Church of St Paul | |
---|---|
51°58′30″N0°12′58″W / 51.97495°N 0.21617°W | |
Location | Letchworth, Hertfordshire |
Country | England |
Denomination | Anglican |
Website | stpaulsletchworth |
History | |
Status | Parish church |
Consecrated | 3 May 1924 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Architect(s) | Arthur Heron Ryan Tenison |
Groundbreaking | 10 October 1923 |
Administration | |
Diocese | St Albans |
Clergy | |
Vicar(s) | Reverend Jeni McQuaid Reverend Nick Smith Reverend Jess Batten |
The Church of St Paul in Letchworth in Hertfordshire is the Anglican parish church for the Letchworth Gate area of the town at the top of Pixmore Way. Dating from 1923, with later extensions, it is a 'daughter church' of the nearby Church of All Saints in Willian and comes under the Diocese of St Albans. Built as a 'Victory' church following World War I, the building is the largest war memorial in Hertfordshire.
When Ebenezer Howard set up his first garden city in Letchworth in 1903 the Church of England gave little thought as to the spiritual needs of the citizens of the new town by building a central Anglican place of worship. The site being developed by Howard's First Garden City Ltd. crossed the parish boundaries of three local ancient village churches: St Mary's church, St Nicholas, Norton, and All Saints, Willian. When in 1917 the Revd Montagu Sharpin Swatman was appointed to the living of Willian he wished to set up a church in Letchworth's Pixmore area in the expectation of providing a more accessible church for the people of the new garden city, and to provide spiritual sanctuary from the war. [1] He initially hoped to quickly install a temporary structure. [2] However it became apparent this was not possible as the Church of England did not own land in the new development.
Swatman called a meeting at the end of the war in November 1918 to discuss building a permanent church which was attended by 28 people who donated £29 5s. In 1919 the Diocese of St Albans bought a piece of land bought from the First Garden City Company. Swatman now had a site on which to build a church. It was decided to build a 'Victory Church' a functioning church which would also function as a memorial of the victory at the end of World War I. The architect Arthur Heron Ryan Tenison (1861-1930) was commissioned [3] to produce a design described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "an ambitious project... A conventional Decorated Gothic style was adopted with flint walls and stone dressings with conventional gothic traceried windows." Tenison's design for the church was accepted for exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1921. A Garden City 'Victory' Church Appeal was launched in 1921 which by October had raised £2,000. At this time it was decided that the new church would be dedicated to St Paul. [4]
Eventually, through a variety of fund-raising activities £5,000 was raised from the parishioners of Willian as well as the residents of the new garden city. This allowed construction of the new church to begin, with the foundation stone being laid on 10 October 1923 by the Marchioness of Salisbury. Work on the first section of the building was completed including three and a half bays of the nave with arcades at the sides. This first section was consecrated by Michael Furse, the Bishop of St Albans on 3 May 1924. [5] A tower was intended but was never built. [3]
By 1924 the church was becoming too small for its growing congregation and work on an extension began in early 1931, with two further bays being added to the nave and adding two single bays on both sides, that on the south to house the organ and that on the north to act as a vestry, with a temporary wall being added in the east. This extension was dedicated on 18 December 1931. [6] The baptismal font was found in pieces in a builder's yard in 1934 having been removed from St Albans Abbey, where it had been installed in 1853. The font was obtained for the price of transporting it to St Paul's where it was installed and dedicated to the memory of the late Mrs Evelyn Swatman. [7]
By 1938 the church needed to be extended again, and an appeal was launched to raise the required £1,000; this sum was reached by 1940 and the north aisle was finished, a vestibule built and the roofing of the nave completed. In 1958 a Church Hall was built at 179 Pixmore Way, immediately west of the church.
St Paul's Church remained a chapel of ease within the ecclesiastical parish of Willian until 17 January 1963, when a new ecclesiastical parish of "Saint Paul, Letchworth" was created. [8] On 8 June 1977 the two ecclesiastical parishes of Willian and Letchworth St Paul were brought under a united benefice, allowing them to be served by the same clergy whilst remaining separate ecclesiastical parishes. [9]
In 1989 the church was reordered, turning the seating around from facing the east to facing the west. At about the same time a new smaller altar was installed and new communion rails fitted. The pulpit was boarded in and the baptismal font moved to the northeast corner of the church.
In August 2015 windows at the church and those at St Mary's church in Hitchin were smashed in what police called a "religiously motivated attack." A local man was charged with the attack. [10] [11] [12] [13]
In February 2022 the boarded in pulpit was removed. [14]
At the end of 2023, the north asile was (is being) rebuilt to be made safer.
At the end of 2023 they donated their chairs to another church and put in new wooden hairs making the place look newer.
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Watford, and the county town is Hertford.
Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, to distinguish it from the much newer and larger settlement of Welwyn Garden City, about a mile to the south.
Baldock is a historic market town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The River Ivel rises from springs in the town. It lies 33 miles (53 km) north of London and 14 miles (23 km) north northwest of the county town of Hertford. Nearby towns include Royston to the northeast, Letchworth and Hitchin to the southwest and Stevenage to the south.
North Hertfordshire is one of ten local government districts in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth. The district borders East Hertfordshire, Stevenage, Welwyn Hatfield, St Albans, Central Bedfordshire, Luton, and South Cambridgeshire.
Willian is a village and former civil parish, adjoining the town of Letchworth, in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. Along with Norton and Old Letchworth, it is one of the original three villages around which the garden city of Letchworth Garden City was created. Despite this, the village retains a separate character to the rest of Letchworth Garden City. In 1931 the parish had a population of 210.
Norton is a small village and former civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, one of the three original villages which were absorbed into Letchworth Garden City, the other two being Willian and Old Letchworth. The village is known to have existed by 1007, with remains of the medieval settlement visible as earthworks in a field beside the church. However, the history of the village goes back even further than that. In 1901 the parish had a population of 169.
Hitchin was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.
The Cloisters in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire in the UK was built in 1905 as an open-air school dedicated to Psychology and where students were taught skills from the Arts and Crafts movement. After a period of neglect during World War II The Cloisters became the North Hertfordshire Masonic Centre in 1951.
Hitchin Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county.
Thomas Geoffry Lucas, generally known as Geoffry Lucas, but often found incorrectly spelt as Geoffrey Lucas, was a 20th-century English architect. He is perhaps best known for his work in connection with the garden city movement, but was also active in other areas, including the design of churches and church fittings.
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,986.
St Alban's Church is in Lindsell Road, Broadheath, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Bowdon, the Archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
St Mary's Church is a Church of England parish church in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England.
The Church of St Nicholas in Norton in Hertfordshire is the parish church for what was originally the village of Norton but which today has become a suburb of Letchworth Garden City. The present building dates from about 1109 to 1119, with additions in the 15th century including the tower. Before the Reformation it was a stopping point on the pilgrim route to the Abbey of St Albans and the shrine there.
St George's Church is an Anglican church of modern design in the Parish of Norton in Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire. Opening in 1964 and arrow-shaped with a 120-foot concrete spire, the congregation are seated in a semi-circle facing the altar. The church building is in the style of the Liturgical Movement following World War II. It was Grade II listed in 2015 for "its striking architectural form, expressed through a diverse range of materials to provide an innovative building of real quality both in composition and detailing."
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the Church of England parish church of Letchworth in Hertfordshire. A church appears to have been on the site since before the Norman Conquest. The current church was built in the late 12th century and is Grade II listed. It comes under the Diocese of St Albans. The original dedication of the church is unknown; it was rededicated to St Mary during the First World War.
The Church of St Hugh of Lincoln is a Catholic church in Letchworth, Hertfordshire founded by the scholar and priest Adrian Fortescue. The first church was consecrated in 1908 and was dedicated to St Hugh of Lincoln while the modern church which replaced it was built in 1963. It comes under the Diocese of Westminster.
The Church of All Saints is the Anglican parish church for the village of Willian in Hertfordshire. The benefice is united with St Paul's church in nearby Letchworth, although each church has its own parish. It is in the Diocese of St Albans. The church has been a Grade II* listed building since 1954.