Roman Catholic Church of St Mary

Summary

A Roman Catholic church built to the designs of Charles Alban Buckler between 1863 and 1865 in a Decorated Gothic style under the patronage of Charles J Eyston.

Reasons for Designation

The Roman Catholic Church of St Mary, East Hendred is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* designed by the noted C19 architect Charles Alban Buckler for the recusant Eyston family, the church is well designed and contains the majority of its original fittings of quality.

Historic interest:

* the building forms part of a group of Roman Catholic buildings of church, clergy house and school which represent an idealised community and a reassertion of the faith following the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829.

Group value:

* the church forms a group with Hendred House and St Amand's Chapel (Grade II*), Godfrey's Farm (Grade II) and the Presbytery, East Hendred (Grade II).

History

The Manor of Hendred passed by marriage to the Eyston family in the mid-C15, and remains in their ownership. The chapel, dedicated to St Amand, and attached to the house was built in or shortly before 1265, and is reputed to be one of only three pre-Reformation churches which have never been used for Protestant services.

During the Penal years Hendred House became a centre of recusancy, and there is a Priest’s Hole in the roof next to St Amand’s chapel. The chapel was restored in 1687, during the brief reign of the Catholic James II, but was sacked by soldiers of William III in the following year. The building was repaired and continued to serve the mission until the opening of the new church in 1865.

On 24 June 1863 Charles Eyston Esq conveyed a site about 200 yards to the south of the old chapel for a new church, churchyard, priest’s house, together with an endowment for the support of a priest. The foundation stone for the new church was laid on the same day. The building was completed by the end of the following year and consecrated by Bishop Grant on 17 August 1865 (the day after he consecrated the churchyard). The priest’s house was completed by the end of that year, together with a bridge over the road connecting it with the church. To the south of the presbytery are the school buildings, with teacher’s house. The grouping, together with Godfrey's Farmhouse on the western side forms a loosely square arrangement, characterised by Betjeman and Pevsner as 'a Puginesque dream come true'. The builder was R P Davison of Oxford and the cost of the church was £1,743.

The architect was Charles Alban Buckler of Oxford. Buckler (1825-1905) was the son of the architect John Chessell Buckler and the grandson of the architect and topographical draughtsman John Buckler. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1844, when he assumed the name Alban. He devoted his life to the study of ecclesiastical art and architecture, church history, liturgy and heraldry. His preferred style was that of the C13; his principal works are the Dominican church at Haverstock Hill and the restoration and augmentation of Arundel Castle. He appears to have come to know the Eyston family due his restoration of the Chapel of St Amand and the design of a new altar for the chapel which was consecrated in 1862.

The bridge, which was originally given a timber-framed facing, emulating Godfrey's Farm on west side of the square, was faced with brick-effect cement tiles in the 1960s. The church was reordered in 1983 following the guidance of the Second Vatican Council. The timber screen was moved further east from its former place under the chancel arch and a new forward altar was created using part of the material from the altar of the Sacred Heart, which was reduced in depth. The former altar steps were replaced with wooden ones of reduced size. The font was moved from the rear, south-western corner to stand in front of the altar of the Sacred Heart and the High Altar was also reduced in size, although the reredos with its patterned stone surface was retained.

Further work in 2015 included restoration of the roof and an extension to the vestry.

Details

A Roman Catholic church built to the designs of Charles Alban Buckler between 1863 and 1865 in a Decorated Gothic style under the patronage of Charles J Eyston.

MATERIALS and PLAN: brick core faced in Boxhill stone, with a plain tile roof. The plan includes a nave with north aisle, chancel with lower ridge and a south transept. A projecting porch sits at the centre of the south flank of the nave and an octagonal bell turret is placed in the angle between the transept and nave. A two-storey caretaker’ cottage is attached at the north-west corner of the building.

EXTERIOR: the building is skirted by a projecting plinth, bays are divided by buttresses with offsets and all gable ends have a carved cross finial. The south flank of the nave has a corbel table to the upper wall and a central gabled porch at the centre with a chamfered arch to the central portal and angled buttresses. A recessed panel in the upper gable with a trefoil surround has a central shield showing the initials ‘MR’ (Maria Regina) surrounded by carved lilies in relief. To either side are similar traceried windows of three lights with cusped heads and trefoils to the apex. The bell tower at right has three stages with offsets between each level. Openings at ground and belfry levels have cusped heads and there is a stone spire with finial. The north flank of the nave has two aisle windows at left, each of two lights with quatrefoils to the head. At right is a doorway with arched head. The west window has a five-light window with traceried head showing trefoils and cinquefoils flanked by mouchettes. The northern aisle window to its left has two lights and a trefoil head. The north flank of the nave aisle has a door way to the western bay and two two-light windows to the bays at left.

The chancel has a lower ridge than the nave and is partially obscured on the southern side by the transept and the extension to the vestry and the corridor leading to the bridge. The windows on both flanks are of two lights with a cinquefoil to the apex. The east window has three lights with an elaborately cusped rose to the apex.

Attached to the northwest corner of the church is a two-storey cottage which was apparently originally intended for the caretaker. This was extended further west after 1970. It has lancet windows with cusped heads to its south and east sides and the extension is marked by the flat heads to the windows.

INTERIOR: the nave has three bays and a north aisle with an altar to the Sacred Heart at its eastern end. The aisle piers have a quatrefoil section and chamfered arches. The panelled roof has wall posts below the trusses, supported by stone brackets painted with coats of arms. Flooring is stone flags with encaustic tiles and wooden staging to the chancel.

FIXTURES: stone carving throughout the church is of quality, much of it executed by Boulton of Worcester according to the Builder (see SOURCES). The chancel has a reredos with carved repeating patterns in front of a which is the altar which was remodelled in 1983. The timber rood screen has three arches with traceried heads. The chancel arch is flanked by a canopied niche on its northern side enclosing a statue of the Virgin and Child. To the south of the arch the stone pulpit has panels showing scenes of Christ preaching.

The altar of the Sacred Heart has a carved representation of a heart bound by a trailing thorny branch set in a sunken hexafoil panel and the altar is flanked by statues of Christ and Joseph of Nazareth. The font which originally stood in the south-western corner was moved to stand in front of the altar of the sacred heart. It has an octagonal shaft with marble columns to the base and an octagonal bowl with carved panels of foliage. To the rear of the church is a fixed timber bench with a wooden canopy, apparently originally a family pew for the Eystons.

The east, south and northeast windows of the sanctuary are by Hardman (1864), as is the southeast nave window (1879).

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

250149

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Bradley, S, Tyack, G, The Buildings of England: Berkshire, (2010), 285
East Hendred Church in The Builder, (October 1865), 718

Websites
Architectural History Practice (AHP) Taking Stock website, Portsmouth Diocese, accessed 18/11/2023 from https://taking-stock.org.uk/building/east-hendred-st-mary/

End of official list entry

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