Church Of St Luke

Church of St Luke

Built in 1896-7 to the design of W H Seth-Smith, the Church of St Luke in Maidstone is an Anglican parish church constructed in Free-style Gothic, a style more commonly associated with nonconformist chapels than Anglican worship. The church was created from the parishes of St Paul and Holy Trinity, with its foundation stone laid on 21 October 1896 and consecration following on 10 September 1897. The contractors were G E Wallis and Sons. The site was provided by Mrs Whatman, while Messrs Fremlin Brothers, the local brewers, made substantial financial contributions.

The building employs semi-coursed ragstone rubble from Vinters' quarries for the main walls, with dressings and internal stonework of Monks Park stone. The roofs are covered with red clay Broseley tiles, and oak shingles cap the bell-turret.

The plan comprises a nave, chancel, north and south aisles, a north transept serving as an organ chamber, north and south vestries, and an octagonal turret to the north. All directions are given liturgically, with the church oriented to the northeast.

The principal façade faces north, dominated by a large catslide roof covering both nave and aisle. The aisle features a plain parapet divided into bays by buttresses with offsets. The windows are broad and span the entire width of the bays, comprising four lights with freely-treated Perpendicular tracery beneath depressed heads. An octagonal turret sits at the angle between aisle and transept, topped by a timber stage capped with a concave-sided shingled spirelet. The transept's five-light north window displays inventive tracery combining Perpendicular with early 14th-century Kentish-style forms. The chancel's east window is similarly inventive, featuring a pair of thick mullions dividing it into three lights with an Art Nouveau interpretation of Perpendicular tracery. The south elevation mirrors the north in its treatment. Towards the west end of the nave sits a small lead-covered cupola straddling the roof. The broad west window, with its pair of thick pierced mullions, derives from large east and west windows in churches by Norman Shaw and J D Sedding, blending Perpendicular and Decorated details.

The interior walls are plastered and whitened. Between nave and aisles, unusually treated three-bay arcades feature round arches with fleurons placed round a hollow moulding. Each arch is carried on pairs of round columns set on high rectangular bases with pairs of square capitals. The capitals display stylised foliage at the corners tapering through inverted half pyramids into the piers. The stone carving in the chancel is by Mr Aumonier, whilst that in the body of the church is by Gilbert Seale. The chancel arch is likewise round, carried on semi-circular responds. The nave roof is arch-braced to a collar carrying a crown post and raked struts; in the tower, lower roof tiers incorporate short curved wind-braces. The aisle roofs are plain lean-tos. The chancel features a semi-circular ceiling divided into panels. On the south side of the chancel is an attractive mural dating to around 1918 by Ivor Hutchins depicting the Tree of Life, Garden of Eden and related subjects in the style of Italian quattrocentro artists.

Although the original seating in nave and chancel has been almost entirely removed, several late 19th and early 20th-century fixtures remain of interest. The altar rails, by W Bainbridge Reynolds, feature metal cartouche-like detailing. The organ case is particularly inventive, designed by Seth-Smith with a depressed arch over the console and above it three curved towers of pipes with flats between. The reredos, made by Jones and Willis and probably also designed by Seth-Smith, comprises rectangular traceried panels bearing gilded texts. The teak pulpit, designed by Seth-Smith and Monro and dedicated in 1911, is in Free-style Gothic with pierced traceried sides and carving by E J Bottle of Harrietsham. A war memorial tablet of 1920 in the north aisle was also designed by Seth-Smith and Monro. A conventional plain octagonal pulpit, together with a few surviving items of pews and chancel stallwork such as a reading desk with open traceried frontal, remain though not in their original positions.

The architect W Howard Seth-Smith (1858-1928) was articled to the London architects Habershon and Pite and commenced practice in 1879. He subsequently partnered with A R G Fenning and, from 1905, with W E Monro. He served as President of the Society of Architects from 1888-91 and of the Architectural Association from 1900-2, enjoying an extensive practice with commissions across London, Kent, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire and beyond. His appointment to design St Luke's appears to have resulted from his being son-in-law to Col. H B Urmston, a leading figure in the church's early history.

The building's style is distinctive and eclectic, blending a variety of architectural ideas and details. Whilst some features, such as the treatment of the east window and organ case, may be aptly described as Art Nouveau, the church is more appropriately understood as a building in Free-style Gothic of the kind popular around 1900 and employed in many nonconformist churches and chapels.

Alterations were carried out in 1971-2, when the west baptistry was largely demolished and replaced with a new foyer and church hall. A parish lounge was added in 1982. In the early 1990s, proposals to remove the pews prompted a consistory court hearing in 1993. The chancellor upheld objections to their removal, but an appeal to the Court of Arches reversed this decision, leading to the removal of the pews and the carpeting of the church.