Church Of St Mark

Church of St Mark, Holbeach

A church built in 1868–9 by Ewan Christian in Early English style, designed to serve the newly created parish of Holbeach Marsh. The building is constructed in red brick with stone bands and a slate roof.

The church comprises a nave and apsidal chancel in one structure, with a south porch and north chapel. A large roof sweeps down over the nave and curved apse, with a gabled bellcote at the west end. Lancet windows with red brick voussoirs feature on the apse and both south and north sides. The west side has two tall lancet windows with billet moulding above, an offset buttress, and a dog-tooth eaves course. The south porch has a pointed arch with billet moulding and small lancet windows flanking the entrance; the door itself retains decorative wrought iron strap hinges. A modern extension to the north chapel is not of special interest.

Inside, the walls are of exposed red brick with stone dressings. The apse roof is ribbed and rendered. Five lancet windows in the apse have deep reveals and contain stained glass by O'Connor & Taylor of London depicting Christ and the four evangelists. The chancel rail features floriated wrought iron supports, and floral encaustic tiles line the rise of the chancel step. Original Gothic choir stalls and a lectern survive in the chancel. A double arch opens to the north chapel, which houses the organ. The nave is spanned by a large scissor-truss roof and retains a complete set of functional Gothic benches on platforms. At the west end stands a carved round stone font with floral encaustic tiles in its base. The two stained glass windows at the west end depict St Mary and The Reaper.

The parish of Holbeach Marsh was carved from the north part of the old parish of Holbeach All Saints to serve farmers in the marshlands. At 9,240 acres, the new parish was considered large enough to justify two churches: St Mark's to the west and a smaller chapel of ease, St Matthew's, three miles to the east. Both would share one clergyman and receive an annual endowment from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The foundation stone was laid on 19 July 1868, and the church was consecrated on 6 January 1869 by the Bishop of Lincoln. The total cost of building and furnishing was £1,333. The half-acre site was provided by the Crown, along with one acre for the vicarage. The builder was Charles Bennett of Lynn, and the clay for the bricks came from one of the Duke of Somerset's farms in the parish.

Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a prolific architect responsible for 2,040 works, including 90 new churches and numerous church restorations. He served as architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners from 1851 until his death. As a devout evangelical churchman, he favoured auditory rather than highly ritualistic designs. His most important secular commission was the National Portrait Gallery in London (1890–95, Grade I). He served as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1884 to 1886. Contemporaries described him as "a safe man, in no sense a heaven-born genius, or even possessed of brilliant parts, but a man of inflexible honesty, great industry and great business capabilities".