Christ Church

Christ Church, Ashford

Christ Church was built in 1866-7 and designed by Hubert Austin (1841-1915), then a young assistant in the office of George Gilbert Scott. This was Austin's first independent commission, won through a competition held in 1864 that attracted 48 entries. Austin went on to become one of the greatest church architects of the later 19th century, later partnering with the Lancaster architect Edward Graham Paley from 1868.

The church was built to provide Anglican accommodation for the rapidly expanding town of Ashford, whose population tripled after the South-Eastern Railway established its locomotive works there in 1845. Although the medieval parish church had been lengthened by one bay in 1860, further capacity was deemed necessary. The vicar, Reverend J P Alcock, began fundraising in 1860, and construction eventually took place in 1866-7. The building is constructed of uncoursed Kentish ragstone with Bath stone dressings, with slate roofs. Internal walls are plastered and painted white.

The building is designed in the lancet and Geometrical style of the 13th century. It comprises an aisled, clerestoried nave, chancel, south porch (originally intended to support a tower), and a north vestry with organ chamber. The side windows are lancets, either paired on the lean-to aisles or single in the clerestory. The east window has three cusped lights while the west window has four uncusped lights, both in Geometrical style. The projected south-west tower was never built; instead, a small bell-turret stands near the west end. The most distinctive external feature is the bold hipped roof on the vestry and organ chamber.

Internally, the architecture continues the 13th-century style. Five-bay arcades feature round piers with double chamfered arches and hood-mouldings. The chancel arch follows the same form. The nave roof is arch-braced with tie-beams and king-posts. The interior fixtures are modest, reflecting the limited funding available, and consist of standard Victorian type furnishings such as square-ended seating in the nave and aisles.

The funds were almost entirely provided by subscriptions from shareholders of the South-Eastern Railway Company, as the church served mainly their workers. All seats were free, and the church became known as 'the railwayman's church'. The site was given by G Jemmett, lord of the manor. The total building cost was £4,219. The church has not been significantly altered since its construction.