Christ Church

Christ Church

This church was built between 1839 and 1844 to designs by Thomas Penson. The laying of the foundation stone marked the coming of age of Edward James, Viscount Clive. The building stands as a remarkable example of Romanesque revival architecture and is of particular historical interest for its association with Powis Castle.

The exterior is constructed of well-coursed and squared Welshpool limestone with ashlar dressings and a slate roof. The plan comprises a nave with a west tower offset to the north, lean-to aisles, and an apse. The west gable of the nave features a wide doorway of triple arches with chevron moulding and stepped voussoirs, fitted with studded plank doors hung on wrought-iron strap hinges. Above this sits a triple window with a moulded cornice band.

The tower is positioned to the west of the north aisle and is clasped by massive pilaster buttresses, with a circular stair turret forming the northwest angle. It rises in four stages: the lower stage has paired splayed windows, above which is a single window with chevron moulding, and higher still a circular window in a diamond panel, possibly intended to house a clock. The bell-chamber lights are paired with chevron moulding, and the parapet is carried on moulded corbels.

The seven-bay nave is articulated at clerestory level by plain pilasters, with heavy pilaster-turrets flanking the west gable. Round-arched windows are set in splayed architraves with heavy chevron moulding and voussoir heads. An unmoulded block eaves cornice runs throughout. Similar windows appear in the westernmost bay of the nave and in the three western bays of the lean-to south aisle.

A long transeptual porch on the south has a steep gable between turret pilasters at its angles, with shallow pyramidal heads and stressed voussoirs to the outer arch of the doorway. The doors are studded plank with wrought-iron hinges. The two easternmost bays of the south aisle, which house the Powis family pew, are emphasised by the use of red sandstone for the windows. These have roll-moulded arches with incised chevron decoration in an outer band and engaged shafts as pilasters. The north aisle is similarly detailed and features a transeptual organ chamber balancing the south porch.

The apsidal chancel is articulated as three bays by heavy pilasters with chevron moulding to windows set on two levels. The east gable of the nave is clasped by pilaster turrets crowned with conical spirelets.

The interior of the nave is defined by an arcade of six bays with cylindrical shafts bearing scallop capitals and supporting heavily ornamented terracotta arches. A terracotta arch springs the west tower from corbels, further enriched with rosettes and shells on the underside. A west gallery features blind arcaded panelling. The clerestory alternates simple round-arched windows with blind round-arched panels. A flat panelled ceiling covers the nave and aisles.

The southeast end of the south aisle contains the Powis family pew, distinguished by a richer architectural scheme. Windows have engaged shafts and chevron moulding over cushion capitals. The chancel arch has clustered shafts with Celtic knotwork designs in the capitals; the terracotta arch is enriched as the west tower arch. Single wall-shafts carry the billet-moulded terracotta ribs of the apse vaulting.

The apse features a wall arcade and triforium in stone. The wall-arcading displays chevron moulding and knotwork capitals, while the triforium has enriched interlace arcading. The clerestory windows of the apse have free-standing shafts with knotwork capitals and chevron and billet moulding to the arches. The floor is laid with encaustic tiles.

The contemporary furnishings are exceptionally complete and include all benches with stylised poppy-head bench ends. The choir stall bench ends are further enriched with Powis family emblems and Evangelist symbols. The pulpit, positioned to the north of the chancel arch, is constructed of stone with round-arched arcading. The font at the west end of the nave is cast stone with a heavily ornamented scallop basin on a cylindrical shaft enriched with chevron moulding and mounted on coloured tiles.

The stained glass includes highly coloured pictorial glass by David Evans in the apse windows, dated 1844. Neo-classical pictorial windows in the Powis pew in the south aisle commemorate dates of 1916 and 1931. Emblematic glass appears in the west end, some south aisle and clerestory windows. Two windows to the west of the north aisle are dated 1892.

The church, with all its contemporary fittings intact, represents a remarkably thorough exercise in Romanesque revival architecture.