Church Of St Michael And All Angels

Former Church of St Michael and All Angels

This large polychrome brick church was built in 1864–5 to replace a mission church of 1861. It was designed by J W Morris and restored in 1901 and again in 1955. The building was converted into flats around 2000.

The church draws on Early English architecture of the 13th century for its details. It is constructed of stock brick with red and black brick polychrome banding, and polychrome work also decorates the heads of the arches. Limestone dressings and slate roofs complete the material palette.

The plan comprises a nave with a lower, short chancel, north and south aisles, north and south double transepts, and a southeast tower.

The exterior is dominated by two principal features. The west end fronts directly onto St Leonard's Road and is the most prominent aspect. It features a triple-arched entrance with moulded arches and shafts in the reveals, all set beneath polychrome heads. Above these are three straight-sided gables. The west end fenestration includes two two-light openings with modern detailing, and above these is an oculus filled with plate tracery comprising trefoils and quatrefoils. Angle buttresses flank the corners. The aisles have lean-to roofs with two-light windows in their west faces.

The southeast tower is unbuttressed and rises in three stages. The largest is the belfry stage, which has tall, plain paired openings. Above this sits a short, slate-covered pyramid spire with a gable on each side over a clock face.

The east end of the chancel is lit by a three-light east window of graded lancets. Paired windows illuminate the lean-to aisles, and a clerestory with three single-light windows per bay runs along the nave. A quarter-round stair turret sits in the angle between the nave and south aisle. The conversion to flats has resulted in numerous square skylights being inserted into the roofs.

The interior has been subdivided into multiple flats and no principal fixtures remain.

Immediately south of the church stands a large former vicarage, built of stock brick with minor polychromatic detailing in a matching style to the church. South of the vicarage is a Portland limestone First World War memorial by A R Adams, dated 1920, depicting Christ blessing a medieval soldier. North of the church is a two-storey institute of stock brick with its gable facing the church. Together, these structures form a coherent group.

The architect Morris was not a well-known name but clearly capable of ambitious and impressive designs, as demonstrated here.