Arcadia Discussion Zone

For those who like church architecture .........

This is an arresting, and somewhat incongruous sight in the middle of the English countryside - the Church of St Mary, in the village of Itchen Stoke, near Winchester, Hampshire.



Built in the 1860s, during the reign of Queen Victoria, the architecture is clearly, and very deliberately inspired by the gothic medieval churches of northern France. St Mary's no longer functions as a church, but is looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust, and is open to the public.



Itchen Stoke, which lies on the banks of the River Itchen, is a very old village, dating back to at least 960, when it was known as Ytinstoce. There was once a medieval church here, but it had fallen into such a state of disrepair by the nineteenth century, that a new church was built in 1830/31.

This is one of two brasses in St Mary's, thought to date from c. 1500, which is all that remains of the old church.



By the middle of the century, however, there was much interest in the Continental gothic style, and it was determined that a grander and more ornate church should be built in the village, and this led to the development of the St Mary's church that stands there today.

The vicar at that time was the Reverend Charles Ranken Conybeare and he had good cause to be interested in architecture. His wife Elizabeth was the daughter of the antiquarian and writer on church architecture, James Haywood Markland, but even more significantly, the Reverend's brother Henry was a civil engineer and architect who, aside from designing Bombay's municipal waterworks, also designed the Afghan Church in that city, built to commemorate those who fell in the Afghan War of 1839-42.

The Afghan Church, Bombay, Photo by "Nichalp", Wikipedia


St Mary's in Hampshire was therefore the second church that he designed, and the building is great testament to his skill as an architect, and to the vision of his brother.

Although not a literal copy of either church, the inspiration for St Mary's was chiefly Sainte Chapelle in Paris, and its successor chapel, built onto the east end of the abbey church of St Germer-de-Fly in Picardy. Other influences present in the church include the stained glass, which is said to be copied from designs in Le Mans and Auxerre, and the font, which was inspired by the tomb of Mary of Burgundy in the church of Our Lady at Bourges. There is also a Chartres inspired labyrinth on the floor by the altar. More on all of these below.

The overall aesthetic is very much in the French medieval gothic tradition.

Looking down the nave from the west entrance:


But aside from the lines and proportions of this very elegant structure, it also has much decoration and detailing of interest.

The pattern of grey and green tiles on the roof, for example.


And this decorative tiling around the bell-cote.


The ceiling inside is decorated with five-petalled flowers. The immense height of this ceiling, within a long and narrow structure, is one of the most impressive features of the church when you stand there.


The stained glass is richly ornate, and it is thought that the absence of any depictions of saints or of biblical scenes is an indication of the Low Church leanings of Revd Conybeare.


This eight-petal rose window is above the west entrance.


This is the floor around the altar. It depicts a labyrinth, inspired by the one at Chartres.


The font at the west end. The black marble base was donated by the architect in commemoration of his daughter Edith May, who sadly died in childhood. The main part is surrounded by columns of Californian marble, which was a new material in England at the time.


When the church was completed in 1867 it must have made for quite a sight, rising up out of the Hampshire meadows. It's impact was considerable, and it was the subject of a special feature in The Builder magazine the following year. It may no longer function as a church, but when you go there you appreciate the vision and enterprise of the Conybeare brothers for having left behind this beautiful and lovingly crafted construction.

I am indebted to the architectural historian Geoff Brandwood, from whose superb pamphlet on the church much of the above information was obtained.

This is a link to the Churches Conservation Trust who do such great work in preserving this church and others like it for the benefit of future generations.

http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/

My...thank you for such a beautiful and detailed post Richard...a haven of peace with it's Yew trees and wild flower meadow.

Beautiful, thank you. Lovely photographs, too.

A very interesting post. Thank you!

Great post as usual Richard. What a lovely looking church, the font and floral decorations are particularly nice.
Thanks
Nic

Have you come across this little gem yet, Richard?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... hurch.html

Thank you Richard.

I wish we had more architecture like that here in the states.

No, I haven't been to Owslebury, although I know the countryside to the east of there very well, and often visit a long barrow thereabouts. I will rectify this very shortly, and go and have a look. Thanks for the heads-up.

That village, incidentally, is on the Pilgrim Trail, linking Winchester with Mont St Michel.

Winchester to Mont St Michel - I have been meaning to look into that route for some time now. Thanks very much for the reminder.

Here are your walking directions.

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/longdistance/p ... -trail.htm

It starts at the shrine of St Swithun, at Winchester Cathedral. St Swithun was Bishop here from 852 to 862 and is the patron saint of our Cathedral. Several places around here are named after him, including the building I happen to work in. He's much associated with the weather (a greatly beloved obsession in this country) - his feast day is 15th July, and according to the proverb:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swithun

This sounds like the sort of trail where those expensive pontoon hiking boots really come into their own...

I love the stained glass windows and the maze at the altar
what amazing church

I walked over to this village on Saturday, following the Pilgrim Trail from Winchester, but unfortunately the church was locked.

But it's a nice church, about as non-gothic revivalist as you can get, with its old English square tower, and much more typical of the sort of church architecture we have around here, than St Mary's in nearby Itchen Stoke ...



... and a nice rambling sort of churchyard, all a bit haphazard, and with meadow grass and wild flowers ...



Stained glass really doesn't work from the other side, but this is one of the now famous windows:



Pity it was locked, but I'll go back another time, and the journey there and back was well worth it.

lovely photos...i notice you call that an old English square tower when to me it looks Norman.

Just lazy terminology on my part - I meant English in the sense of being a typical English church (with Norman tower!), as opposed to French gothic revivalist, so typical of England (most churches round here look roughly like that, whereas Itchen Stoke really stands out). But yes, Norman tower, you're quite right.

hmm...dunno...it's not old enough is it...looks Norman though.

I'm not sure (my brain may be a bit addled from all the monkey puzzle girth measuring and whorl counting forthcoming on another thread, my other weekend excursion ). I haven't been able to find much about it, Norman style perhaps; like many English churches, it's a hotpotch of different periods, additions, refurbishments, etc.

For comparison, and as an example of the wide range of different eras and architectural styles, here are a few others from my immediate locality.

St Andrew's, Chilcomb, mostly 12th century:


St Mary's, Avington, 18th century:


St John the Evangelist, Northington, late 19th century:


St Andrew's, Kilmeston, 18th century:


All Saints, Hinton Ampner, Saxon, 13th century and 19th century:

Oh my goodness, what absolutely beautiful buildings.

and as for your Araucaria araucana measurements...it will be interesting to see what date you come up with.

You've gone and pressed the memory buttons again Richard! This time it's a flashback to 1999, when I took the ex and 8 year old daughter to England for their first visit. We landed in the morning, so in order to fight off sleep, I dragged them down to Richmond for lunch at a pub by the river and then a walk along the Thames path to Kew Green- when we got there, a cricket match was in progress and on the far side of the pitch we could see what looked like a group of people sitting in a church cemetery - being curious, we walked over and sure enough, in an eccentric introduction to England, mere hours after landing, we were happily ensconced at a little table, amidst the gravestones, drinking tea and watching cricket! Feeling quite "stoned" from the jet lag, we sat for hours enjoying a delightful, surreal afternoon.

...and a lovely example of an IHS as well.