Former Church Of St Jude

The former Church of St Jude, now a community centre, was originally built as a chapel in 1803-1806. It was largely rebuilt between 1888 and 1890 by W.J.H Leverton, following designs by James Peacock, who worked as an assistant to George Dance the Younger. The building was originally commissioned by the Philanthropic Society. A ritual west end was never completed.

The church is constructed from red brick in English bond, with stone dressings and a tile roof. It is designed in a spare lancet Gothic style, relying on boldly proportioned masses for its impact.

The building comprises a nave and square-ended chancel of four bays, with north and south aisles. Vestries and an organ chamber are located to the north and south; the former has an east-facing gable, and the latter is treated as a transept with a gable facing south. A polygonal bell turret rises to a stone-capped roof, situated between the transept and the chancel flank. The main entrance is on the south aisle’s ritual west end, with a glazed undercroft underneath the aisle.

Remains of the earlier structure are visible at the west end of the north aisle and were retained temporarily until the west end could be completed. These original elements consist of four pointed windows, two over two. Only one of these early 19th-century windows is currently in use, located in the upper right corner when viewed from the west. There are also remains of an unusual roof truss from another phase of construction.

Photographs from the late 1980s reveal that the interior has unpainted brick surfaces and a flush panelled ceiling carried on arched principals tied with metal bars. The aisle roofs are supported by strutted principal rafters. A panelled reredos incorporates a painted frieze above a raised chancel, which includes a pulpit to the ritual northeast, and an organ located to the north of the chancel.

At the time of an earlier inspection, the liturgical fittings were largely intact. The east gables of the chancel and vestry/organ chamber form a significant group with the facing gable elevation of the former National Schools on Colnbrook Road.

The Philanthropic Society, dedicated to training and reforming young offenders, occupied the site from 1791 to 1849, before relocating to Redhill. Originally unoriented, the chapel was subsequently given over to Anglican use, with an initial scheme for enlargement and improvement quickly abandoned due to a lack of funding. A further scheme, in 1871, to reorient the church, extend it, and provide a proper chancel was commissioned through a limited competition judged by Aston Webb, but its construction was delayed by a lack of funds. Leverton’s subsequent building removed virtually all of the earlier structures, although the circa-1871 school building survived.