.
The surprisingly spacious interior has an impressive seven-bay timber (pine?) frame. On closer inspection this seems to be a scissor-brace with additional timbers to create the effect of a crown-post structure with pendants. The roof is supported on timber posts where usually you would have piers. In the narrow aisles, the main trusses come down to the walls to rest on terracotta corbels and transverse arches, formed like cruck-frames, cross the aisles at each bay. Beyond the timber, the ceiling is raftered and boarded. The nave fills four of the bays with the choir and chancel to the east and a baptistery to the west. The remains of the original heating/ventilation system can be discerned in the apex of the roof structure.Original wrought-iron brackets are fixed to the main posts of the timber-frame reaching out into the nave with modern light fittings. Additional bell-like light fittings hang in the aisles.
The floor is a level, suspended, softwood, boarded floor with carpet laid along the aisles. Simple open-backed pine benches seat the nave and wood chairs are situated in the aisles. A low shelf with children’s chairs is located in the north-west corner. At the centre of the west end, within the apsidal projection, is the font, raised on a step and cordoned off from the remainder of the nave. The floor around it is tiled in red, yellow and black quarry tiles.
In the east of the nave are external doors, with glazed panels, in the north and south walls. Waist-height panelling forms a low screen extending out from the choir enclosing the north-east corner which contains the organ. To the south side is an altar which functions as a war memorial at the east end of the south aisle. Along the south aisle is a collection of maritime memorabilia displayed on the walls and from the ceiling.
There is a single step up from the nave into the choir which has a woodblock herringbone floor with choir stalls to north and south. A curtain behind the stalls screens the organ to the north and a passage into the vestry to the south.
The sanctuary is raised by another step on which the altar is raised on a wooden platform (a small plaque dates it to 1984). The floor is of terrazzo and the three sides of the projecting apse are panelled to the height of the window-sills with a carved wood reredos behind the altar. The panelling is inscribed 1963. Three lancet lights pierce each facet.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
20th century simple oak-framed table, 1914
Reredos
20th century oak traceried, 1914 - extended either side with oak panels in 1963
Pulpit
20th century octagonal, pine, a set with choir stall frontals and low panelling screening at the east end of the choir from the body of the church
Lectern
20th century pine with buttressed base
Font (component)
20th century octagonal stone font, painted white with flat oak cover on pulley
Rail
20th century rounded oak top-rail on open fretwork
Plaque (component)
20th century various
Portable Furnishings and Artworks
baptism and confirmation since 1903, marriages since 1914
Churchyard
Grid reference: TM 236 322
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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