Church Of St Mark

Church of St Mark, Dalston

An Evangelical church comprising a nave built between 1864 and 1866 by Chester Cheston Junior, with a tower added between 1877 and 1880 by Edward Lushington Blackburne. The building is constructed in yellow stock brick with stone dressings and follows a cruciform plan with aisles and an apsidal chancel. The architectural style is Gothic Revival, with the nave executed in Early English style and the tower in French Gothic.

The exterior is distinguished by five transverse gables that form the clerestory above the aisles, each containing triple lancet windows, while the aisles themselves have paired lancets. A rose window occupies the west gable. The tower rises in four stages and features angle turrets from which sprout the symbols of the four evangelists, together with a taller central turret crowned by a high octagonal pointed roof. The clock stage is decorated with ornamental gables above the clock faces and incorporates a barometer. The lower part of the tower was built by Cheston, while the upper section was designed by Blackburne. Notably, the turret barometer is unique in England and is modelled on that of the church of St Germain L'Auxerrois in Paris. The tower accommodates an automatic carillon.

The interior contains five bays in the nave, though only four in the aisles; the westernmost unaisled bay contains a gallery. The nave walls are supported on clustered cast-iron columns with stiff-leaf capitals. The arches feature an inner stone order carved with chevron decoration, while the outer orders are constructed of polychromatic brick in red, blue, black and yellow. Plain yellow brick walls rise above the arcades. Between the arches are short corbelled colonettes supporting the arched braces of the roof. The roof itself is of pointed barrel form with groined intersections positioned opposite the clerestory windows. The aisles have lean-to roofs with arched trusses.

Between the nave and chancel lies a broad transept bay flanked by shallow projecting arms with gable walls containing large triple lancets above eight small lights set within a triple blank arcade. Above the arches leading into the transept arms are stained glass panels lit by concealed cruciform roof lights depicting white and gold angels against a blue sky.

The chancel comprises a single straight bay and a three-sided apse with triple lancet windows. The ceiling here is fitted with moulded ribs carried by colonettes with corbels carved in the shape of angels holding scrolls. The walls are stencilled. Behind the altar is a mosaic depicting the Last Supper, added in 1881, complemented by a mosaic floor dating to around 1900.

A U-shaped west gallery is present, and the original organ was by Henry Speechly. The pulpit is of stone and coloured marble with figures of the Apostles in niches. A brass lectern stands in the chancel. The stone font features four figures of the Evangelists positioned at the angles, with a tall wooden Gothic Revival cover on pulleys.

All glazing is by Lavers and Barraud. The rose window depicts Virtues and Vices surrounding the Lamb. The aisles contain a series of Old Testament scenes, while the nave clerestory displays the arms of English dioceses. The transepts contain New Testament scenes with Apostles in the lower windows. The chancel features a passion cycle, and the south chapel holds a series depicting the Resurrection and Pentecost. In the nave, the original gas fittings were inverted when electricity was introduced. Original pews with carved ends remain in place.

The windows were heightened and the ceiling reconstructed when the tower was completed in 1880. Cheston's original design for the tower was not executed but was replaced by Blackburne's design. Since that time, the church has undergone little further alteration.