| St Paul’s Church, Burton upon Trent | |
St Paul’s Church, Burton upon Trent
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| Denomination | Church of England |
|---|---|
| Churchmanship | Anglo Catholic |
| Website | St Paul’s webpage |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Lichfield |
| Province | Province of Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Vicar(s) | Father Paul Farthing |
St Paul’s Church is an Anglican church on St Paul's Square, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire England. The church opened in 1874 and was designed by the architects James M. Teale and Edmund Beckett Denison, with later additions by G.F. Bodley.[1] Since 2005, St Paul’s has been part of a parish with St Aidan's, Shobnall. It is in the diocese of Lichfield.
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A mission in Borough Road, Burton was opened in 1865 from Christ Church at the suggestion of Michael Thomas Bass. By 1872 the mission was known as St Paul's and in 1873, it was assigned an ecclesiastical district, created out of the parishes of Christ Church, Holy Trinity, and St Modwen's. A new church, St Paul’s, was opened in 1874 on a site soon known as St Paul's Square,[1] with Michael Thomas Bass paying for the erection of the church and vicarage at a cost of £50,000.(£3,441,314 as of 2012) [2]. The church was consecrated on 7 April 1874 by the Bishop of Lichfield, George Augustus Selwyn.
St Paul's church was built to the design of James M. Teale of Doncaster with assistance from Sir Edmund Beckett Denison (later Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe). It uses Coxbench and Ancaster stone in a geometrical, decorated style.[1] The shape is of a cruciform with an aisled three-bay chancel, quatrefoil in cross section and five-bay nave, as well as north and south transepts, and a square central tower.[1] The central tower, of 123 ft, houses a peal of ten; the original eight bells were recast in 1912, and two further bells were added in 1922.[1]
The column capitals and label stops throughout the church were designed by a S. Tinkler of Derby and show naturalistic foliage, fruit, and animals with those in the nave representing the twelve months of the year. All the windows have early decorated style tracery, with ballflower ornamentation in the chancel. The nave and transept clerestories have triple lancets, while the clerestories in the chancel have carved spherical triangles. The nave roof has traceried spandrels and principals supported on clustered wall shafts. There are six windows (one in the south aisle and five in the narthex) designed in an Arts and Crafts style by Archibald and Davies of the Bromsgrove Guild. They date from 1919–34.[1]
Between 1889 and 1901 the eastern arm and south transept were considerably altered to the design of George Frederick Bodley, at the expense of Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton. In 1889, the south chancel aisle was converted into a chapel for daily services and two years later an external sacristy was added on the north side of the chancel with an internal porch added to the south transept door.[1]
The chancel and sanctuary roof were painted and a canopy was added to the original large circular stone pulpit. In 1894-5 the original organ, by Hill and Son of London, was replaced by a new Hope-Jones organ. Its case, in the south transept, was richly decorated by Bodley. The chancel floor was also relaid with red and white marble. Also changed were the original reredos, which were replaced by ones designed by ecclesiastical and architectural sculptor Robert Bridgeman that depicted the Crucifixion in a central panel of red shawk stone surrounded by the saints.[1]
A number of other changes were made in the 20th century, paid for primarily by parishioners. A western narthex was added in 1910 as a memorial to Baron Burton, who had died the previous year in 1909. A calvary war memorial was erected in the churchyard in 1920 and a bishop's chair of stone was built into the sanctuary wall in 1931. The two west bays of the nave and the narthex were converted into a church hall in 1979 and at the same time several items were added from the former church of St Margaret, including a wooden lectern by Morris and Co., a painting of the Crucifixion which was placed by the south door, and statues of Alpha and Omega which were added to the south chancel aisle chapel. The organ was also replaced in 1985.[1]
British writer Arthur Mee wrote of the decoration of St Paul's: “All is nobly rich and beautiful in this wonderful church.” [3]
The church contains an organ formerly in the Central Methodist Church, Saltergate, Chesterfield. The specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.