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St Luke's Church, West Norwood

October 21, 2023

St Luke's Church in West Norwood is an Anglican church that worships in a Grade II* listed building.[1] It stands on a prominent triangular site at the south end of Norwood Road, where the highway forks to become Knights Hill and Norwood High Street.

St Luke's, West Norwood
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipEvangelical
Websitestlukeswestnorwood.wordpress.com
Architecture
Architect(s)Francis Octavius Bedford
Administration
ProvinceCanterbury
DioceseDiocese of Southwark
ArchdeaconryLambeth
DeaneryLambeth South
Clergy
Vicar(s)Rev'd Donald Davis

Parish Edit

When St Luke's church was first built, the area was sparsely populated and mainly comprised meadows cleared from woodland. The relatively few houses included a mixture of modest cottages and villas for the rich. The only significant public buildings at that stage were the Independent (later Congregationalist) chapel in Chapel Road, which was completed in 1821, and a House of Industry for the Infant Poor in Elder Road. An outline of the vast subsequent changes to the locality appears in the article about West Norwood.

During the nineteenth century, a number of new parishes were created that took in parts of the original parish of St Luke's. These were Holy Trinity Tulse Hill, Christ Church Gipsy Hill, Emmanuel West Dulwich, St Peter Streatham and All Saints West Dulwich.

In 1886, the population of St Luke's parish amounted to 10,377 and was served by four clergy. The total (morning and evening) attendance as a proportion of the parochial population at that time stood at 9.1%.[2] In 1901, the population of the parish stood at 16,180, but in the following year, only one clergyman was in post at St Luke's and attendance at services there represented 6.0% of the parochial population.[3]

Based on statistics from the UK census, the Diocese of Southwark estimates the population of St Luke's parish was 15,400 in 2001 and 16,500 in 2011.[4]

Building Edit

St Luke's Church was designed by Francis Octavius Bedford in 1822, as a result of the Church Building Act of 1818, which had been passed in response to the end of the Napoleonic wars and the growing urban population.[5] It is known as a "Commissioners' church" because it received a grant from the Church Building Commission towards the cost of its construction; the church cost £12,947 to build, and the grant was £6,447.[6] It was constructed along with St. Matthew's, Brixton, St. Mark's, Kennington and St. John's, Waterloo Road. These four "Waterloo churches", each dedicated to one of the four authors of gospels of the New Testament, were specified to have 1800-2000 sittings, vaults for burials, be constructed of brick with stone dressing and cost no more than £13,000 each.[7][8]

 
The west face of the Church of Saint Luke

Unusually for a church, it is oriented north–south instead of east–west. This is due to a stipulation in the original planning permission that no building in Lower Norwood should be built within 100 feet of an existing building without the permission of the owner of the other building. An objection from the owner of the Horn's Tavern meant St Luke's had to be built in a north–south orientation to avoid falling within 100 feet of the tavern.[9]

The builder was Mrs Elizabeth Broomfield of Walworth and the foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 14 April 1823. The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester on 25 July 1825.[10] The main front, in a rather simplified version of the Corinthian order, has a stone portico with six fluted columns. A tower rises in three stages from the roof just behind the portico.[10] The church is very similar in appearance to St John's, Waterloo, and to two other churches by the same architect: St George, Wells Way, Camberwell, and Holy Trinity, Trinity Square, Southwark.[11]

At first the building was furnished with box pews, galleries and a triple-decker pulpit,[citation needed] with seating for a total congregation of 1,412.[10] The original design had only provided one gallery, above the entrance, facing the altar. This made it possible to have one row of large windows on each of the long sides of the church rather than two storeys of smaller ones Bedford used in churches with side galleries. However, before the church opened, a decision was made to increase its capacity by installing an extra gallery. To avoid blocking the windows, this was put at the end opposite the entrance, and the altar was placed against one of the long walls, with the pulpit and reading desk against the other.[10][12] Thomas Allen in his History and Antiquities of the Parish of Lambeth (1827) wrote:

Whoever looks at the exterior of this edifice will be greatly disappointed on entering it to find the church has been turned on one side; where he expects to meet with the altar he will find a gallery; if he looks for the pulpit, it meets his eye in an unusual and awkward situation, rendered still more apparent by its relative situation to the altar.[10]

In 1872-3 the building was extensively altered by G E Street, who dramatically rearranged the interior, creating a conventional chancel at the end opposite the entrance, and dividing up the nave with Romanesque arcades supporting a plaster barrel vault.[13] The galleries were removed, reducing the seating by more than half. Over the years, various stained glass windows have also been added.

In 1976 the chancel was divided into an upper and lower hall with toilet and kitchen facilities. The kitchen has since been repositioned to occupy the southwestern area of the building, which had previously been used as a Lady Chapel. In 2005 the pews were replaced by red chairs that are usually arranged to face south.

Churchyard Edit

 
Some of the Grade II listed gate piers around the church

A total of 1,383 people were buried at St Luke's between 1825 and 1894, either in the churchyard or on the vaults under the building. The churchyard has been legally closed, so no further burials may take place there apart from cremated remains.[14]

The northern (i.e. lower level) part of the Churchyard was given to Lambeth Council soon after the Second World War and converted into a memorial garden to remember those who died in that conflict. Lambeth Council has used money from a Section 106 agreement to refurbish these gardens.[15][16][17] This section of the churchyard is used on the first Sunday of most months of the year for selling refreshments in connection with the Norwood Feast.[18]

The original ornate railings around the churchyard were removed as wartime "salvage" and only restored in 2009. The elaborate entrance gates from Knights Hill are still missing. The southern (i.e. upper level) part of the churchyard is still owned by the Church but maintained by Lambeth Council.

Clock Edit

The clock is nationally significant. It was installed by Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy in 1827, costing £357, or 3 per cent of the budget for the whole church. In 1825, Vulliamy had travelled on the Continent, observing developments in technology, and returned to England having established a new way to layout the mechanism of his turret clocks, putting it into practice at St Luke's, which therefore has the first ‘flat-bed’ turret clock in England.[19]

The clock has Vulliamy's design of self-levelling pallets and a 2-second pendulum with a heavy bob. In 1928, the original slate dials were replaced with opal glazed versions, allowing for backlighting. The clock did not work for a number of years but was the subject of a major conservation and repair program, completed in May 2017. The dials were reglazed, and automatic winding fitted. The project was undertaken by the Cumbria Clock Company.

See also Edit

Notes Edit

  1. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1116506)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  2. ^ Cox, Jeffrey (1982). The English Churches in a Secular Society - Lambeth, 1870-1930. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 294. ISBN 0195030192.
  3. ^ Cox, Jeffrey (1982). The English Churches in a Secular Society - Lambeth, 1870-1930. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 286. ISBN 0195030192.
  4. ^ . Church of England. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013.
  5. ^ Gilley, S. Stanley, B., The Cambridge History of Christianity World Christianities c1815-1914, p106, Cambridge University Press, 2007
  6. ^ Port, M. H (2006). 600 New Churches: The Church Building Commission 1818-1856 (2nd ed.). Reading: Spire Books. p. 327. ISBN 978-1-904965-08-4.
  7. ^ Revd F Lambert & K HoldawaySt Luke West Norwood 1825-1975
  8. ^ Series of architectural plans of the Lambeth Waterloo churches Survey of London: volume 26 London County Council, 1956
  9. ^ London County Council, The Survey of London: Volume 26, Lambeth: Southern Area (London: London County Council, 1956) pp.173-80
  10. ^ a b c d e Allen, Thomas (1827). The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Lambeth. London: J. Allen. pp. 430–3.
  11. ^ E.I.C. [Edward John Carlos] (1825). "Architecture of the New Churches". The Every-Day Book.
  12. ^ The axis of the church runs north-south, with the entrance at the north end; in both Bedford's original plans and Street's rearrangement the altar is at the north end, while the initial arrangement had it against the east side See Cherry and Pevsner 1990, pp.335-6.
  13. ^ Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1990) [1983]. London 2: South. The Buildings of England. London: Penguin Books.
  14. ^ . Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  15. ^ Findings of St Luke’s Memorial Garden working group[permanent dead link] Norwood Area Committee, 21 September 2006
  16. ^ Minutes of Norwood Action Group 13 June 2006
  17. ^ "Thread on VirtualNorwood.com Community Forum".
  18. ^ "A volunteer powered street market festival". West Norwood Feast.
  19. ^ Holdaway, K.R. (1974). St Luke, West Norwood. Lambeth.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links Edit

  • British History Online
  • Burials at St Luke's church and churchyard 2 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  • Map of the Parish of West Norwood 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  • Official Church Website

51°25′57″N 0°6′13″W / 51.43250°N 0.10361°W / 51.43250; -0.10361

October 21, 2023
luke, church, west, norwood, luke, church, west, norwood, anglican, church, that, worships, grade, listed, building, stands, prominent, triangular, site, south, norwood, road, where, highway, forks, become, knights, hill, norwood, high, street, luke, west, nor. St Luke s Church in West Norwood is an Anglican church that worships in a Grade II listed building 1 It stands on a prominent triangular site at the south end of Norwood Road where the highway forks to become Knights Hill and Norwood High Street St Luke s West NorwoodDenominationChurch of EnglandChurchmanshipEvangelicalWebsitestlukeswestnorwood wbr wordpress wbr comArchitectureArchitect s Francis Octavius BedfordAdministrationProvinceCanterburyDioceseDiocese of SouthwarkArchdeaconryLambethDeaneryLambeth SouthClergyVicar s Rev d Donald Davis Contents 1 Parish 2 Building 3 Churchyard 4 Clock 5 See also 6 Notes 7 External linksParish EditWhen St Luke s church was first built the area was sparsely populated and mainly comprised meadows cleared from woodland The relatively few houses included a mixture of modest cottages and villas for the rich The only significant public buildings at that stage were the Independent later Congregationalist chapel in Chapel Road which was completed in 1821 and a House of Industry for the Infant Poor in Elder Road An outline of the vast subsequent changes to the locality appears in the article about West Norwood During the nineteenth century a number of new parishes were created that took in parts of the original parish of St Luke s These were Holy Trinity Tulse Hill Christ Church Gipsy Hill Emmanuel West Dulwich St Peter Streatham and All Saints West Dulwich In 1886 the population of St Luke s parish amounted to 10 377 and was served by four clergy The total morning and evening attendance as a proportion of the parochial population at that time stood at 9 1 2 In 1901 the population of the parish stood at 16 180 but in the following year only one clergyman was in post at St Luke s and attendance at services there represented 6 0 of the parochial population 3 Based on statistics from the UK census the Diocese of Southwark estimates the population of St Luke s parish was 15 400 in 2001 and 16 500 in 2011 4 Building EditSt Luke s Church was designed by Francis Octavius Bedford in 1822 as a result of the Church Building Act of 1818 which had been passed in response to the end of the Napoleonic wars and the growing urban population 5 It is known as a Commissioners church because it received a grant from the Church Building Commission towards the cost of its construction the church cost 12 947 to build and the grant was 6 447 6 It was constructed along with St Matthew s Brixton St Mark s Kennington and St John s Waterloo Road These four Waterloo churches each dedicated to one of the four authors of gospels of the New Testament were specified to have 1800 2000 sittings vaults for burials be constructed of brick with stone dressing and cost no more than 13 000 each 7 8 nbsp The west face of the Church of Saint LukeUnusually for a church it is oriented north south instead of east west This is due to a stipulation in the original planning permission that no building in Lower Norwood should be built within 100 feet of an existing building without the permission of the owner of the other building An objection from the owner of the Horn s Tavern meant St Luke s had to be built in a north south orientation to avoid falling within 100 feet of the tavern 9 The builder was Mrs Elizabeth Broomfield of Walworth and the foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 14 April 1823 The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester on 25 July 1825 10 The main front in a rather simplified version of the Corinthian order has a stone portico with six fluted columns A tower rises in three stages from the roof just behind the portico 10 The church is very similar in appearance to St John s Waterloo and to two other churches by the same architect St George Wells Way Camberwell and Holy Trinity Trinity Square Southwark 11 At first the building was furnished with box pews galleries and a triple decker pulpit citation needed with seating for a total congregation of 1 412 10 The original design had only provided one gallery above the entrance facing the altar This made it possible to have one row of large windows on each of the long sides of the church rather than two storeys of smaller ones Bedford used in churches with side galleries However before the church opened a decision was made to increase its capacity by installing an extra gallery To avoid blocking the windows this was put at the end opposite the entrance and the altar was placed against one of the long walls with the pulpit and reading desk against the other 10 12 Thomas Allen in his History and Antiquities of the Parish of Lambeth 1827 wrote Whoever looks at the exterior of this edifice will be greatly disappointed on entering it to find the church has been turned on one side where he expects to meet with the altar he will find a gallery if he looks for the pulpit it meets his eye in an unusual and awkward situation rendered still more apparent by its relative situation to the altar 10 In 1872 3 the building was extensively altered by G E Street who dramatically rearranged the interior creating a conventional chancel at the end opposite the entrance and dividing up the nave with Romanesque arcades supporting a plaster barrel vault 13 The galleries were removed reducing the seating by more than half Over the years various stained glass windows have also been added In 1976 the chancel was divided into an upper and lower hall with toilet and kitchen facilities The kitchen has since been repositioned to occupy the southwestern area of the building which had previously been used as a Lady Chapel In 2005 the pews were replaced by red chairs that are usually arranged to face south Churchyard Edit nbsp Some of the Grade II listed gate piers around the churchA total of 1 383 people were buried at St Luke s between 1825 and 1894 either in the churchyard or on the vaults under the building The churchyard has been legally closed so no further burials may take place there apart from cremated remains 14 The northern i e lower level part of the Churchyard was given to Lambeth Council soon after the Second World War and converted into a memorial garden to remember those who died in that conflict Lambeth Council has used money from a Section 106 agreement to refurbish these gardens 15 16 17 This section of the churchyard is used on the first Sunday of most months of the year for selling refreshments in connection with the Norwood Feast 18 The original ornate railings around the churchyard were removed as wartime salvage and only restored in 2009 The elaborate entrance gates from Knights Hill are still missing The southern i e upper level part of the churchyard is still owned by the Church but maintained by Lambeth Council Clock EditThe clock is nationally significant It was installed by Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy in 1827 costing 357 or 3 per cent of the budget for the whole church In 1825 Vulliamy had travelled on the Continent observing developments in technology and returned to England having established a new way to layout the mechanism of his turret clocks putting it into practice at St Luke s which therefore has the first flat bed turret clock in England 19 The clock has Vulliamy s design of self levelling pallets and a 2 second pendulum with a heavy bob In 1928 the original slate dials were replaced with opal glazed versions allowing for backlighting The clock did not work for a number of years but was the subject of a major conservation and repair program completed in May 2017 The dials were reglazed and automatic winding fitted The project was undertaken by the Cumbria Clock Company See also EditList of Commissioners churches in LondonNotes Edit Historic England Details from listed building database 1116506 National Heritage List for England Retrieved 9 May 2010 Cox Jeffrey 1982 The English Churches in a Secular Society Lambeth 1870 1930 Oxford Oxford University Press p 294 ISBN 0195030192 Cox Jeffrey 1982 The English Churches in a Secular Society Lambeth 1870 1930 Oxford Oxford University Press p 286 ISBN 0195030192 Getting to know your parish Church of England Archived from the original on 24 December 2013 Gilley S Stanley B The Cambridge History of Christianity World Christianities c1815 1914 p106 Cambridge University Press 2007 Port M H 2006 600 New Churches The Church Building Commission 1818 1856 2nd ed Reading Spire Books p 327 ISBN 978 1 904965 08 4 Revd F Lambert amp K HoldawaySt Luke West Norwood 1825 1975 Series of architectural plans of the Lambeth Waterloo churches Survey of London volume 26 London County Council 1956 London County Council The Survey of London Volume 26 Lambeth Southern Area London London County Council 1956 pp 173 80 a b c d e Allen Thomas 1827 The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Lambeth London J Allen pp 430 3 E I C Edward John Carlos 1825 Architecture of the New Churches The Every Day Book The axis of the church runs north south with the entrance at the north end in both Bedford s original plans and Street s rearrangement the altar is at the north end while the initial arrangement had it against the east side See Cherry and Pevsner 1990 pp 335 6 Cherry Bridget Pevsner Nikolaus 1990 1983 London 2 South The Buildings of England London Penguin Books Burials at St Luke s church and churchyard Archived from the original on 2 February 2014 Retrieved 15 July 2013 Findings of St Luke s Memorial Garden working group permanent dead link Norwood Area Committee 21 September 2006 Minutes of Norwood Action Group 13 June 2006 Thread on VirtualNorwood com Community Forum A volunteer powered street market festival West Norwood Feast Holdaway K R 1974 St Luke West Norwood Lambeth a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link External links EditBritish History Online Burials at St Luke s church and churchyard Archived 2 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Map of the Parish of West Norwood Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Official Church Website51 25 57 N 0 6 13 W 51 43250 N 0 10361 W 51 43250 0 10361 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title St Luke 27s Church West Norwood amp oldid 1149204764, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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