Description

The following building shall be added:

TQ 28 NW ST. MICHAEL'S ROAD

935-/2/10015 CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL

II

Church. Designed 1908 by John Samuel Alder; built 1909-10. Limestone and Bath stone; red-tiled roof
Late Decorated style with Perpendicular features. Nave of 6 bays with aisles and clerestory; base of tower
(unbuilt) at north-west corner. 3-bay chancel, transept and Lady Chapel on the north side; transept and
vestries on south side. Aisles are divided into bays by buttresses; each bay has a 4-light window with
varying moulded and cusped tracery designs. Single light window in each eastern bay. West bay of south
aisle forms porch with richly moulded doorway under a gable facing west. West elevation of nave : large
window of 7 lights grouped 2-3-2 with elaborate flowing tracery above, flanked by gabletted buttresses.
Three-sided apse with 2-light windows housing baptistery below west window. Clerestory: 3-light
traceried windows in each bay, except at west end near base of tower. Chancel: lower than nave , with
angle buttresses terminating in gablets at the corners. East end: large 5-light east window 2-1-2 with
Decorated tracery. Circular window with trefoiled tracery in gable. Between chancel and north transept,
small Lady Chapel, 2-bays with semi-circular apse. Bays divided by buttresses; each has a 2-light window.
South side: vestries have plain walls without buttresses and simple rectangular windows. INTERIOR.
Arcades of 6 bays with quatrefoil pillars on moulded bases. Shafts rise from the springing of the arches to
carry the principals of the panelled timber vaults. Aisle windows have flattened pointed arches. Chancel
arch spanned by fine wooden screen. Chancel floor raised 2 steps higher than the nave. Paved with
squares of green and white marble. Chancel is of3 bays, each bay pierced by a richly moulded arch. Two
eastern bays are equal in width with 2-light clerestory window in each; west bay wider with large arch
opening into transepts and stone blind arcading on the wall above. Apsidal Lady Chapel: vaulted timber
roofsplayed at east end; sanctuary floor paved in green and white marble. FITTINGS. Altar, oak with
panelled and traceried front c. 1910. Reredos, oak with central niche containing carving of the Ascension
flanked by two pairs of cinquefoiled ogee-headed niches and an outer pair of canopied niches c.1910,
carved stalls of same date. Pulpit octagonal design in oak with small buttresses at the angles and open
traceried arches in each face, 1910. Screen 1928, and lectern 1929 both by F.E.Howard. Oak screen to
Lady Chapel, 1921. Font: small stone font of octagonal design dating from 1891 which came from St
Thomas Charterhouse when that church was demolished in 1909. Organ: JW Walker 1931 with
woodwork front period 1910-13. The stained glass dates from the 1920s and '30s, of particular note is
the east window depicting 'Our Lord In Glory above the New Jerusalem' by J.C. Bewsey c.1928.
inside, in particular, the repetition of round-arched forms.
The directness is intended to refer to auster and mendicant
life and work of St. Francis of Assisi.

Listing NGR: TQ2312585903

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27082902

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)