Church Of St Paul

Church of St Paul, Gedling

Parish church built between 1892 and 1896, designed by J. L. Pearson and funded by Sir Charles Seely. The building is constructed of coursed and squared rubble with ashlar dressings and plain tile roofs. Its architectural style draws on 13th-century Geometrical and 14th-century precedents. Chamfered and moulded plinths, sill bands, string courses and eaves bands run throughout. A billeted corbel table and coped gables—some with gabled kneelers and crosses—provide additional ornament. A single side wall stack serves the building. Windows are predominantly Geometrical lancets with hood moulds, mostly linked together. All windows except the clerestorey and vestries contain stained glass by Clayton and Bell.

The plan comprises a south-west tower, nave, north and south aisles, north porch, chancel, north chapel, north transept, vestries and lady chapel.

The south-west tower rises in three stages. It features three pairs of setback buttresses and, to the north-west, a canted stair turret. The first stage contains a traceried panel on its south side housing a moulded doorway with crocketed finial. Above this, the east and west sides display a double lancet, while the second stage has recessed panels with corbel tables, each bearing two round windows. An ornate bracket clock sits to the west. The third stage features on each side two double lancets with crocketed gables, separated by a pilaster with gabled niche and figure. Above rises an octagonal broach spire with four spired pinnacles and a cross finial, with four gabled double lancet lucarnes piercing it.

The nave's west end displays two gabled flanking buttresses, each containing a niche with a figure, and a six-light lancet with Y tracery. Its gable contains eight stepped gabled niches with brackets for figures. The clerestorey, spanning four bays, features on each side three buttresses and four quadruple lancets. The east end has a gabled bell turret with two openings. The buttressed north and south aisles have coped parapets and gables, each displaying three double lancets. The north aisle's west end includes a five-light lancet and diagonal buttress. The north porch has two pairs of corner buttresses and a moulded doorway with clustered filleted shafts. On each side stand two small double lancets. Inside the north porch are stone benches, a principal rafter roof and a cove moulded doorway with shafts.

The chancel's north side contains two triple lancets to the east. Its east end has two flanking buttresses and a seven-light lancet with Y tracery. The lean-to north chapel has a triple lancet at its east end. The north transept and organ chamber features to the north a lancet and above it a double lancet. An L-plan vestry has a double lancet to the west and a triple lancet with segmental head to the north. To the east is a similar quadruple lancet, with a doorway at the return angle. The parapeted Lady Chapel has a single buttress to the west and a triple lancet at its east end, with three double lancets on its south side.

The vaulted south porch, positioned below the tower, contains moulded ribs and corner shafts, stone benches and a moulded inner doorway with shafts.

The interior of the nave contains four-bay arcades with round piers, each pier having four ringed shafts and lobed capitals, alternating with octagonal and round responds. The arches are chamfered and rebated with hood moulds, and a continuous sill band runs through. An arch-braced principal rafter roof with traceried panelled gables covers the nave, while the north and south aisles have lean-to roofs with traceried arch braces.

The chancel features a moulded arch with hood mould and clustered ringed shafts. A dwarf wall carries a traceried iron screen with a pair of gates, with a sill band running beneath. A panelled vaulted ceiling crowns the space. The north side contains, from left to right, a tall shafted opening with a traceried iron screen for the organ, an opening with an iron screen, and a 14th-century style cusped tomb recess with crocketed gable, housing a chest tomb and effigy of Emily Seely dated 1894, executed by Brock. The east end displays blind arcading with a central alabaster gradine and reredos in 14th-century style, featuring a crocketed canopy and figures. The south side has a three-bay arcade with clustered shafts and iron screens; the east bay contains a 14th-century style piscina and sedilia with crocketed gabled canopies.

The north chapel is fitted with a pair of iron gates. The Lady Chapel has a panelled barrel-vaulted ceiling and sill band.

Fittings include an octagonal font with a traceried panelled bowl and a matching pulpit with traceried figure panels, a brass eagle lectern, and four altar posts with angel finials and hangings, installed in 1936. Monuments include a moulded wooden War Memorial tablet with crucifix, dating from 1919.