Roman Catholic Church of The Holy Ghost and St Stephen and attached Presbytery, Askew, London

Summary

The church of the Holy Ghost and St Stephen,1903-4, by architect-priest by Fr (later Canon) Alexander Joseph Cory Scoles, in an Early English revival style, and the attached presbytery, also by Scoles.

Description

The Roman Catholic church of the Holy Ghost and St Stephen was built in 1903 to designs by architect-priest Canon A J C Scoles, in a stylised version of the Early English style. Attached to the south is a presbytery, also designed by Scoles in a loose Perpendicular Gothic style.

CHURCH
MATERIALS: the roof is covered in red tiles over the main roof and side aisles. The principal façade of both church and presbytery is of Flemish bonded orange-red brick with Portland stone dressings. Secondary elevations are of buff London stock brick.

PLAN: the plan is longitudinal, comprising a six-bay nave with aisles and clerestory, accessed via a narthex to the western bay with the organ loft over. The two-bay, square-plan sanctuary to the east is flanked by a Lady Chapel to the north and a Sacred Heart Chapel to the south. A series of shallow recesses off the north aisles contain shrines, baptistery and confessionals. The presbytery adjoins to the south, and is accessed from within the church via the sacristy.

EXTERIOR: the façade is largely symmetrical, and is triple-gabled. Fenestration is varied, including foiled circular windows to the aisles and sanctuary, twinned lancets in the clerestory and two pairs of twinned plate tracery lights in the west wall with a foiled circle over them, flanking a statue of St Stephen in a crocketted statuary niche over a heavily foliated base: in the east wall is a circular window containing four quatrefoils. There are three doorways at the west end with tympana (left to right) depicting the Annunciation, Our Lady seated in front of an adoring host, and the martyrdom of St Stephen. Between the pair of windows in the centre is a standing figure of St Stephen beneath a canopy.

INTERIOR: internally, the church is plastered and painted a very pale yellow. The interior is distinguished by fine wall paintings in the sanctuary, recently restored and in the style of Nathaniel Westlake. The arcades and clerestory are quite tall which make for a generously scaled, lofty space. The nave has octagonal piers with double-chamfered arches. Over the nave is a five-sided roof, divided into square panels by simple ribs: the sanctuary roof is keeled and painted with stars, and the aisle roofs are four-sided. The visual focus of the church is the east wall of the sanctuary, which has a rich display of arcading above which is a monstrance throne: the flat surfaces are all richly decorated with wall paintings, probably dating from the opening of the church or soon after. Above, are scenes of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes (north) and the Last Supper (south). The murals are crowned by an angelic host surrounding the monstrance throne and in the apex of the wall is the Dove of the Holy Spirit descending. There are also painted and gilded saints in the arcade which more closely resemble the style of N H J Westlake (from the left, St John Fisher, St Thomas More, Our Lady, St Joseph, St Mildred and St Edward the Confessor). Extensive use is made of marble in the Lady Chapel, sanctuary and shrine of the Sacred Heart (at the east end of the south aisle). The west bay of the nave is occupied by a glazed-in narthex with a repository on the south side and a gallery over.

Fixtures and fittings include a memorial pulpit of travertine, divided into panels with painted relief figures depicting English Martyrs; altar with columns and made up of various marbles. The altar rails are intact to the sanctuary and side chapels, constructed in various marbles and alabaster. The floor of the Lady Chapel is richly treated in marble panels. There are shrines to St Anthony, St Theresa and St Joseph (north aisle), and St Patrick and St Stephen (south aisle). The baptistery remains intact at the west end of the north aisle; it contains a richly carved alabaster font on a base of clustered shafts, and a statue of St John the Baptist. A stained glass window in the Lady Chapel by Veronica Whall, 1948, depicts the Virgin. The east window in the sanctuary (1906) and the west window of the north aisle (1905) are good, conventional work by E Stanley Watkins of Ealing. A modern mosaic of the head of Christ is at the west end of the south aisle. At the west end of the north aisle is a roundel mosaic depicting St Peter. The Stations of the Cross are conventional carved timber.

PRESBYTERY
MATERIALS and PLAN: the attached Presbytery is of four storeys over a basement and in four bays, and is detailed as the church with red brick walls and Portland stone dressings to the principal façade.

EXTERIOR: the facade has two-light mullioned and transomed windows within flush chamfered stone architraves, apart from a prominent five-light window lighting the principal ground floor reception room; ground floor windows are surmounted by cusped top lights. The ground floor openings are linked by a continuous string course serving as a hood and label mould. The entrance is off-centre, and is set back within a chamfered pointed-arched opening, framing an oak plank door with stop-end chamfered top- and side-lights. It is accessed from street level by a flight of concrete steps. The secondary elevations are in London stock brick, and are lit by timber sliding sash windows.

INTERIOR: internally, the layout appears to be generally intact. Detailing is plain in character, with a red tiled floor to the front porch and stair hall, and some remaining original joinery including four-panelled timber doors and closed string stairs with simple balusters and handrail. Cornices are simple, and are found in the principal rooms only, along with picture rails. An original chimneypiece remains intact to the main reception room, comprising a lugged moulded surround beneath a pulvinated frieze and mantel shelf (the opening is boarded over).

History

In June 1889 Fr Arthur Pownall opened a room at 33 Askew Crescent as a first chapel. With the financial assistance of the Hon Charles Petre, Fr Bernard Pownall (the cousin and successor of Fr Arthur) erected a school-chapel in Rylett Road, which was opened in May 1892. Afterwards the chapel was enlarged and then superseded by an iron church in the playground. This temporary church proved inadequate and plans were drawn up by the architect-priest Canon A J C Scoles of Yeovil for a new building, which also included plans for a school and presbytery. At this time Scoles was newly in partnership with Geoffrey Raymond and the church was modelled on St Augustine’s, Stroud Green. The foundation stone was laid on 29 March 1903, the intention being to leave the building of the north aisle until a later stage. However, when the incomplete church was opened on 5 April 1904, arrangements were already in hand for the remaining aisle and chapel to be built, thanks to the generosity of Charlotte Petre. The overall cost was £6,000: the contractor was John McManus of Hammersmith and the altar was installed by AB Wall of Cheltenham. Romanesque had been the intended style, but this was switched to Gothic of the style of c1300 more usually favoured by Scoles. Reordering took place, it is thought, in the 1970s but was sympathetically done, with the pulpit and alabaster high altar retained, and with the communion rail reused at the east end of the sanctuary.

The architect-priest Canon Alexander Joseph Cory Scoles (1844-1920) was the third son of the eminent Roman Catholic architect Joseph John Scoles, who was a well-regarded practitioner in the Gothic Revival style. Scoles initially apprenticed under his father’s practice, until the latter's death in 1863, following which he became a pupil of Samuel Joseph Nicholl. He designed several churches in the Diocese of Portsmouth and Clifton, and served terms as a parish priest at both Yeovil and Basingstoke. As a designer, Scoles developed a preference for a relatively simple lancet Gothic Revival style, and as such, his churches have a distinct family resemblance; his best work is considered to be the church of the Holy Ghost, Basingstoke, Hants (1902, listed Grade II).

No positive attribution has been made linking the sanctuary murals to Nathaniel Westlake, and indeed, two separate hands seem to be apparent. At the time of construction, Westlake had recently worked with Scoles on the latter’s church at Basingstoke, Hampshire, but the figures are more stylistic in execution than might normally be expected from Westlake. They were cleaned and restored by IFCS c2004, who reported that no signatures were found during the works, and suggested that the work is unlikely to be Westlake, although may possibly be from his studios (information from Richard Pelter of IFCS).

The presbytery, which is contemporary with the church, is included as an integral part of the complex.

Reasons for Listing

The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost and St Stephen, of 1903-1904, by Fr (later Canon) Alexander Joseph Cory Scoles, and attached presbytery, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: a well-composed early C20 church by Fr (later Canon) A J C Scoles, a Catholic architect of some note, also an ordained priest, in his characteristic lancet Gothic style, elegantly massed with some good detailing;
* Interior: internally the church is highly characteristic of Scoles’ work, in a simple early Gothic style that is much enhanced by the rich sanctuary murals, likely to be by highly-esteemed muralist N H J Westlake;
* Artistic interest: the rich sanctuary murals are of considerable interest, bearing close comparison with the varied work of Nathaniel Westlake. Interest is further enhanced by a fine example of the stained glass work of Veronica Whall, and good stone and timber carving;
* Degree of survival: the church remains substantially intact, with original sanctuary fittings having been remodelled and retained during reordering, and most fixtures and fittings surviving;
* Group value: architectural merit is enhanced by the survival of the attached presbytery, contemporary with the church and also by Scoles, in a contrasting Tudor Gothic style.

External Links

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