Church Of St Jude

Church of St Jude, Kent Road, Southsea, Portsmouth

A church built in 1851 by the architect TE Owen, constructed as part of his Southsea development. The building was significantly extended in 1897 by JH Ball, with the addition of a vestry and chapel flanking the chancel to north and south, the remodelling of the west face of the nave, and the insertion of an internal balcony to the aisles. A further conversion of the south-east chapel to church offices and coffee rooms was carried out around 1973.

The church is constructed of flint and rock-faced stone with stone dressings, and is roofed in Welsh slate. The plan consists of a five-bay aisled nave, a two-bay chancel, a north-east vestry, and a south-east chapel.

The exterior is richly detailed. The west face features a lofty nave with a facing stone coped gable and flanking stepped buttresses rising to window springing level. At the centre is a tall five-light wide stone traceried window with a pointed arch, rusticated stone jambs, and a sillband. The south face incorporates a low projecting porch to the left with a recessed two-leaf boarded door set behind a splayed stone surround with a pointed arch, dripstone, and dropped bosses. A projecting memorial chapel between buttresses with a small pointed stone traceried cusped window is set between the first three bays of the aisle. Further right is another projecting chapel with similar fenestration, and a low flat-roofed projection to its front. The nave has six two-light geometrical stone traceried clerestory windows, each with a pointed arch and rusticated jambs. A projecting screen wall with a pointed stone arched opening and a facing stone coped gable with finial occupies the right of the aisle. To the right of the aisle, projecting from the south face of the chancel, is a tower and spire with clasped stepped buttresses ascending to the head level of the tower windows. The tower has a projecting porch with a two-leaf recessed boarded door set under a pointed stone arch with dripstone and splayed stone jambs. Each face of the tower contains two tall narrow stone geometrical tracery louvred openings at high level, each with dripstones set within a recessed flint-walled panel with a clock face above. The broached spire has on each face a two-light opening with cusped heads and a facing gable with dripstone. The east face features a lower-roofed chancel with a five-light reticulated stone traceried window. The north face is similar to the south face but includes a flat-roofed porch to the right with a two-leaf boarded door set under a stone flat pointed arch with rusticated jambs. At the junction of the aisle with the nave is a three-sided stair access tower with a one-light stone traceried window.

The interior contains an aisled nave to north and south with square chamfered stone piers and pointed arches. Short round attached columns are positioned below the springer of each arch. A balcony is set over the vestibule and runs for three aisled bays eastwards, though it was partitioned in 1973 to form church rooms. The chancel has a pointed arch similar to the arcade. On the north side of the chancel, the left bay contains a carved timber screen with five front stalls and a door to the right with timber fretwork to the top of the panel. The south side of the chancel has a door to the church offices and organ loft. The east window is five-light reticulated, with a reredos below featuring open upper tracery rising above the sill of the window. The nave and chancel are roofed with hammer beams with curved braces set off stone corbels and diagonal boarding between rafters. The west face has a timber-screened vestibule with leaded lights and a two-leaf boarded entrance door. Porches to the left and right provide timber stairs to the balcony. The aisles and chancel windows contain stained glass. To the south of the south aisle is a mausoleum for members of the Lanyon family, dating from around 1887 to 1893, featuring stone ribbed and embossed vaulting.