Christ Church, Chester
Encyclopedia
Christ Church, Chester, is in Somerset Street, Chester
, Cheshire
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II listed building, and continues to be an active Anglican
church in the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. Its benefice
is combined with that of St Michael, Plas Newton.
. The chancel
dates from 1893, the southeast chapel from 1897, the nave
was completed in 1900, and the northwest baptistry was added in 1904. A southwest steeple was planned but was never built. The porch was built in 1936, in place of the planned steeple.
ashlar
and the rest of the church is in red brick with stone dressings. The roofs are of grey-green slate
s. The style is Gothic Revival
. The plan of the church consists of a five-bay
nave
with a clerestory
, north and south aisle
s, a chancel, a baptistry, a southeast chapel, vestries
, and a south porch. Over the porch is a cantilever
ed timber-framed
hip-roofed
bellcote
. The gable
s have crosses as finial
s and the nave roof has five blocked lucarne
s on each slope.
designed the gilded
reredos
, the organ case, and the side screen, between 1900 and 1910, and the rood
beam in 1920, and also possibly the gates to the chapel. The reredos in the chapel, dating from 1897, was designed by Kempe
, its figures being carved by Joseph Mayer of Oberammergau
. The paintings of 1910 on the organ screen are by Gertrude Siddall. Robert Hilton designed the bishop's chair and a prayer board. There are two fonts
, one probably dating from 1837, octagonal and in stone, and another dating from 1904 in alabaster
. The churchwarden
s' settles
date from 1837, and were formerly in St Mary's Church, Eccleston
. Also in the church is a painting depicting Christ prepared for the Entombment by Westall, dated 1826, and which was an altarpiece in Eccleston church. There is a painting of Mary Magdalene
, startled in a wood, by Herbert Gustave Schmalz. Much of the stained glass is by Kempe, including that in the southeast chapel of 1897, the south aisle of 1901, the west window of 1902, and outside the baptistry. Above the older font is a window by A. Hilton dated 1906, depicting an angel. The baptistry glass also dates from 1906 and is by A. K. Nicholson
. The memorials dating from between about 1895 to 1917 consist of small alabaster
plaques. The two-manual
organ was built by Brindley & Foster
of Sheffield
.
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II listed building, and continues to be an active Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church in the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. Its benefice
Benefice
A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...
is combined with that of St Michael, Plas Newton.
History
The church was built to replace an earlier church dated 1838 on the site which had been designed by Thomas Jones. It was rebuilt in separate stages by John DouglasJohn Douglas (architect)
John Douglas was an English architect who designed about 500 buildings in Cheshire, North Wales, and northwest England, in particular in the estate of Eaton Hall. He was trained in Lancaster and practised throughout his career from an office in Chester, Cheshire...
. The chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
dates from 1893, the southeast chapel from 1897, the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
was completed in 1900, and the northwest baptistry was added in 1904. A southwest steeple was planned but was never built. The porch was built in 1936, in place of the planned steeple.
Exterior
The chancel and the southeast chapel are built of sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
and the rest of the church is in red brick with stone dressings. The roofs are of grey-green slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
s. The style is Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
. The plan of the church consists of a five-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with a clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
, north and south aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
s, a chancel, a baptistry, a southeast chapel, vestries
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
, and a south porch. Over the porch is a cantilever
Cantilever
A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
ed timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
hip-roofed
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
bellcote
Bell-Cot
A bell-cot, bell-cote or bellcote, is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells, supported on brackets projecting from a wall or built on the roof of chapels or churches which have no towers. It often holds the Sanctus bell rung at the Consecration....
. The gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s have crosses as finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
s and the nave roof has five blocked lucarne
Lucarne
A lucarne is a small dormer window that is built on a spire or roof during the Gothic and Romanesque time period....
s on each slope.
Interior
Sir Charles NicholsonSir Charles Nicholson, 2nd Baronet
Sir Charles Archibald Nicholson, 2nd Baronet , became well-known as an ecclesiastical architect. He was the son of Sir Charles Nicholson, 1st Baronet, and brother of the stained glass artist Archibald Keightley Nicholson and of Sir Sydney Hugo Nicholson, organist at Westminster Abbey and founder of...
designed the gilded
Gilding
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
, the organ case, and the side screen, between 1900 and 1910, and the rood
Rood screen
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron...
beam in 1920, and also possibly the gates to the chapel. The reredos in the chapel, dating from 1897, was designed by Kempe
Charles Eamer Kempe
Charles Eamer Kempe was a well-known Victorian stained glass designer. After attending Twyford School, he studied for the priesthood at Pembroke College, Oxford, but it became clear that his severe stammer would be an impediment to preaching...
, its figures being carved by Joseph Mayer of Oberammergau
Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The town is famous for its production of a Passion Play, its woodcarvers, and the NATO School.-Passion Play:...
. The paintings of 1910 on the organ screen are by Gertrude Siddall. Robert Hilton designed the bishop's chair and a prayer board. There are two fonts
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
, one probably dating from 1837, octagonal and in stone, and another dating from 1904 in alabaster
Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
. The churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
s' settles
Settle (furniture)
A settle is a wooden bench, usually with arms and a high back, long enough to accommodate three or four sitters.They are commonly movable, but occasionally fixed. It shares with the chest and the chair the distinction of great antiquity...
date from 1837, and were formerly in St Mary's Church, Eccleston
St Mary's Church, Eccleston
St Mary's Church, Eccleston, is in the village of Eccleston, Cheshire, England, on the estate of the Duke of Westminster south of Chester. The church is designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the...
. Also in the church is a painting depicting Christ prepared for the Entombment by Westall, dated 1826, and which was an altarpiece in Eccleston church. There is a painting of Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
, startled in a wood, by Herbert Gustave Schmalz. Much of the stained glass is by Kempe, including that in the southeast chapel of 1897, the south aisle of 1901, the west window of 1902, and outside the baptistry. Above the older font is a window by A. Hilton dated 1906, depicting an angel. The baptistry glass also dates from 1906 and is by A. K. Nicholson
Archibald Keightley Nicholson
Archibald Keightley Nicholson was an English 20th century ecclesiastical stained-glass maker. His father was Charles Nicholson and his two brothers, Charles and Sydney, were a church architect and church musician respectively....
. The memorials dating from between about 1895 to 1917 consist of small alabaster
Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
plaques. The two-manual
Manual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
organ was built by Brindley & Foster
Brindley & Foster
Brindley & Foster was a pipe organ builder based in Sheffield who flourished between 1854 and 1939.-Background:The business was established by Charles Brindley in 1854. He was joined by Albert Healey Foster in 1871 and the company acquired the name Brindley & Foster.Charles Brindley was born in...
of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
.