The church is a Grade II* listed
building and the entry at the English Heritage website (visit
link) tells us about the church:
"1824-6 by Francis Edwards. W end
partitioned off 1995 by Tom Hornsby of Keith Harrison
Associates.
MATERIALS: Stock brick with
limestone dressings.
PLAN: Nave, chancel (internal
vestries).
EXTERIOR: A large and impressive
Classical-style church built at the cost of the Church Building Commissioners.
Externally it appears as a single vessel with a tower projecting out of the W
end and with a plain parapet all the way round. At the E end the central bay is
brought forward to accommodate the altar and is framed by pairs of flat
limestone pilasters. The church has symmetrically arranged side elevations.
These have rectangular doorways placed in the end bays which are brought forward
very slightly and are framed by flat pilasters. The windows are in two tiers
with small segmental headed openings below and much taller round-headed ones
above: between is a horizontal limestone band. The two-tier window arrangement
is an expression of the presence of galleries internally. The band between the
windows continues all the way round the church, broken only by the flat
pilasters and the bay containing the W entrance, and emphasises the horizontal
division. At the W end the middle bay of the three bays has two giant Ionic
columns in antis either side of the rectangular doorway. Behind the entrance the
tower projects through the roof, initially square and then turning to two
circular tiers terminating in a cupola. The lower of the two circular stages has
flat pilasters between eight single-light round-headed openings; the upper stage
is differently organised with single-light openings to the cardinal directions
and paired Ionic demi-shafts in between.
INTERIOR: The interior retains much
of its original Georgian character in terms of its plan, the galleries round
three sides and the flat ceiling. Superimposed on all this are Victorian and
Edwardian restorations and the late 20th-century partitioning off of the W area
under the gallery. The galleries are supported by wooden Tuscan columns and have
panelled fronts. Fortunately and fairly unusually they retain their original
seating which is an important survival of a mixture of pews and open-backed
seating. A defining characteristic of the present building is the rich
decoration of the ceiling and paintings flanking the E window by J A Reeve
(1850-1915) of 1902-14 and restored to their original appearance in 1993-4. The
ceiling has angels of the Apocalypse in square panels on a blue ground. This
exceptional scheme was described in 1989 (quoted in guide): `Stylistically the
angels and other figures are treated in an accomplished late romantic manner and
are more painterly in execution than one would anticipate even from a celebrated
firm of architectural decorators. The wings of the angels in particular display
a subtleness of modulated tone and colour which puts one in mind of the later
followers of Burne-Jones. The decorative settings of the figures are rich and
bold while the border strips which divide the great expanses of ceiling into
compartments are in the slightly muted idiom of Burges. There are also traces of
an Art Nouveau arabesque freedom. The overall effect is literally splendid.' The
W end was screened off for a variety of uses by oak and glass partitions in
1995.
PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: The seating in
the body of the church is Victorian with shaped ends to the pews although, as
noted above, the seating in the galleries is an important survival from 1820,
although the doors to the pews there have been removed. The wooden pulpit is
approached up a flight of steps and is mounted on wheels so it can be retracted
underneath the galleries. There are a few wall monuments, notably that to A F
Kelly (d 1864), incumbent here for 38 years, by M W Johnson of Euston Road.
There is a polygonal mid-Victorian font, 1865, on a shafted base which is a
memorial to Kelly. Following war damage the stained glass is post
1945.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: There are fine
wrought-iron railings on the S and E sides of the churchyard. Mounted in the S
boundary rail, between the churchyard and the pavement is a polished granite
drinking fountain erected by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle
Trough Association.
HISTORY: The church was built as a
chapel of ease to St Leonard's, Shoreditch, and was funded by the Church
Building Commissioners under a £1m grant from Parliament in 1818 intended to
provide Anglican places of worship in places such as this, of rising population
and without adequate Established church accommodation. It was consecrated on 22
June 1826. The cost was £15,394 (£16,444 including the graveyard) and the
building originally had 1732 sittings of which 1066 were free (Port). Francis
Edwards (1784-1857) entered Sir John Soane's office as an improver in 1806 and
was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools two years later. He won both silver
and gold medals there and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1809 and 1830.
He left Soane's office in 1810 and then assisted his former fellow-pupil H H
Seward for four days a week until 1823 when he devoted all his time to his own
practice. His work encompassed many building types and perhaps his best-known
building was the now-demolished Lion Brewery which was one of the landmarks of
the South Bank, close to Westminster Bridge.
The church was given a refitting in
Victorian times and received an exceptional scheme of decoration in 1902-1914 by
Joseph Arthur Reeve (conserved early 1990s)."
The church holds a variety of services
as listed on its website (visit
link):
"Sunday Services
1st Sunday of
the month: 10.30am All-Age Worship with Holy Communion
Every other Sunday:
10.30am Family Worship with Holy Communion
Monday to Thursday
9.00am
Morning Prayer - a short service with bible readings and prayer
Tuesday
7.30pm Evening Prayer -
a short service with bible readings, short talk or discussion and
prayer
Wednesday (School term-time
only)
9-10am Primary School Prayer - a prayer and worship meeting for parents
from our local primary schools"