Church of St Mark the Evangelist

Church of St Mark the Evangelist

A church designed by A R Barker and opened in 1883, with chancel murals created by Kitty Milroy between 1911 and 1920.

The building is faced in flint with red brick dressings and banding, under a tiled roof. It is rectangular in plan with the liturgical East end to the north. A gable-ended roof over the nave steps down over the lower chancel. To the east of the chancel is a small cross-range containing a vestry. A later, larger brick-built flat-roofed vestry has been added to the west, and a large community hall to the south.

The exterior presents a simple composition with lancet windows, mostly with plain leaded glazing, and a bell-cote to the south (liturgical West). The East window is formed of a cluster of three lancets. A painted timber porch with tiled roof is situated on the east side of the nave, with triangular vents in the nave roof. The south elevation contains the original main entrance with three lancets and an oculus over. This elevation is largely unaltered but is now enclosed by the glass-roofed atrium of the community hall.

The interior features red brick with blue brick banding and a boarded timber floor. The underside of the roof is clad in narrow timber boards, with timber roof trusses featuring iron ties and bracing. Over the chancel arch are painted the words WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. The fittings are simple in character, with seating in chairs rather than pews.

The chancel has a panelled, waggon-vaulted roof, and the walls are entirely covered with Kitty Milroy's mural scheme. The subjects of the murals are the Magnificat on the East wall, depicted as the Annunciation, and the Benedicite, the hymn of praise to God's creation, on the north and south walls. Rather than illustrating each verse of the Benedicite in order, the north and south walls depict various powers of nature through eight figures, accompanied by typical wonders of creation in smaller vignettes.

The East wall depicts the Annunciation, with the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary arranged between the lancet windows, standing in a flowered meadow with a backdrop of trees and blue sky. Around the window arch is a vine-scroll border punctuated by quatrefoils bearing the symbols of the four Evangelists, with a ship at the apex.

The North wall shows four standing figures above dado height, each within a flowered meadow with blue sky behind, framed by the trunks and branches of apple trees. From left to right, the figures represent Showers—a figure with plaited hair and downcast arms, dressed in blue-green and mauve tones; Sun—dressed in yellow, orange and pink with short wavy blond hair and raised hands; Moon—in a blue hooded cloak with clasped hands held low; and Clouds—shrouded under a voluminous ochre cloak, lifting the hood to reveal his face. The frames of Showers and Sun are linked by a rainbow. A window with painted patterned reveals separates Showers and Sun from Moon and Clouds.

Beneath the figures is a dado painted with the opening verse of the hymn "O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise him and magnify him forever". Below this, quatrefoils and roundels depict flora, fauna and landscape vignettes, some seemingly inspired by the local landscape and evoking the imagery of the Benedicite. These studies are set within patterned bands and borders with Gothic Revival motifs, with similar decorative treatment in a band above the figures.

The South wall uses the same composition as the north wall, with figures from left to right being Water—dressed in blue and green with arms crossed at the chest; Summer—in a full-length orange dress with hands clasped behind the neck and raised elbows; Winter—in a purple robe with folded arms and head swathed in a green hood; and Wind—in a golden-brown dress and blue shawl with long wavy golden hair billowing. Unlike the other figures, Wind is not depicted square-on, displaying a dynamic composition that conveys the sense of being buffeted. A door into the vestry separates Water and Summer from Winter and Wind.

Below the dado is painted a quote from Psalm 107: "Give thanks unto the Lord, for his mercy endureth forever". As with the north wall, the south wall is decorated with quatrefoils and roundels picturing aspects of the natural world, set within patterned bands and borders.

The reveal of the chancel arch is painted with a band of fruit and foliage, punctuated by quatrefoils bearing angels playing musical instruments.