Hertford United Reform Church

Hertford United Reform Church

A United Reform (formerly Congregational) church built in 1862–3, designed by architects T Smith & Son and built by Henry Norris of Hertford. The church stands on Cowbridge in Hertford and forms part of a wider building complex.

The church is constructed of knapped flint with yellow brick and sandstone dressings, with stone windows and steeply pitched Welsh slate roofs. The style is Free late 13th century Gothic Revival, featuring a tall central gable, lower lean-to aisles, and a central gabled porch facing the road.

The plan is rectangular with a "hall" design, internally subdivided by structure to define nave, aisles, and transepts, with a shallow east end containing an organ chamber.

The north elevation is built of flint with brick bands and projecting buttresses of brick and flint with stone offsets marking the division of nave and aisles, with similar angle buttresses at the corners. The gabled porch has flint walls and a limestone roof with continuous moulded stone kneelers. The central doorway is set beneath three inset pointed arches with a projecting dripmould carved with foliated bosses, flanked by colonnettes with carved stiff leaf capitals in front of brick jambs. Twin battened leaf outer doors have wrought-iron strap hinges with branched ends and trefoils. The central window above the porch is a 5-light leaded lattice window with stone colonnettes, mullions, and geometrical plate tracery within a moulded trefoil surround, set beneath an outer dripmould and brick soldier arch. Above are a cusped octo-foil within a moulded circular surround, and quatrefoils and trefoils with chamfered surrounds. The gable has projecting moulded stone kneelers, brick stepped projecting corbels, a dentil course and band, with stone coping.

The aisles have ground floor coupled leaded lattice lancets with stone chamfered trefoil heads above central colonnettes with carved stiff leaf capitals, set below brick double header pointed arches. Above are stone bar-traceried leaded lattice rose windows with 5 large trefoils alternating with small circles, in stone surrounds beneath pointed-arched dripmouls with carved bosses and brick double header pointed arches. The parapet treatment matches the central gable.

The side elevations are divided into 4 bays by projecting buttresses with stone offsets. Flint walling is divided by 3 yellow brick bands. Each bay contains one 2-light window of stone lancets with cusped heads, moulded mullion and reveal, set beneath a flint panel and brick double header pointed arch. A brick corbelled and bullnose cornice supports Welsh slated lean-to roofs. A continuous clerestory runs along, fitted with obscure-glazed timber windows with trefoils.

The transepts have projecting gables above the aisles with buttresses with stone offsets, flint walling with 5 brick bands, and brick parapets with corbelling, stone kneelers, and moulded stone copings. Ground floor windows are 3-light stone leaded lattice lancets with cusped heads and moulded reveals, set above flint panels beneath brick double header pointed arches. Above are stone rose windows with bar tracery featuring a central circle with 6 cusps surrounded by 12 smaller circles, decorated with stained and coloured glass bearing a Star of David motif. The parapets feature brick gables with corbelling, stone kneelers, and moulded stone copings.

At the southwest corner is a low single-storey projecting vestry block of flint with brick dressing and a Welsh slated roof. The rear southwest elevation is built of red brick in Flemish bond, matching the adjoining British Schools.

Internally, the church forms a single space divided by cast-iron columns and roof structure to approximate the traditional subdivision of nave, aisles, and transepts. The columns are elongated and circular with projecting bases and bell abaci to square caps. The upper roof structure comprises timber arch braces connected by wrought-iron tie rods at springing level, supporting a continuous clerestory beam buttressed by lateral arch braces across the aisles at bay lines, carried on the outer aisle walls on stone corbels. Exposed purlin and open rafter roofs span the aisles.

The transepts are spanned by large timber arch braces springing from corbel pads on the cast-iron column caps. The main nave roof is supported on tall timber arch braces springing from timber posts set atop the cast-iron columns at bay lines, with timber scissor trusses above and purlin and open rafter roofing. Walls are plastered with splayed reveals and segmental arches to paired lancet windows.

A timber gallery at the north end is carried on short cast-iron columns with incised quatrefoils, its front fitted with an iron frontal featuring cusped quatrefoils. At the south end, a tall pointed arch carried on coupled colonnettes with carved stiff leaf capitals leads to the organ in a timber panelled case within a 1-bay recess. Below is a 5-bay stone pointed-arched arcade with chamfered intrados, carried on circular colonnettes with carved stiff leaf capitals. The organ gallery frontal is wrought iron with ogee motifs.

A Bath stone pulpit has a polygonal end with a projecting plinth and roll moulding. The centre features carved panels inscribed "We preach Christ Crucified" around the centre front panel, a cusped recess with a carved Star of David, and other panels carved with religious symbols. The top is carved with running leaf, roll moulding, and stylised stiff leaf foliage, with a moulded top rail. An adjacent raised communion area is fitted with cast-iron rails featuring twisted shafts, scrollwork, rosettes, and leaves. The choir area, stepped against the north transept, has a panelled timber frontal with pierced cusps and solid lower panels. Pews are pitch pine, plain with panelled ends.

Beneath the gallery are commemorative tablets recording the first Congregational Church in Hertford, instituted in 1673, and the building of the present church in 1862, naming its architect, contractor, and first Minister, Reverend James Wonnacott.

Historical Context

The first Congregational Church in Hertford stood on the Christ's Hospital site. The congregation moved to Cowbridge in 1796 and rebuilt its premises in 1847. The present church was built in 1862, together with the British Schools adjoining to the south. The foundation stone was laid on 24 August 1862, and the church opened on 27 May 1863. The organ was built in 1864 by Halmshaw of Birmingham and presented in memory of E D Rayment by his son, then Mayor of Hertford. The building complex was completed by the construction of Cowbridge Halls in 1893.