Church of St Paul

The Church of St Paul is an Anglican church built in 1843 by Dr. Hocking. A west porch was added in 1886, and the church was extended in 1893 by J.W. Touson. It is constructed of coursed granite with granite dressings, featuring a steeply pitched slate roof with granite coping to the gables and apex crosses.

Originally designed with a cruciform plan, the church comprises a broad, short nave, north and south transepts, and a sanctuary. In 1886, a porch was added to the west end. In 1893, the north transept was extended to form a large north aisle with a small north porch, and an organ chamber was constructed in the east angle of the south transept.

The church is built in the Early English style. The west front has two gables, with the nave advanced and an elaborate granite bellcote at its apex. A granite porch with a moulded two-centred arch and a door with wrought-iron hinges is also present. Both the gabled nave and the recessed aisle on the left side feature granite angle buttresses and large triple lancet windows with continuous hoodmoulds, with foil at the head of each lancet. A large dated tablet sits below the aisle window. The north return gables to the left of the centre, with lancet windows and a small gabled stone porch on the right. The east elevation features two gables with triple lancet windows with continuous hoodmoulds, with the aisle on the right set back. The projecting organ chamber on the left has a lancet window and a narrow pointed arch doorway.

Inside, the church features a spacious interior with plastered walls and a gilded timber, high, pointed arch-braced roof on false hammerbeams. The broad, short nave opens into a wide north aisle. There is a small, two-bay granite arcade. Large lancet windows, some with stained glass by Willement, are present, with slender shafts. Flanking the east window are Commandment boards, and below is an ornate, painted and gilded reredos. Other interior features include sedilia, a piscina, a communion rail, an eagle lectern of 1907, a large granite pulpit dating from circa 1870, and a serpentine font. Altars have been removed, and choir stalls have been relocated to the south transept. Seating with poppy-head bench ends is found in the nave and aisle, and the floors are laid with quarry tiles.

The church was given as a gift by Reverend Henry Batten, curate of St Mary’s, and was built as a proprietary chapel for supporters of the Oxford Movement.