| Summary : An Anglican church designed by A. E. Perkins and built in 1848 in the Early English style. The west tower was completed in 1896. The church is constructed of coursed, roughly dressed, red sandstone and a slate roof. It has a cruciform plan with nave, chancel, north and south transept, west tower and west gallery and south gallery to chancel. There are no aisles. The west end consists of a slender stone tower with broach stone spire with lucarnes. A gable end porch, with pointed arch doorway, projects from the base of the tower. The four bay nave has four lancet windows divided by buttresses. There are pairs of lancet windows to the transept gable ends; a triple lancet window to the east end and a single lancet window to the west end, above the porch. There are angle buttresses at the corners with set-offs. To the north transept is a lean-to vestry and to the south transept is the church office. To the south wall of the office is a pair of windows within moulded red sandstone pointed-arch openings with splayed stone cills. The chancel has an elaborate geometric tiled floor, choir stalls and inserted 17th century panelling which conceals the east window. The stained glass memorial windows are dated 1861, 1873, 1874, 1877 and 1879. To the north-east of the church is the 1880 lychgate. The church retains its boundary wall and substantial cemetery. |
More information : Christ Church was built in 1848 at a cost of £1550, and was consecrated on the 28 March 1849 by the Bishop of Worcester. It is reputed that the stones used in the construction came from a manor house in Bromsgrove and this would explain the use of red sandstone which was a dominant building material in the Bromsgrove area. The 1880 pulpit and lychgate are memorials to Christ Church¿s first vicar, Alfred Clifton. The church clock and bell were completed in 1896. The brass lectern was given in 1897 to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. The sanctuary was enlarged in 1910.
A photograph of the interior of the church taken between 1896 and 1910 shows the interior of the church painted white with painted text to the traverse pointed arches. To the east end is a three light window. The interior is now exposed stonework and the text has been removed; and the east window has been concealed by the inserted panelling. The inserted 17th century panelling to the chancel was initially given by the Earl of Denbigh to St Bartholomew, Birmingham and may originally have been made for his 17th century family home, Newnham Paddox (demolished, 1952). Unfortunately, it has not been possible to ascertain the historical facts regarding this panelling but what is known is that the Newnham Paddox estate had belonged to the Feilding family since 1433 and in 1622 the title of the Earl of Denbigh was bestowed on Sir William Feilding. In 1668 the 2nd Earl built a chapel adjoining the house, perhaps in one of the wings and this may have been where the panelling was original located. The 5th Earl embarked on a program of modernisation from 1741 which resulted in the demolition of most of the old house and this may have led to the donation of the panelling to St Bartholomew's Church.
The Anglican Christ Church was designed by A. E. Perkins and built in 1848 in the Early English style. The west tower was completed in 1896. The church is constructed of coursed, roughly dressed, red sandstone and a slate roof. It has a cruciform plan with nave, chancel, north and south transept, west tower and west gallery and south gallery to chancel. There are no aisles. The west end consists of a slender stone tower with broach stone spire with lucarnes. A gable end porch, with pointed arch doorway, projects from the base of the tower. The four bay nave has four lancet windows divided by buttresses. There are pairs of lancet windows to the transept gable ends; a triple lancet window to the east end and a single lancet window to the west end, above the porch. There are angle buttresses at the corners with set-offs. To the north transept is a lean-to vestry and to the south transept is the church office. To the south wall of the office are a pair of windows within moulded red sandstone pointed-arch openings with splayed stone cills. The interior is characterised by exposed grey stone with pointed stone arches to the four sides of the crossing. To the nave is an arch-braced collar-rafter roof with king post. The west gallery has a panelled front and is supported on wooden posts. Beneath the gallery are two small rooms with a glazed screen arcade. To the nave are 19th century pews enclosed by small doors at the end. The chancel has an elaborate geometric tiled floor, choir stalls and inserted 17th century panelling which conceals the east window. The Baroque panelling is richly carved with gilded garlands and putti with sedilia to the south and north side of the sanctuary. The stone pulpit has stone arcading with marble shafts; the octagonal stone font to the south transept has chamfered detailing to the bowl. The stained glass memorial windows are dated 1861, 1873, 1874, 1877 and 1879. To the north-east of the church is the 1880 lychgate. The church retains its boundary wall and substantial cemetery.
Places of worship are among our most significant and iconic buildings, with strong claims to historic and architectural interest. Their prominence in the historic environment is universally acknowledged and the majority of historic places of worship are listed, those of particular age or quality at high grades. Despite this, some selectivity is necessary when considering places of worship for designation, and this selectivity becomes more stringent the more recent the date of the place of worship. With reference to the Principles of Selection for Listing Buildings (March 2007) and the Places of Worship Selection Guide (March 2007), consideration is given to design and craftsmanship; the quality of architectural or artistic embellishment; associations with a nationally significant architect or designer; innovation, and the expression of liturgical practice, along with date, rarity and intactness.
Christ Church, built in 1848, is a small church by architect A. E. Perkins. Perkins designed a number of churches in the West Midlands, many in his favoured Early English form of Gothic and listed at Grade II. Examples include the Church of the Holy Trinity, Wyre Forest, Worcestershire (1844, Grade II); the Church of St Mary, Herefordshire (1856, Grade II); and the Church of St Mary, Malvern Hills, Worcestershire (1856, Grade II). Christ Church compares well with Perkin¿s listed churches, which are all of a simple cruciform plan with lancet style windows and have a similar level of internal intactness. Furthermore, the architect is working in his customary Early English style which is here rendered more impressively than normal by the roughly dressed character of the stone.
Internally, the church¿s furnishings are of good quality and include stained glass windows, pews, pulpit and font. Further special interest resides in the 17th century panelling to the sanctuary which is highly decorative and exhibits exceptional craftsmanship. Although this is a later insertion it does not damage the fabric of the church, and the east window survives, albeit concealed. The loss of the painted text to the formally rendered arches is unfortunate but does not significantly detract from the church¿s interest. On balance, Christ Church is remarkably intact both internally and externally and compares well with Perkin¿s listed churches. It therefore fully merits listing at Grade II. (1)
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