Description

WORCESTER

SO8555SW CORNMARKET
620-1/13/204 Church of St Martin
22/05/54

GV II*

Parish church. 1768-1772, architect Anthony Keck; with later
alterations including east window of 1855-62 by Hopkins.
Purple brick in Flemish bond with ashlar quoins, bands,
architraves and cornice; stuccoed porch; slate roof.
Rectangular preaching box of single tall storey and 5 bays
with three-stage west tower. Single-storey, single bay vestry
to south-east. Quoins to angles. Chamfered plinth. Continuous
sill band. North side: entrance to centre in projecting porch,
flight of 4 steps to 6-raised-and-fielded-panel double doors
with fanlight in surround of plain pilasters, frieze and
cornice with blind round-arched openings to porch returns.
Round-arched windows in quoined surrounds. Frieze and
modillion cornice. Low coped parapet. South side has similar
fenestration and embellishments. Tower has quoins to angles;
entrance to lower stage on north side, 6-flush-panel door with
fanlight in plain reveals and timber surround; upper stage has
round-arched belfry openings with imposts, keystones and sills
on feet in tooled architraves; cavetto-moulded cornice and
surmounting balustrade with rod-on-vase balusters and finials
to angles. East end: continuous sill band. 2 outer
round-arched windows. To centre a taller round-arched window
with cusped lights and rose to head with border of
quatrefoils. Pedimented gable and oculus with quoined
surround.
INTERIOR: derived from Gibbs's St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Unfluted Ionic colonnades divide space into aisled nave with
shallow chancel; to aisles are elaborate scrolled corbels
surmounted by modillion entablature; groin vaulting to aisles,
flat nave ceiling with penetrations from the arcades and
central panel with cornice. Chancel has tall, semi-circular
arch on square pillars with panelled decoration, arch
inscribed 'worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness'. West
gallery has chunky rod-on-vase balusters. Panelled dado with
two levels of fielded panelling; pew backs have fielded panels
(pews probably re-arranged in C19). Moulded altar rails and
lectern. Entrance to gallery, double
8-raised-and-fielded-panel door. Minton tile floor. Octagonal
Victorian font. Victorian stained lass depicts (unusually) the
Annunciation. Monuments from earlier edifice include Baroque
wall cartouches to William Johnson d.1711;
to John Hughes d.1726; to Grismond family.
HISTORICAL NOTE: this edifice replaces a medieval church on
the site. One of an important group of four churches in
Worcester which, in their present form, are largely eighteenth
century, with Church of St Swithin, Church Street; Church of
St Nicholas, The Cross and Church of All Saints, Broad Street
(qqv). Their towers, together with the Cathedral (qv) and St
Andrew's Church Tower, Deansway (qv), form the most
significant feature of Worcester's skyline.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner: N: Worcestershire:
Harmondsworth: 1968-1985: 295, 319-20; Colvin H: A
Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840:
London: 1978-: 481).

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17548120

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

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)