Church of Christchurch

Cadw's description

Location

Situated on the western edge of Abergavenny and reached off the A40 Brecon Road. Set back from the street in small gated churchyard.

History

Built in 1879 by the Marquis of Abergavenny as a Chapel-of-ease to St. Mary's Parish Church, to serve the then growing community on his Nevill Hall estate land. The design is also striking as this church is aisled and has a spire to the north-west, both features of which are uncommon for this type of building, where the utilitarian materials normally matched a box-shaped, single-cell, plan (e.g. mission churches). In 1958 Christchurch was renovated and the exterior clad in timber, giving it its present distinctive character. This is an ambitious example of what was presumably an attempt to rid the church of the "hideous and comfortless" (J W Hopkins of Worcester) image that such iron mission buildings had.

Exterior

Corrugated sheeting and iron structure, now with overall timber horizontally boarded cladding (see History), brick plinth, shingled roofs. The church is aisled and has a spire to the north-west, the east end (facing the street) is also stepped down from the nave with crucifix finials to both gable ends. The windows have diamond-leaded glazing but are of several types. Two-light cusped windows with quatrefoil above to aisles, quatrefoil windows to clerestory (twelve to each side), 3-light east window and Early English style triple-lancet west window; square-headed 2-light windows with cusped transom above to vestries at east end. Flatter arched doorways to west aisle ends and brick chimney to south-west. The tower is square and the belfry has a 2-light cusped window with quatrefoil above to each face; shingled broach spire giving a Home Counties appearance.

Interior

Unlike the exterior the interior was originally timber boarded. Contains unusual and well detailed timber arcade of 4-bays with quatrefoil-section piers; these also carry wall-shafts that rise up to the four scissor truss roof which has iron tie-rods. Timber used in a church interior in this way is fairly rare. An early example was John Prichard's St. Clement, Briton Ferry in 1864-6 and John Douglas, the Chester architect, adopted this idea in the 1870s and later (e.g. St. Paul's, Chester and St. Matthew's, Buckley). The easternmost bay of the arcade overlaps with the chancel, containing choir-stalls and an organ bay to the aisle; single bay sanctuary. Painted inscription around east window and evidence of a similar one having existed on chancel arch. Some clerestory windows have coloured glass. Furnishings include octagonal pulpit and Gothic organ case. The doors are diagonally boarded and the slight changes in the lap-boarding relate to restoration work in 1958.

Reason for designation

Listed for its special interest as a surviving later C19 corrugated iron church with an ambitious contemporary interior and also for the unusual nature of the later remodelling.