Church of St Mark

Church of St Mark

The church is constructed of brick faced with locally quarried grey-green snecked ashlar, with a medium to steep slate roof feathered out slightly and with oversailing eaves. It follows a rough T-shaped plan, with north and south porches flush with the west wall. The nave roof continues down to serve these porches, giving the west end an almost triangular appearance.

The west end features two tiers of ogee-headed windows, the upper ones separated by a large plain raised cross, all covered by a large gabled canopy with a round-arched soffit carried on massive shaped corbels. Similar asymmetrically-placed windows appear on the nave north and south sides. The porches have gently inclined side walls and deeply chamfered four-centred arched entrances, with plain flat-arched entrances within. The nave's south side has a coped parapet wall at its east end screening external steps down to a boiler room.

Gabled north and south transepts feature shaped kneelers and plain rectangular windows with upper oculus to the gable wall of the south. Chamfered ogee-headed entrances serve their west returns, with that to the south deeply recessed. The entrance to the north transept is angled at its corner with the nave and has a stone roof with stepped access, both featuring ribbed and boarded doors with decorative handles. A two-tier bell-cote with segmental bell opening and smaller decorative round-arched opening above crowns the structure. The flat east end has a wide sweeping gable with inclined side walls, a flat stepped buttress with round-arched lancet within, flanking ogee-headed windows, and a gable light in the apex.

The rendered interior has been repainted, and whilst it does not correspond exactly with Wilson's intended colour-scheme of rich warm red nave walls, blue nave roof and warm cream, almost yellow for the chancel, the spirit of his mixture of strong primary colours has been retained. The nave features a three-bay roof with canted ceiling and tie-beams with plain decorated braces, and a plain plaster cornice.

Art Nouveau north and south doors are each contained within a deep splayed recess with a similar segmental niche above. These doors are of teak and oak inlaid with ebony and abalone shell in a series of ogee-headed chevron motifs. A circular lead font cast at the Central School of Art and Design in London features raised foliate motifs and Christian monograms in eclectic medieval style, mounted on an octagonal column with splayed base. An Arts and Crafts pulpit by Wilson of beaten copper features bunches of grapes in roundels and vulgate texts.

The barrel-vaulted crossing is stepped up from the nave and has a plain plaster cornice returned around the east face of the crossing arch. Large round-arched recesses on the north and south contain access through the west crossing arch pier to the pulpit and northeast through the thickness of wall to the north transept via an angled barrel-vaulted passage.

Chancel stalls of Spanish Chestnut are designed by Wilson and carved by Arthur Grove, with bench-ends featuring zoomorphic carvings. Steps lead up to a groin-vaulted chancel with transepts and an east internal apse. Full-height arched entrances serve the transepts, with the north one containing a plain organ. The south is filled with an oak upper gallery in jettied arrangement with plain panelling beneath, simple flat shaped balusters arranged in four compartments.

Altar rails are stepped up with figurative relief panels and three massive posts to each of the north and south sections, featuring inlaid teak chevrons to the rail face and large elliptical ball finials. A semi-circular flight of steps leads up to the altar. The frontal by Wilson is of cast copper with figurative panels, originally costing £55, and is accompanied by a similar figurative predella. The altar stands within a false apse created from the mass of masonry at the east end. The apse is pierced on both north and south sides by segmental arched passages and by upper angled windows. All east end windows have deep splays, segmental inner arches and geometrically-patterned plain leaded glass.