Church Of St Mary

TQ 60 SW EASTBOURNE DECOY DRIVE Hampden Park

623/13/10011 Church of St Mary

II

Church. 1952-54. Sir Edward Maufe. Painted brick, with internal concrete vaulting. Low pitched red pantiled roof falling eaves. Rendered interior. Traditional plan with nave, aisles, western gallery and narrower chancel and sanctuary, the chancel lying beneath a low eastern tower, the sanctuary in a polygonal apse beyond. Austere Perpendicular Gothic style, as refined by Maufe in a very personal way. Aisles with diagonal buttresses. West end with square-headed entrance set within giant pointed arch, deeply moulded, containing west window, short rectangular bell turret to north-west. Square headed 4-light aisle windows with timber frames and rectangular leaded lights. Tower with paired pointed windows and inset clock between; pyramidal roof. Interior with painted, unmoulded transverse arches and arcades, without capitals, rising from square piers. Altar now in forward position in the sanctuary, with stone sedilia to side under shallow arch. Pointed ceiling to sanctuary, decorated with stars. Limed oak altar rail and choir benches. Original built-in pulpit, polygonal, rendered and dressed in stone, attached to north side of chancel arch. Side chapel with cross-shaped east window, also with limed oak altar rail and stone fittings. Cylindrical stone font, slightly tapering at the base and decorated at the lip by a wave motif. Light timber cover. Western gallery. An attractive church with a sculptural quality to the interior. A good example of Maufe's post-war work showing how Maufe, architect of Guildford cathedral, could work successfully on a small scale.

Listing NGR: TQ6018502164