St John, Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London

From St Peter I walked on to the nearby St John's, where a lunchtime concert was in progress. The cruciform church occupies an island site, and was built 1844-5 by JH Stevens and G Alexander. I was kindly allowed to stand at the back and take some photographs

.

St Peter, Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill, London

The vicar at St Stephen's had mentioned this church had recently undergone a major restoration which he hadn't seen but had heard good reports about. He also knew it would be locked as the interior had been transformed into a theatre with screening for a three-night run beginning that evening. It was. The church was built in 1855-7 to the designs of Thomas Allom, a classical design to fit in with the Italianite Villas he was also building in the area, and thus it is in keeping with its surroundings although being terribly unfashionable at the time.

Notting Hill Community Church, London

In Kensington Park Road I found this church, quite a large cruciform building with some unusual detailing inside to the arcades. It was built for a Rev. Marchmont, a ritualistic CofE clergyman, who was declared bankrupt in 1871. The incomplete building was sold to and completed by a Presbyterian congregation, being known as Trinity Presbyterian Church until 1919. Since then it has been an undenominational church, known also as Peniel Chapel and now with its present name. It was open and in use by two different groups, but people seemed happy for me to look around and take photos. The south aisle and transept have been divided off. How would you describe the style of the arcades? Byzantine?

All Saints, Notting Hill, London

From St Stephen's a five minute walk along Talbot Road brought me to All Saints. By the church Talbot Road has been shut and a pleasant paved area created in recent times. The church was to be the centrepiece of an Ecclesiological College, and its spire to be the tallest in the country. Money ran out and the church left incomplete before being completed in a reduced state in 1861 to serve the growing population. The architect was William White and his work is of real quality - see the detailing around the windows externally. The tower is five staged, and there is the base of its intended spire, which was never finished but did rise a little higher than what is left today. The north aisle has a row of closely set windows which were to be above the cloister walk of the intended college. The interior is different today thanks to a removal (whitewashing) of White's polychrome interior in the 1930s. the blitz of 1940, and after repair a second bombing in 1944 which destroyed the roof and all the glass. Milner and Craze rebuilt the church in 1951. A recent restoration has restored some of the decoration. There are fittings by Martin Travers and by Comper among others, some brought from another church St Columb Notting Hill which is now St Sava's Orthodox church. The best feature for me was the north transept and its rose window; the arcades pass both transepts as if they did not exist, the clerestory above opening into them rather than glazed. The south porch is a shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham.

The church was open under the tower but the screen doors were locked giving a tantalising and frustrating view of the interior. A call to the churchwarden saw her kindly come down to unlock the church for which I am very grateful. She lived a 20 minute journey away.

St Stephen, Westbourne Park, Paddington, London

Thursday saw me with an afternoon free in London. Armed with my travelcard I hopped on a number 36 from Paddington to Westbourne Park Road and St Stephen's church. The church was built in 1855-56 to the designs of F & H Francis. W Bassett Smith did some alterations in c1900 including adding the apse. Pevsner (London 3) says its future is uncertain, but the church has revived from "near dereliction" a few years ago to being a vibrant part of its community. The west door sports a lovely metalwork screen and is now glazed. The porch leads into a community area which occupies the west bay of the nave (gallery above) with further rooms above in the west bays of the aisles. All in all one of the better subdivisions I have seen, with the main vistas left intact. The church is incredibly lofty, and strangely the arcades collide with the west tower's buttresses which suggests the length of the nave was curtailed before the tower was built. Its spire has gone. The interior otherwise rather bare but with some good stained glass, the best imho being in the tower's west window.

St Michael, Tidenham Chase, Gloucestershire

I had stopped here on my way back from Brockweir to Tidenham in the hope of digitalising the interior but found it locked. I had been inside some thirty years ago but now found myself returning again with the keyholder. It is a simple two-celled church by Sidney Gambier Parry, 1888, and largely unaltered inside. The east window's central light has a rather miserable-looking St Michael, almost cartoonlike.

I headed home, having achieved my one objective for the day, and managing to get inside all of the churches I saw, although two needed a return visit.

St Mary, Tidenham, Gloucestershire

And so it came to pass that I returned to the objective for the day out. I parked in the same place I had earlier, and like I had done earlier rang the only contact number on display in the church porch, only this time I had her mobile number as she had suggested she would be home after 4pm. She had also given me the number of the vicar in the hope that I would be more successful via him. All I got earlier was an answerphone si I took up her offer for after 4pm. She was at home but had meantime arranged a home grocery delivery and had to stay in. Now OK I got it, she was really not someone with responsibility for the church, but was the campanolgists' captain, and I suspect she will be removing her notice in the porch appealing for prospective new members to get touch as this notice was the only one with any contact details to be seen. However she did give me two more numbers to ring - the churchwardens. The first was no reply, the second found a lady who's husband had handed back his keys to another chap as he was no longer CW. She did give me this chap's other number and I rang it.

Now I hadn't told you that I had also stopped at nearby Tidenham Chase church and found it locked, but the name I was given by the neighbour matched this one. He agreed to come out to St Mary and open up. He was what we English describe as a character, Blunt by name and nature. Unlike many churchwardens / vergers he was not loquacious, and wasted few words. I was not suire at first how to take him, but in the end I warmed to him and his sense of humour and take on life in general. He was also 86 (or was it 87?) and responsible for all three churches of the parish as verger and churchwarden.

St Mary's is situated on the hillside with fine views over the Severn Estuary. John Norton was the Victorian restorer, and much of the detailing of the church was redone by him or built anew (e.g. the fine porch). So I finally managed to see the fine Norman lead font which is still in use, one of six in Glos made from the same cast. I also spotted an odd and quite small fragment of carving set into the north aisle wall, and often painted over. Two heads of dogs(?) face each other.

Preparing to leave I mentioned Tidenham Chase, and it transpired that Mr Blunt also had the keys with him for that church. So instead of heading home straight away I found myself following this elderly chap who told me it was on his way home anyway and that I might as well see it.

That was however not the end of my contact with Tidenham church as when I got home the other CW who had not been home rang my mobile, concerned that she had missed an important call she had been expecting. We had a very pleasant chat, and I explained about my afternoon and suggested that they needed to consider a keyholder notice and provide access to visitors. It seemed to fall on receptive ears - time will tell although it won't be me that returns.

Moravian Church, Brockweir, Gloucestershire

From St Briavels I dropped down into the Wye Valley and the tiny picturesque settlement of Brockweir. Visible clearly from the welsh side and accessed from there by an iron bridge of 1905, the chapel was built 1832-3 by the Bristol Moravian Congregation. It has a detached Victorian brick schoolroom at the rear. Simplicity itself, yet peaceful and open. Organ on west gallery over the entrance. Here a flask of iced water and a selection of squashes invited the visitor to partake of refreshments. I did, and made a freewill donation to the church.

St Mary, St Briavels, Gloucestershire

Hard by the castle, or what seems to be referred to as a Hunting Lodge by English Heritage. Some Hunting Lodge then with a massive fortified gatehouse.

The church is nowhere as interesting as I remembered it to be, the exterior dominated by a massive south porch tower of 1830-31. A central tower was removed in 1829. Inside the porch a rather unconvincing Norman south doorway. Long nave with a Norman south arcade and an EE north arcade. In the south west corner is a monument with worn effigies and kneeling children, not in its original state having been removed from the chancel (rebuilt in 1867). The font is rather plain but given distinction by a ruff of sixteen projections.

Congregational Chapel, St Briavels, Gloucestershire

A rare sight indeed - a Congregational chapel with its doors open, this one on the main street dropping down through the village towards the church and castle. It dates from 1862, and was built by Terretts of Coleford at a cost of GBP 300. Now carpeted and with comfy chairs and an enclosure around the west door, otherwise nothing much has changed. Small room off to the right.

St Mary Magalene, Hewelsfield, Gloucestershire

From Chepstow I made my first visit of the day to my target church for the day but it was locked (no surprise there then - full story later).

So I made my way to one of my favourite Forest of Dean churches at Hewelsfield, a church I tried out a video camera at before I started to take digital photographs with disasterous results. John Lewis took the camera back and gave me a refund. The church was overdue a digital visit, but although it is a charming church it does not contain a great deal of contents to photograph. Annoyingly for some reason a good third of the photos were out of focus, the reason being twofold I guess - operator error and age of the camera with my reluctance to replace it with something that has so many more buttons and functions that will over-complicate things!

All at Hewelsfield was restored by Butterfield but the arcade, central tower and much of the walls of nave and chancel are Norman Transitional to EE work. The north transept is notably long but contains nothing of interest, its northern end with a stone screen hiding sink and the items needed for flower arranging, together with the vestry.

Chepstow Priory, Monmouthshire

This lovely weather has meant it is difficult to stay at home. Last Thursday (21st April) saw me hop over the Severn Bridge for a small crawl, intent on getting inside one stubborn church, the only medieval one that I have not been inside for miles around, plus two others which I had never stopped at before but Mr Neil had encouraged me to visit through his postings.

 

St Mary at Chepstow is none of these, a church I have been too many times before and one that is usually open. It is not a beautiful church, the rump of an originally larger priory church, interesting though and enlarged in the C19 for the growing town. However this was my first digital visit. The early Norman nave remains stately, although shorn of its aisles and triforium, the arches blocked and/or glazed, and no longer vaulted. The west doorway is an impressive Norman piece, but the tower above is rather pathetic against such a powerful base and dates from 1705-6. It was built after the central tower fell and destroyed the Norman transepts (the choir had been demolished at the Dissolution). The transepts date from 1838-41 and were in a dull routine neo-Norman design and included a chancel in the same style. Oh how this must have been hated as again in 1890 a grand design to replace the crossing and east end and open up the aisles to a restored nave was started. The chancel was done first, then the south transept remodelled and south chapel built a the start of the C20. The scheme was abandoned incomplete so the north transept survives in its 1840 state and the aisles were never rebuilt. The base of the original NW crossing pier survives, a massive piece. There are also two important coloured monuments with effigies, one with the ladies husbands kneeling behind (in south transept) with wall paintings (redone in 1984) of a skeleton and Father Time.