Church of St Paul

The Church of St Paul is a church dating from 1854, with subsequent alterations. It was designed by William Butterfield, commissioned by the 7th Viscount Downe, and built by Charles Ward of Lincoln. The church is constructed of pinkish-red brick in English bond, with ashlar dressings and a grey slate roof. It comprises a four-bay aisled nave incorporating a south-west porch and a three-stage north-west bell tower, a two-bay chancel with a single-bay south chapel and a two-bay north vestry. The architectural style is Aesthetic Functionalism.

The south porch entrance features a pointed, chamfered archway under a hoodmould, leading to a plank door in a double-chamfered surround. A further north entrance is at the base of the tower, with a plank door within a pointed surround under a pointed ashlar arch. The bell tower has a gabled stair turret to the west side, with slit windows and twin-light bell openings with Geometrical-type tracery to the narrower third stage. It is topped with cogged eaves and a pyramidal roof. A four-light pointed west window features intersecting tracery. The aisles have triple-stepped cusped lancet windows within ashlar surrounds. A stepped external chimney is located in the third bay of the south aisle, which has been lowered. The chancel’s south side and north vestry feature two-light mullion casement windows; the east end of the vestry has a two-light Geometrical-type window. The east window is of three lights with Geometrical-type tracery within a pointed ashlar surround, and the roofline sweeps in two levels.

The interior retains much of its original design and features. The nave has a pointed arcade on cylindrical piers, with moulded capitals and bases. A double-chamfered pointed chancel arch rests on a corbelled soffit moulding. A pointed piscina is also present, alongside Minton floor tiles. Contemporary pews are complemented by a painted screen to the south chapel, an organ, an octagonal pulpit, and an octagonal font. A mosaic reredos was restored in 1970, and some windows contain stained glass.

The church was conceived as a group with The Red House and Hensall Primary School, sharing similar architectural elements with other buildings at Cowick and Pollington.