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St Martin's Church, Knebworth | |
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51°51′55″N0°10′54″W / 51.8654°N 0.1818°W | |
Denomination | Church of England |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | Grade II* listed |
Architect(s) | Edwin Lutyens, Albert Richardson |
Style | Neoclassical |
Completed | 20th century |
Administration | |
Province | Canterbury |
Diocese | St Albans |
Archdeaconry | Hertford |
Clergy | |
Rector | Rev Charles King |
St Martin's Church is an active Anglican church in Knebworth, Hertfordshire, England. The building, which is designated grade II*, [1] was designed by Edwin Lutyens in an Italianate style. It is constructed in brick.
The church was built to serve the expanding settlement on the Great North Road near Knebworth railway station, over a mile from the medieval parish church St Mary and St Thomas. Before World War I there was a plan by the local landowners, the Bulwer-Lytton family, to develop Knebworth as a type of garden village. This plan was only partly realised, but it resulted in several commissions for Lutyens including a clubhouse for the local golf course and Homewood, a dower house for his mother-in-law, Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton. [2]
Construction began in 1914, but the building was not completed according to the architect's intentions. When the church was consecrated in 1915, it was in an incomplete state because of cutbacks caused by World War I. The west front was added in the 1960s and was designed by Sir Albert Richardson. Richardson did not follow Lutyens' intention to give the church a portico, but his contribution has been described as "harmonious". [1]
The plastered interior features limited use of Portland stone. The aisles are separated from the nave by small arches on Tuscan columns. [3]
The organ dates from the 1960s. Its pipes are in "tubs" on each site of the chancel entrance. [4]
On 27 May 1968, the church was designated a grade II* listed building. [3]
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials and public buildings. In his biography, the writer Christopher Hussey wrote, "In his lifetime (Lutyens) was widely held to be our greatest architect since Wren if not, as many maintained, his superior". The architectural historian Gavin Stamp described him as "surely the greatest British architect of the twentieth century".
Edward Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, was an English statesman, Conservative politician and poet who used the pseudonym Owen Meredith. During his tenure as Viceroy of India between 1876 and 1880, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. He served as British Ambassador to France from 1887 to 1891.
Knebworth is a village and civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England, immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Whitwell, St Paul's Walden and Langley, and encompasses the village of Knebworth, the small village of Old Knebworth and Knebworth House.
Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. Its gardens are also listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In its surrounding park are the medieval St. Mary's Church and the Lytton family mausoleum. It was the seat of the Earl of Lytton, and now the house of the family of the Baron Cobbold of Knebworth.
Sir Albert Edward Richardson was a leading English architect, teacher and writer about architecture during the first half of the 20th century. He was Professor of Architecture at University College London, a President of the Royal Academy, editor of Architects' Journal, founder of the Georgian Group and the Guild of Surveyors and Master of the Art Workers' Guild.
Edith Penelope Mary Lutyens was a British author who is principally known for her biographical works on the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome.
Seale is a village in Surrey, England. Seale covers most of the civil parish of Seale and Sands and the steep slope and foot of the south side of the Hog's Back as well as a large hill which exceeds it – as such is part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Heydon is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England.
Lady Constance Georgina Bulwer-Lytton, usually known as Constance Lytton, was an influential British suffragette activist, writer, speaker and campaigner for prison reform, votes for women, and birth control. She used the name Jane Warton to avoid receiving special treatment when imprisoned for suffragist protests.
Busbridge Church or St John the Baptist Church, is an evangelical Anglican Church in Busbridge, Godalming, England. Busbridge Church is part of a joint benefice with Hambledon Church in the village of Hambledon, Surrey. Together Busbridge and Hambledon Church have six Sunday congregations ranging from traditional to modern and contemporary services. On a Sunday Busbridge Church and Hambledon Church put on youth and children's groups for over 200 young people.
Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton, was a British aristocrat. As the wife of Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, she was vicereine of India. After his death, she was a court-attendant of Queen Victoria. Her children included suffragette Constance Bulwer-Lytton.
Marshcourt, also spelled Marsh Court, is an Arts and Crafts style country house in Marsh Court, near Stockbridge, Hampshire, England. It is constructed from quarried chalk. Designed and built by architect Edwin Lutyens between 1901 and 1905, it is a Grade I listed building. The gardens, designed by Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll, are Grade II* listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Homewood is an Arts and Crafts style country house in Knebworth, Hertfordshire, England. Designed and built by architect Edwin Lutyens around 1900–3, using a mixture of vernacular and Neo-Georgian architecture, it is a Grade II* listed building. The house was one of Lutyens' first experiments in the addition of classical features to his previously vernacular style, and the introduction of symmetry into his plans. The gardens, also designed by Lutyens, are Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Mells War Memorial is a First World War memorial by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the village of Mells in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, south-western England. Unveiled in 1921, the memorial is one of multiple buildings and structures Lutyens designed in Mells. His friendship with two prominent families in the area, the Horners and the Asquiths, led to a series of commissions; among his other works in the village are memorials to two sons—one from each family—killed in the war. Lutyens toured the village with local dignitaries in search of a suitable site for the war memorial, after which he was prompted to remark "all their young men were killed".
The York City War Memorial is a First World War memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and located in York in the north of England. Proposals for commemorating York's war dead originated in 1919 but proved controversial. Initial discussions focused on whether a memorial should be a monument or should take on some utilitarian purpose. Several functional proposals were examined until a public meeting in January 1920 opted for a monument. The city engineer produced a cost estimate and the war memorial committee engaged Lutyens, who had recently been commissioned by the North Eastern Railway (NER) to design their own war memorial, also to be sited in York.
Busbridge War Memorial is a First World War memorial in the churchyard of St John's Church in village of Busbridge in Surrey, south-eastern England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it is Grade II* listed.
The Lytton Mausoleum is a family mausoleum in Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire, England.
The Church of St Mary and St Thomas is one of two Anglican churches in Knebworth, Hertfordshire, England. The church dates from the twelfth century and is a grade I listed building.
Media related to St Martin's Church, Knebworth at Wikimedia Commons