Church of St Nicholas, Fleetwood, Lancashire

Summary

Anglican church, 1960-62 to designs of Laurence King; built by Brown & Jackson Ltd.

Description

Anglican church, 1960-62 to designs of Laurence Edward King; built by Brown & Jackson.

MATERIALS: fair faced brick walls, with a timber slatted west gable, and green copper sheet clad roofs. There are slaked lime fittings to the interior.

PLAN: the main body of the church consists of a chancel, a central tower, a nave with projecting side aisles incorporating vestries at the east ends, and north and south porches. It is oriented north-south although Liturgical orientations are used in this description.

EXTERIOR: the church stands on a triangular plot of land at the intersection of three roads. Its east end terminates a long view down Beach Road from the seafront. The church was designed to resemble an upturned ship reinforced by the use of triangular dormer windows on each side of the nave and chancel, reminiscent of the sails of a ship, and a central tower reminiscent of a ship’s keel.

The steeply-pitched chancel roof has three small sharply pitched triangular dormers to each side. The windowless east end has a large wooden cross and Instruments of the Passion, behind which the pitched nave roof and an immense brick tower rise, with single-storey pitched-roof aisles projecting to right and left, forming a focal point from the distant seafront. The nave roof is very steeply pitched and considerably higher than the chancel, extending over the aisles at a shallower angle. It has three triangular dormer windows to each pitch. The aisles are blind except at the east end which has a six-light rectangular window and a five light and paired single lights lighting vestries. A large square central tower at the east end of the nave appears to slice through the nave roof; it comprises two, tall sheer brick slabs on the east and west faces, and a large, recessed lattice window on the east and west sides, with louvred openings to the bell chamber above. The tower windows have replacement lattice fenestration that match the originals. There are slightly projecting north and south gabled porches beneath the tower, over which the aisle roof extends. Each has a low, pointed arch entrance fitted with original double timber doors and metal screens. The gabled west end is vertically timber clad and has triple stepped rectangular lancet windows, above a full-length flat-roofed porch and an entrance in each corner.

INTERIOR: the interior is mostly exposed fair faced brick contrasting with lighter pointing, and the floors are mostly woodblock in a herringbone pattern and the altar plinth has a terrazzo tiled floor. The original lighting pattern of pendant clusters along both sides of the nave and chancel is retained. Ceilings are mostly plastered and white, but the crossing ceiling is coffered concrete and the nave is pierced with diamond motifs.
The chancel is reached by steps and houses a Lady Chapel, which has white painted plaster walls with an abstract brightly-coloured stained-glass window to either side. The rear wall has an original carved and painted timber crucifix designed by King, set behind a small concrete altar. To either side are vestries, that to the south aisle has painted walls and original full-height fitted cupboards. The chancel arch is exposed brick. The crossing has a stone-flagged floor and a high ceiling, with tall brick pointed arches to all sides. The main concrete altar is placed centrally in the crossing upon a two-stepped plinth, and there is a tester suspended by chains to the tower. To either side of the crossing there is a port and starboard light placed the opposite way around to reflect an overturned ship. Laurence King also designed the large painted wood carvings either side of the crossing: a Madonna and a St Nicholas, the Patron Saint of sailors. There are gently curving altar rails with balusters. The nave continues the upturned ship design, its roof formed of giant laminated cruck-like beams rising from the floor alternating with exposed brick arcades. The east end of the nave has triple narrow rectangular openings lighting the narrow passage aisles that have brick pointed arches. The nave retains original limed bench seating and a similar pulpit. Centrally placed on the west wall is the organ, a six rank extension organ by Binns of Leeds, probably the last one to be built by the firm J J Binns. The bell chamber contains a single bell on a simple timber frame.

History

The Church of St Nicholas replaced an earlier church on the same site, and was built between 1960 and 1962 to the designs of Laurence Edward King. Its foundation stone was laid in 1960, it was dedicated in 1962, and it was consecrated as a parish church in 1982. It was designed as an upturned ship in order to emphasise Fleetwood's strong maritime connections, and those of St Nicholas himself as Patron Saint of Sailors. The building was largely constructed to King's design, but the south gable retains a temporary timber façade installed at the time of construction when funds became limited. The intended final west bays have never been completed. The internal timber wood carvings are by King, and the organ is thought to be one of the last produced by JJ Binns of Leeds.

Laurence Edward King (1907-1981) is considered one of the leading ecclesiastical architects of the post-war period. He studied architecture at the Bartlett under A E Richardson and his career as an architect began in the 1930s. His first church, St George the Martyr, Brentwood, a Moderne brick basilica, was completed in 1934. The Second World War interrupted his career, though after military service he re-established himself as a practicing architect and continued his pre-war teaching at the Royal College of Art. In 1951 he served on the Archbishop’s Commission on the repair of churches, which led to his appointment as consulting architect to the Historic Churches Preservation Trust. His work from this time included Greycoat Hospital (School), London and subsequently new buildings for Eastbourne and Framlington Colleges and the United Westminster Schools. King had a prolific post-war career as a church builder and restorer, entrusted with much of his ecclesiastical work because he was himself a devout churchman and ultimately ‘knew what a church was for’ (Ivor Bulmer-Thomas). Along with St Nicholas, King was responsible for designing numerous churches in pre-war suburbs and other new residential areas across the country, including the Ascension, Chelmsford in 1962, St Mary with St Nicholas, Perivale in 1963 (demolished), and St Michael the Archangel, Letchworth in 1966-68. He was consultant to Exeter Cathedral and to the Diocese of Gibraltar, and his major extension of Blackburn Cathedral (Grade II*) was consecrated in 1978. Notable new churches include The Church of St Mary, South Ruislip (Grade II) and St Mary, Little Walsingham, Norfolk, 1962-64 (Grade I). In all, King is also known to have restored at least 100 churches, including several war-damaged Wren churches in the City of London, most notably St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside (Grade I). The Church of St Nicholas is a little-known work by Laurence King in the north of England.

Church fittings and artworks were an important element in King's churches. He was a gifted designer and important voice in the consideration of the addition of artworks to churches after the war, as evidenced by his involvement in the ‘Art in the Service of the Church’ exhibition at Lambeth Palace in 1951 (part of the Festival of Britain) and his writing in the accompanying handbook for the exhibition. King’s connection with Faith Craft was key to the impact of his interiors. His work is featured on the cover of the collection of essays on Faith Craft, All Manner of Workmanship (2016), which also contains a chapter on his work.

Reasons for Listing

The Church of St Nicholas, 1960-62 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a rare and little-known work in the north of England by Laurence King, one of the leading ecclesiastical architects of the post-war period, who has numerous listed buildings to his name;
* for its bold, impressive and sculptural structural design in the form of an upturned boat, dominated by sheer tower walls and tall copper-clad roofs with their geometrically precise triangular dormer windows;
* an impressive light and lofty interior with a careful mix of materials, and multiple cruck-like trusses rising from the ground like the ribs of a ship, while not distracting from the focal point at the east end;
* a modern liturgical layout, with the chancel situated beneath the crossing tower, a practice only occasionally found in earlier churches such as Eric Gill's St Peter Gorleston (1939);
* original fixtures and fittings including some very fine carved and painted statues of The Virgin Mary and St Nicholas, by King himself, in addition to original benches, pulpit and altar rails that reflect King's connection to Faith Craft.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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