Description

GRIMSBY

TA2607NW SCARTHO ROAD
699-1/35/57 (West side)
18/06/97 Church of St Martin

II

Church. 1938 by Lawrence and William Bond; sculpture by Alfred
Southwick. Reinforced concrete with red brick cladding in
English bond. Pebbled concrete dressings, with finer concrete
to window frames. Flat concrete roofs.
STYLE: Modern Movement.
PLAN: 7-bay arcaded nave with north and south porches and low
tower at south-east angle; 2-bay chancel with 2-bay south
chapel and north vestry with service rooms attached.
EXTERIOR: both nave aisles have 5 tall narrow 3-light windows.
Tall open south porch has a pair of concrete piers carrying a
projecting flat roof; stepped-in brick surround to a recessed
2-fold panelled door beneath a projecting concrete lintel
which carries a composite stone statue of St Martin holding a
sword. Door has octagonal panels and door handles modelled as
sword handles. North porch smaller, with a stepped-in surround
to a recessed 2-fold panelled door beneath projecting lintel.
Both porches have slit windows to their sides.
Nave: small 3-light clerestory windows; tripartite west window
with narrow lights beneath a continuous lintel.
Tower: square in section, single-stage, with narrow louvred
belfry openings with pointed cusped concrete hoods; flat roof
carrying cross-section steeple with brick base and narrow
concrete needle spire carrying a cross-finial.
Chancel: pairs of 3-light windows to north and south, 3-light
east window with lintel carrying crucifixion sculpture mounted
against a recessed panel which rises into a short turret
breaking the roof-line, the crucifixion figures flanked by
roundels bearing Alpha and Omega signs on a blue-tiled
background.
South chapel: entrance with projecting brick jambs and
projecting flat hood, recessed 2-fold panelled door with
sword-style handles; pair of 3-light windows. Vestry has plain
3-light leaded windows. Projecting concrete lintels and sills
with stepped profiles throughout. Nave and chancel windows
have square lights in moulded concrete surrounds.
INTERIOR: nave arcades have square-section piers and responds
and square-headed openings with a continuous stepped frieze.
Chancel has a rood screen formed by a pair of narrow concrete
columns and a plain lintel carrying painted sculptured rood
figures. Nave and aisle ceilings with concrete beams and

painted panels. Chancel ceiling has a series of polychrome
reliefs: interlaced scrollwork for north and south sides, and
a pair of central panels with wave motifs, cross and crowned
monogram "M". Windows have splayed reveals. Floor has plain
tiles to central and side aisles, parquet flooring to seating
areas. Chancel has foundation plaque dated November 8 1936,
aumbry with oak doors bearing incised lattice pattern, piscina
with concrete bowl, altar with stone mensa-slab carried on
concrete legs.
Stained glass east window by LC Evetts. South chapel has wide
opening into chancel and narrower one into nave beneath
stepped lintels; piscina and panelled ceiling similar to nave.
Font has stepped concrete base, boldly fluted shaft and
cylindrical tub bearing incised wave design; carved and
painted wooden font cover with slender column carrying a dove
on a ball.
Oak furnishings throughout; altar rails and stalls in chancel
and nave have painted relief chevron motifs. Polygonal wooden
pulpit. Brass eagle lectern with octagonal column bearing
similar chevron motif. Electric lights in nave and south
chapel hang from moulded crosses on ceiling and have wooden
boxed lamp shades with ribbed and scalloped edges.
A church notable for its Modern Movement design and materials,
and for the integration of its architecture, sculpture,
furnishings and fittings. The use of the wave/chevron motif, a
reference to the sea and to St Martin's role as patron saint
of seamen, is also extended to the Modern Movement altar
furnishings, contemporary with the building of the church.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N, Harris J, and Antram N:
Lincolnshire: London: 1989-: 339; Grimsby - Action for
Conservation: Grimsby Borough Planning Department: List of
buildings of local architectural or historical interest:
Grimsby Borough Council: 1972-: NO.67).

Listing NGR: TA2647407532

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26660098

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

• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)