Reasons for Designation
The Church of the Good Shepherd, Chard is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a balanced and well-considered design with a high level of intactness
* It has distinct architectural quality
* It has a well-executed interior space, which retains high quality church furniture including the font, chancel reredos, and integral pulpit
* It is a local landmark and provides a significant contribution to the built environment of this part of Chard.
Details
CHARD TOWN
756-1/0/10007 FURNHAM ROAD
06-JUN-08 (East side)
Church of the Good Shepherd
II
Anglican church founded as a mission chapel to the Church of St Mary the Virgin. Built in 1873, with additions of 1874 and 1895.
MATERIALS: It is built from local chert rubble with dressings mostly of Ham stone, and is set under a double Roman tile roof.
PLAN: It is roughly rectangular on plan, with a slightly projecting sanctuary. It comprises nave, chancel, north and south aisles, south porch and a narthex at the west end.
EXTERIOR: The church is tall, emphasised by the steeply pitched roof to the main body of the building which sweeps out over the aisles. The west end has an embattled single storey narthex with pairs of lancet windows and a doorway in both its north and south walls. Above the narthex, are three lancets and a good rose window with cogwheel-like tracery, set within a Gothic-arched surround with a hood mould. The gable end is surmounted by a tall gabled bell-cote with coped verges and has a single bell. The body of the church is of nine bays, mostly defined by shallow buttresses; and both the north and south aisles which are set back slightly at the west end, have a pointed window with plate tracery facing west. The south elevation has a three light trefoil-headed window towards its west end, to the right of which is the projecting south porch which has chamfered mouldings and stops to the entrance and a statue niche above the doorway. There are paired lancet windows to the other bays of the south aisle, except at the chancel end. The north elevation has similar window openings and two doorways both with hood moulds. The sanctuary has larger single lancets to both its north and south walls, while the east elevation is buttressed with two window openings and a doorway to the basement and a small lancet in the gable; it is otherwise blank.
INTERIOR: The church comprises nave, chancel, north and south aisles, with an organ chamber and the original vestry loft beyond the east end of the north aisle. Both the nave and chancel are spanned by a steeply pitched scissor-braced roof, springing from corbels; the timbers in the chancel are painted and stencilled. The nave arcades are pointed arches carried on pairs of slender columns of polished Devon limestone with carved capitals; and rest on tall stone plinths. At the east end of the south aisle is the Lady Chapel; here the roof timbers are carried on carved foliate corbels and there is a decorative timber screen between the Chapel and the choir. The internal decoration increases in richness from the west to the east, culminating in the altar and the sumptuous reredos in the sanctuary. There is no chancel arch; instead a crenallated rood-beam and marks the division. The chancel is reached via a flight of four steps set between a low stone cancellus pierced with quatrefoils with decorative brass gates; a further six steps lead to the altar. The mid-C19 fittings include an octagonal font of pink marble resting on a cluster of green marble shafts, an integral carved stone pulpit, and a stone reredos of nine Gothic arches divided by red marble colonettes, with an elaborate canopy of the central three bays, and painted panels in the apertures. The windows in the west end and some in the south aisle contain stained glass; the pews date from the late C19.
HISTORY: The Church of the Good Shepherd was founded as a mission chapel to the Church of St Mary the Virgin (Grade I) to serve the growing population of Furnham on the eastern fringes of the town centre. The land was purchased in 1871-2 and the first stage of construction, comprising the nave and the chancel, was completed in 1873. The south aisle and porch, together with the north vestry and organ chamber were added the following year. Although probably part of the original design, it was another two decades before the north aisle was added in 1895. The present pews were also added at this time. It was consecrated in 1896. The narthex at the west end was added prior to 1903.
The building has remained virtually unaltered since, with the exception of the screening of a section of the north aisle to serve as a new vestry, and the insertion of a kitchen and lavatories in the narthex.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: The church is bounded to the south and west by a low wall of chert rubble which is topped with simple railings along the west side. Close to the north west corner of the church is a war memorial in the form of a timber Calvary cross. The separate church hall, formerly a schoolroom, is later in date than the church and is not of special interest, but it is of local significance for its connection with the church and its positive streetscape value.
REASON FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: The Church of the Good Shepherd in Chard is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a balanced design with a high level of intactness
* It has distinct architectural presence, built in the Gothic Revival style
* It has a well-executed interior space, which retains high quality church furniture including the font, reredos, pulpit and cancellus with decorative brass gates
* It is a local landmark and provides a significant contribution to the built environment of this part of Chard.
This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 27 October 2017.
