About the church

The church was declared redundant in July 2003. It was converted into residential accommodation with a small place of worship created in the chancel.

Built: 1852 - 85
Architect: Ewan Christian
Listing: grade 2

Christ Church dates from 1854, and was designed by Ewan Christian (1814-1895), a pupil of Matthew Habishon. Not all the church was built at once, the north aisle being completed in 1864, and the spire being added to the tower in 1885.

The church consists of a nave separated from aisles to north and south by octagonal columns; chancel with vestry space to the north and a chapel to the south; a west tower surmounted by the 56m high octagonal spire with small broaches and pinnacles on the four corners; and a south porch.

Alterations by Laurence King and Partners in 1972 created an upper room to the rear of the nave with small rooms under the aisle roofs to north and south, accessed by a staircase in the tower and provided with an external escape stair at the west end of the north aisle. There is a kitchen off the landing on the first floor, and on the ground floor toilets and stores were created in the tower space, and a new vestry and lounge space in the north and south aisles respectively. The low-ceilinged space under the new rooms to the rear of the nave forms a baptistry containing what is presumably the original font on a stone plinth.

The original chancel has been blocked off from the nave and is used as a store and workshop.

The space to the south of this is used as a Lady Chapel, and the original vestry space to the north is used as a store.

A door behind the staircase up to the first floor gives access to a spiral stair leading up to the first stage of the tower. The spiral stair is of interesting open tread stone construction, and is quite wide. There is also an external door to this stair. The belfry stage of the tower is accessed through a trap door by a long vertical wooden ladder attached to the northwest corner of the space. The belfry stage of the tower is very large, and is open to the spire above. There are trap doors in the centre of the floors of both first and belfry stages. The belfry stage has four large two-light bell louvre openings, originally each with three timber louvres.