St Stephen West Ealing
Diocese of London
Church, 623451
http://www.ststephens-ealing.org/Overview
Grid reference: TQ 167 814
The church is built in the usual Decorated style which is associated with so many Kentish ragstone churches built in expanding London suburbs between 1840 and 1880. The difference between the north and south sides is more apparent externally than internally since inside the church the nave arcades and clerestory are symmetrical.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Nave of five bays with differing north and south aisles and a broad shallow transept on the south side of the two easternmost bays; north-west tower and spire; south west porch; chancel with north vestries and south organ chamber.
Footprint of Church buildings: 732 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was built in three stages over a period of fifteen years. The foundation stone was laid on 29 June 1875 and the nave, north aisle, chancel and north vestry were erected over the next two years to the designs of J. Ashdown, the builder being T. Nye of Ealing. On 3 June 1876 the Bishop of London consecrated the "neat little building" ; it had cost £4,123. On 27 October 1876 the church was assigned its own parish, and plans were put in hand for further building works. The south aisle, south transept and organ chamber were added to the designs of A. Rovedino (who had been Ashdown's Clerk) at a cost of £2,400, and those were dedicated in 1880. Finally, the tower and spire were added in 1890 at a cost of £3,000 and dedicated by the Bishop of Marlborough on 1 January 1881. They had been designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and built by J. Dorey. The whole church had cost £11,050. The church replaced an iron church which had been opened in 1867. Of Ashdown and Rovedino little can be discovered. Arthur Blomfield was born in 1829 and after being educated at Rugby School and Trinity College Cambridge he went into the office of P.C. Hardwick. He then travelled in Europe and set up in practice in 1856. He was President of the A.A., Vice President of the RIBA, knighted in 1889 and Royal Gold Medallist in 1891. He carried out an immense amount of work, mostly ecclesiastical, and was architect to Salisbury, Canterbury, Lincoln and Chichester Cathedrals. He died in 1899.
Exterior Description
The church is built in the usual Decorated style which is associated with so many Kentish ragstone churches built in expanding London suburbs between 1840 and 1880. The difference between the north and south sides is more apparent externally than internally since inside the church the nave arcades and clerestory are symmetrical. The island site which the church occupies amidst streets which do not follow any very regular plan means that the building is seen from many different angles and distances, and its asymmetrical plan and elevations help to vary its outline and massing.
The west front has a broad gable in the centre for the nave, with a big six-light window having Geometrical tracery and shafts against the uprights. At the corners are diagonal buttresses. On the south is an aisle set under its own gable with a four-light west window, also with Geometrical tracery, and from the south side of this projects a porch, which, oddly, has the door not in the south gable but round the corner in the east wall. The south gable has two windows with trefoiled lights and a trefoil above, and between these is a niche under a crocketted gablet. To the north of the west gable of the nave is the end of the north aisle, with a pent roof (it being much narrower than the south aisle) and a three-light window set within a relieving arch. This abuts on the north against the tower.
The tower is of four unequal stages with a big shafted doorway under a gablet in the west wall and two small lights in the north wall of the ground floor. The next stage has single lights to west, north and east and the third stage has two smaller lights in each direction. The uppermost stage, which houses the bells, is much the tallest and has two big paired belfry openings in each face with a clock face above. At this point there is a castellated parapet and the paired angle buttresses which have risen through various off-sets terminate in gablets under crocketted pinnacles. The spire has small flying buttresses behind the pinnacles instead of broaches, and lucarnes set low under crocketted gablets. There is a second tier of lucarnes in the intermediate faces and then the spire rises without further ornament to an iron cross on the summit. The general detailing of the tower and spire is rather hard, but the outline is elegant.
The rest of the church has further strange features. One is the breadth of the single transept on the south side, which covers two boys of the south aisle and is awkwardly placed since the aisle stands under its own gable. The aisle has two bays with three-light windows and then the transept has two two-light windows and a roundel containing three cinquefoils in its emple south gable. It also has windows in the east and west faces, angle buttresses at the corners and a further buttress in the middle of the south wall. Adjoining it on the east is the organ chamber projecting under a cross-gable on the south side of the chancel. It has a three-light window in the gabled wall and two lancets separated by buttresses in its east wall. There is then space for one two-light window opening into the chancel. The east gable of the chancel has a big five-light east window and the north wall of the sanctuary has a two-light window like that in the south well. West of this there is a vestry with a polygonal apse at the north end. The north aisle has four three-light windows and then a small doorway and a further two-light window. The clerestory is visible externally on this side of the church and has ordinary two-light windows with trefoiled heads to the lights and quatrefoils as tracery.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1887
The east window was put in to commemorate the Jubilee, 1887; it shows Moses, Elijah, Christ, St. Stephen and St John with The Nativity, Baptism of Christ, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension in predella panels below; by Clayton and Bell.
Stained Glass
c.1890
North aisle I : Christ the Light of the World and St. John the Baptist, by Clayton and Bell.
Stained Glass
c.1885
North aisle II : Christ the Good Shepherd flanked by St. John the Evangelist and St. Peter, by Clayton and Bell, c.1885, to the memory of The Revd. John Baron, Rector of Upton Scudamore, Wiltshire, d.1885. His family were connected with this parish and paid much towards the building of the church.
Stained Glass
c.1925
North aisle III : Martha and Mary ; single sentimental light, c.1925, in memory of Mary, Alice and Louisa Boron, d. 1923, 1923 and 1925, benefactors of the church; by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.
Stained Glass
1932
North aisle IV: Christ the Saviour, inserted "in memory of the good seed sown in the hearts of the family of Edward Cheese Painter"; 1932 by Maile and Son, Euston Road.
Stained Glass
1882
South transept east: David and Christ with two Beatitudes illustrated from scenes in their life in predella panels below; by Cleyton and Bell.
Stained Glass
1894
South transept I : St. Simeon and St. Anna, with The Presentation in the Temple and Martha and Mary below, 1894 by Clayton and Bell.
Stained Glass
South transept II : Faith and Love and The Woman Touching the Hem of His Garment and The Good Samaritan below.
Stained Glass
Naturalistic patterns in the rose window.
Stained Glass
1881
South aisle: one light showing St. Cecilia, by Clayton and Bell.
Stained Glass
1914
West window: St. Stephen before the Sanhedrin
Stained Glass
c.1895
West window of north aisle: Christ and the Children
Interior
Interior Description
The interior of the nave is deceptively symmetrical since the variations only start with the aisles beyond the arcades. The arcades themselves have alternately round and octagonal pillars but they do not run in pairs. The capitals are carved with naturalistic foliage, as are the corbels for ringed shafts which support the roof timbers at clerestory level. The roof is plastered between the principals and the principals are strengthened by arch braces. All the window reveals and arches are of unplastered stonework. The north aisle is quite conventional, with a pent roof, a doorway at the west end into the tower porch and an erch at the east end leading to the vestries. The south aisle is about twice as wide, under its own gable and with a doorway at the west end leading into the small south porch and a double arch on a central shaft opening into the transept at the east end. The front half of the transept is arranged with choirstalls and the southern part is screened off to form a chapel. The organ chamber opens into the transept through an arch to the east and the console is detached on the north side of the east bay of the nave.
The chancel arch is tall, with an inner moulded order on triple colonettes on foliated corbels and an outer order reaching to the floor. A hood mould ends in stops carved as angels. The arch is crossed by a screen. The floor in the nave is of red, black and buff tiles in the alleys and timber platforms under the pews. The chancel is rather dark because it has few windows and all of those are filled with stained glass. On the north an arch opens towards the vestries and a doorway before the communion rails opens into the choir vestry. On the south an arch opens into the organ chamber and within the sanctuary there is a credence recess within a trefoiled arch. The east wall is panelled with stone arcading round alabaster panels and the reredos enclosed a heavy carving. The chancel is paved with Minton encaustic tiles.
Fixtures and fittings
Reredos
1897
The reredos is of Corsham stone and alabaster and shows The Last Supper (after Leonardo) carved in relief under frilly arches.
Pulpit
1876
The pulpit of 1876 is of Caen stone, octagonal on a tall base with cinquefoil-headed arches in each face supported by serpentine colonettes. The steps have a brass-rail.
Lectern
The lectern is a big brass eagle on three lion feet.
Font (object)
The font is octagonal on a square base, of Caen stone with marble colonettes, the symbols of the Evangelists carved under the bowl and naturalistic carving on the bowl.
Screen
1916
The chancel screen is of oak, carved in the Perpendicular style with carving and a vine-trail cornice and erected in 1916; it is carved by H. Dodd of Ealing.
Screen
c.1945
The screen to the south chapel, also of oak, is a War Memorial of c.1945.
Screen
1922
A screen against the west wall is similar to the chancel screen and is a First World War Memorial.
Rail
c.1941
The communion rails are of oak with cusped decoration on the uprights.
Organ (object)
The organ is a three-manual instrument rebuilt with a detached console and electric action by Noterman; it was originally by Auguste Gern.
Churchyard
Grid reference: TQ 167 814
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
Quinquennial Inspections
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