Building record 4015/0/17 - The Church of the Epiphany and St John, Elizabeth Street

Anglican church built in 1961-2 to the designs of D. F. Martin-Smith with decorative fixtures by Alan Boyson.

{1} Reasons for currently not Listing the Building
The Church of the Epiphany and St John, built in 1961-2 to the designs of D. F. Martin-Smith, is not designated for the following principal reasons: * Architectural interest: whilst demonstrating some architectural flair in the roof construction, overall the church lacks the distinctive elevational quality of comparable listed examples; * Interior: the interior space is not enriched by any contemporary artwork or coloured glass other than the font by Alan Boyson, and it displays a limited use of materials and variety of finishes; * Alterations: the removal of the pews on the south side of the altar and insertion of a screen has had a detrimental effect on the church as the arrangement of radiating pews on three sides of the altar is critical to the concept of the unified worship space.

History
The Church of the Epiphany and St John was built in 1961-2 to the designs of Donald Frank Martin-Smith (1900-1984) with decorative fixtures by Alan Boyson. The builders were A. P. Bland & Co. The foundation stone was laid by Robert, the 33rd Bishop of Peterborough on July 11th 1961. It was decided to build the church and vicarage first and to add the hall at a later date. This was done in the mid-1960s with the addition of a large hall built onto the east side. In the mid-1970s the seating on the south side of the church was removed to make room for a timber and glazed screen, and similar screens were also added to enclose the square projections in the south-east and south-west corners.

The Church of the Epiphany and St John was commissioned during a time of accelerated church building in the post-war period when new churches replaced war-damaged buildings or were built to serve new communities, as in the New Town at Corby. At this time, the Liturgical Movement had a profound influence on church planning, and whilst it had its roots in progressive Catholic theological circles, no denomination was unaffected by the developments. Innovative post-war church design was therefore dominated by the idea of the unified worship space, and in particular by the exploration of plan forms that place the Eucharist spatially as well as spiritually at the centre of worship.

The architect for the Church of the Epiphany and St John, Martin-Smith, set up a practice with Henry Braddock in 1950 with whom he designed blocks of flats, a school, and several churches, including St Mary’s in Southgate, Crawley, Sussex, 1956-8 and the Church of the Holy Cross in Doncaster, 1957. Martin-Smith had previously designed the John Keble Church in Mill Hill, London Borough of Barnet, 1934-7 (Grade II). The only other listed building associated with Martin-Smith the Church of the Holy Innocents in Kenton, Brent, Greater London, 1883-4 (Grade II) by William Butterfield to which Martin-Smith added the north aisle and western narthex in 1950.

The artist and ceramicist Alan Boyson was commissioned to design the font, ceramic figure plaques, and the cross on the west wall of the church. Boyson trained at the Manchester Regional School of Art from 1950-4 under the ceramicist Lester Campion, and subsequently at the Royal College of Art between 1954-7 under the tutorage of Robert Baker, Professor of Ceramics. Boyson then lectured in the Ceramics Department at Wolverhampton School of Art, and whilst there he established his own studio. Boyson produced studio work and received commissions for artwork for public buildings all over the country. His ‘Tree of Knowledge’ mural, at the former Cromwell Secondary School in Salford, 1962 (Grade II), and he designed the ceramic Stations of the Cross and holy water stoops the Church of St Raphael the Archangel in Millbrook, Tameside, 1962 (Grade II).

Details
Anglican church built in 1961-2 to the designs of D. F. Martin-Smith with decorative fixtures by Alan Boyson.

MATERIALS: brown brick laid in English bond with a roof covering of concrete tiles and aluminium.

PLAN: the church has a Greek cross plan with a free-standing altar placed under the crossing. Each right angle formed by the arms of the cross has a small square projection: that in the north-east corner contains the vestry; the north-west and south-east corners are subsidiary chapels; and the south-west corner is currently used as an office/ storage room. There is a large brick extension, added in the later 1960s, on the east side of the building comprising a double-height hall and single-storey ancillary rooms.

EXTERIOR: the church has a cross-gabled roof with a raised central section covered by aluminium with glazed sides. It is surmounted by a slender, four-sided metal spirelet which rests on four supports and rises to a point. Within each right-angle of the cross plan is a single-storey, flat-roofed square projection pierced on both sides by regularly spaced, narrow windows which are almost full-height. The north and south gabled elevations have brick buttresses either side of a flat-roofed entrance porch which has an extended canopy and double-leaf, three-panelled doors with raised panels. Each side of the porch is embellished with a ceramic plaque by Boyson. These depict Mary holding the infant Christ and the Wise Men from the East, as befits a church named after the Epiphany. The plaques are stylised, subtly coloured figures in relief, unified by their intricately patterned clothes and upward-looking posture. The north and south elevations are pierced at regular intervals by slit windows. The west gabled elevation has two buttresses flanking a large metal cross by Boyson, fixed in the gable head. The east elevation is now obscured by the extension.

INTERIOR: the interior has a dramatic roof space with the raised central section forming the outline of a star, the glazed sides of which flood the building with light. The central space is occupied by the raised, square island altar upon which the black marble table altar rests on a two-tier base. A set of long pendant lights are suspended above. The integrated sedilia, credence and piscina stands on the east side of the altar, and each corner of the island has plain wood railings. Radiating from the altar on the north and west sides are five rows of plain fixed benches of African Agba timber. The benches on the south side were removed when the glazed timber screen was inserted across the south arm in the 1970s. The screen is geometric in design with some panels infilled with blue and red coloured glass. The chapel in the north-west corner has a simple timber altar, whilst that in the south-east corner has a timber altar in sapele wood raised on a shallow base. This room and that in the south-west corner are separated from the main space by glazed partitions with a top row of blue coloured glass which were added at the same time as the screen. The woodblock flooring is laid in Panga Panga, an African hardwood.

The large timber organ, which was purchased from Quinton Parish Church, is situated in the east arm of the church. The plain, circular pulpit, painted white and mounted on a concrete base, is located in the north-east corner of the central area. The ceramic font, designed by Boyson, is usually located on the west side of the island altar but during the recent site visit it was in the vestry awaiting repair. It is cylindrical in shape and characterised by abstract shapes into which are woven representations of the three gifts surmounted by crowns: symbols of the journey of the Wise Men. Between these are a seedling, a flower and a fruit which suggest man's birth and development. They are menaced by a series of arrows which are symbols of evil. Above the seedling is a fish - the ancient sign of baptism - and above the bowl of the font is a dove which signifies the presence of the Holy Spirit. The rim is inscribed ‘GIVEN BY THE SUNDAY SCHOOL’.

<1> English Heritage, Designation Advice Report, The Church of the Epiphany and St John (Report). SNN113190.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 7:17PM