Church of St Katharine

Cadw's description

Location

Situated as the terminal feature of Hamilton Terrace.

History

l803-8 Anglican parish church, architect unknown, built as centrepiece of Charles Greville's new town. Altered since with roughcast cladding, stone window tracery (replacing original wood) added l866-7 by F Wehnert, and original canted apse replaced by further two bays of nave and large chancel with vestry and organ chamber in l905-6, by W J Wood and J B Gaskell of Milford.

Exterior

Possibly originally stuccoed and colourwashed, from Sir R C Hoare's comment that it was 'too yellow without', now thickly roughcast in grey cement. Four-stage tower with angle buttresses, stone plinth and Bath stone parapet pierced with quatrefoils and formerly with angle pinnacles. Plain pointed recesses for W door, W window (with l867 tracery), third stage roundels and clock, and top plain paired louvred bell-lights. Lean-to on S side. Door on N side. Seven-bay aisles with rubble stone buttresses, five bays original, two bays a matching copy of l906. N aisle has blank W end window. l867 tracery to clerestorey windows. Chancel has big five-light E window.

Interior

Unusual and attractive stripped Gothic plastered interior with quadripartite vaulting to nave and aisles and under tower. Nave piers are octagonal carried up without capitals to thick clerestorey band whence springs the vault. Plain pointed nave arches between. Half octagonal piers to aisle walls. Thickened piers mark junction with l906 work. Over tower entry is gallery. Chancel has high C15 style roof with arch-braced collar trusses on corbels. S side small chapel.

Fittings: In porch, a porphyry Egyptian urn intended as font by Greville, but rejected as inappropriate by Bishop Burgess. In nave, ashlar font of l904 and fine C19 wrought iron baptistry screen. Timber pulpit on ashlar base, l9l7. Over chancel arch l934 fresco, by Sister Marabel of Wantage. Elaborate, unpainted timber chancel screen of l9l9 by J Coates Carter with coved canopy and rood. Chancel carved reredos with statues l924 by J Coates Carter and wrought iron screen to S chapel wood. Canopied stalls and a Gothic cl830 three-seat sedilia in wood 'discovered in a dealer's shop on the East coast.' Stained glass is mostly early to mid C20, one N aisle W by J Petts l987. Monument on N aisle E wall of l850 to Greville family signed Sibson, London.

Reason for designation

One of the very few Georgian Gothic churches in SW Wales, with an interior of considerable quality.