Description

1809/0/10024 CHURCH BANK
09-FEB-07 Christ Church Non-conformist Church

II

Presbyterian Church, now United Reform, dated 1895, belfry, spire and dressings under a pitch pine roof.

PLAN: Rectangular church, aligned with pulpit at north end and main entrance to south.

EXTERIOR: South gable end is the main front and has string course, continuous hood mould, buttresses and a plinth. It is of 5 bays with the central three bays having an attached single storey porch with a gabled centre bay and buttressed at left. There is a central pointed arched entrance with drip mould ending in carved stops. End bays of porch have 2-light mullioned windows with dripstones. Above the porch are two tall windows with plate tracery. To the right of the porch there is a slightly projecting tower with angle buttresses, the south face of which has single and paired pointed arches to ground and first floor. Third storey belfry with triple pointed arches on colonettes in a chamfered rectangular recess with louvered openings and solid stone heads. The tower is surmounted by a broach spire with lucarne. The return on each side has 5 bays with alternating cross gables between buttresses with triangular ashlar heads. Windows are alternating short paired lancets and triple lancets with plate tracery. End bay of right return contains a second porch. Adjoining the church to the rear is a cross wing of 3 bays forming a hall which has a large centrally placed three light lancet window flanked by single lancets. There is a two storey stone extension to the west side.

INTERIOR: Main door at the front entrance leads through a vestibule with terrazzo flooring and original leaded glass doors to the body of the church. The plain walls are half panelled and all windows are quite deeply inset; the only elaboration being hood moulds over the south windows with decorative stops, and a stained glass rose window in the north wall with simple decorative mouldings and carved stops. A triple row of benches divided by two narrow aisles fill the main body of the church; they have close-boarded backs, book rests and simple moulded edges. The ornate pulpit at the north end of the church is panelled with pierced quatrefoils, blind tracery and plain panels below; it is reached by a stair with newel posts and carved balusters. Above and behind the pulpit is the original Harrison and Harrison organ reached by stairs flanked by rails of carved balusters and splat newel posts surmounted by ball finials. This has been re-sited as it obscures the rose window and its decoration. To either side are choir benches. Whole covered by a pitch pine roof supported on decorative corbels and braced with metal ties across its length.

Behind the church is a corridor leading to small service rooms and a vestry on the left; the later with panelled doors, deep cornices and an original fireplace into a room, formerly two, and now a kitchen with plain cornicing, skirting boards, a fireplace and a chimney breast. Beyond is a large hall with pitch pine roof and roof lights. The walls are plain and there is a wheel window in the west wall.

SOURCES: J Lake, J Cox & E Berry, Diversity and Vitality: The Methodist and Nonconformist Chapels of Cornwall (2001). Christ Church: The First One Hundred Years 1895-1995.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: This United Reformed Church was built in 1895 and has remained largely unaltered ever since. The national criteria for the designation of places of worship include considerations of architectural quality, age, setting, rarity and intactness. This church is of special architectural interest as a gothic revival church, which was designed, with an overall high level of architectural quality. This is enhanced by the survival of a simple interior, which has altered little since its construction and has a suite of good quality and detailed wooden fittings. The quality of design and execution combined with very low levels of alteration combine to mean that this church fully meets the criteria for listing in a national context.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671207

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.

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