Christ Church

Christ Church is a parish church built in 1840 by John Brown in the lancet style. It is constructed of flint with grey brick dressings and slate roofs.

The building comprises a nave with narthex, chancel, north and south transepts, and sanctuary. The symmetrical west front features a narrow narthex with a triple shafted entrance, the central doorway larger than those flanking it, each set beneath a moulded pointed canopy with foliate bosses and squat finials. Above is a three-light lancet window with a taller central light, set beneath a gable surmounted by a cross. The narthex is flanked by offset angle buttresses terminating in polygonal shafts and facetted finials. To left and right returns stands a single doorway beneath a single lancet with bossed hood. A corbelled parapet runs across. The west ends of the nave are marked by tall similar lancets set beneath sunk trefoil lights beneath gables, each outer side flanked by an angle buttress with shafts similar to those of the narthex. A central bellcote with offset buttresses to each face rises to a pointed canopy over the bell. Below is a clockface beneath a triple pointed hood mould.

The five-bay nave has tall single lancets with facetted brick reveals set between offset buttresses, matching the detailing of the north and south sides. A continuous band at cill level returns to the west front and is repeated on the narthex buttresses. The corbelled parapet continues along the nave. The north and south gables of the transepts are similarly detailed. The transept windows comprise three lancets with taller central lights on the north and south faces, and paired lancets to the west faces and east face of the north transept. A blind paired lancet appears on the south-east transept. Angle buttresses terminate in polygonal shafts and facetted finials. A continuous band at cill level and corbelled parapets to west and east faces continue the design vocabulary.

The sanctuary extends a single bay in depth with lancets and similar details to the nave. On the north side is a vestry. The east wall features a central triple lancet window flanked by single lancets, separated by a tall offset buttress rising to roof line. An offset angle buttress frames the composition. Above a corbel table sits a central triple lancet with taller central light and cross to the apex of the gable. To each side is a sunk trefoil light beneath a gable rising from the parapet on north and south faces.

The interior contains a wide aisleless nave, the seating reordered in 1941 while reusing existing seating, modified. Rear window arches feature undercut hoods with 13th-century style bosses. The narthex arch is similarly detailed, comprising a pair of shafts to each side of a continuous chamfered arch. A four-centre arched doorway through a half-wall supporting a balcony at narthex level bears Royal arms installed in 1887.

The sanctuary lies beyond the north and south transepts. Similar piers of three clustered shafts support the outer sanctuary and transept arches. The sanctuary is further divided into three sections by shafted piers of quatrefoil plan; the arches are of multiple orders. The south wall of the sanctuary has a four-centre arched doorway and a blind recessed hooded window above. The rear wall is articulated in three bays by engaged shafts between the windows and at the angles. A stone reredos comprises four equal panels beneath three cusped arches beneath three canopies, the central one taller. A polygonal pulpit with three faces featuring blind cusped panels stands reset in its original position by the sanctuary.

The sanctuary roof features rib vaulting in three bays with quadripartite crossing roof and angle ribs. The transept roofs are canted. The nave roof employs strutted queen posts and a central post rising to a flat ceiling below the apex, each with a drop finial below the tie beam, with slender braces to wall posts. Three encircled quatrefoil ventilation outlets appear in alternate bays. The narthex roof is canted.

The south transept contains a chapel and war memorial, featuring a window in memory of Philip Sewell. The north transept houses an organ, installed in 1912. An East Anglican tradition polygonal font, now located in the south-west corner of the nave, completes the interior.