| Christ Church, Welshpool | |
|---|---|
 Christ Church, Welshpool | |
  Location within Powys | |
| 52°39′34″N3°09′10″W / 52.659554°N 3.152823°W /52.659554; -3.152823 | |
| Location | Welshpool,Powys |
| Country | Wales |
| Denomination | Church in Wales |
| History | |
| Dedication | Christ |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Closed |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 25 April 1950 |
| Architect | Thomas Penson |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Romanesque Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1839 |
| Completed | 1844 |
| Construction cost | £6,000 |
| Closed | 1998 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Welshpool granite |
| Administration | |
| Province | Wales |
| Diocese | St Asaph |
| Archdeaconry | Montgomery |
| Parish | Welshpool St Mary |
Christ Church, Welshpool was commissioned by theEarl of Powis to commemorate his son,Edward James, the Viscount Clive, having come of age. It was designed byThomas Penson and completed 1839–44. The church is characterised by its impressiveRomanesque Revival architecture in volcanicTrachyte from the Earl of Powis' Standard quarry inWelshpool. The church consists of a 7-bay nave with offset west tower, aisles, apse and south porch. The west gable of the nave has a wide doorway with triple arches with chevron moulding, while the tower is supported by massive pilaster buttresses. Christ Church was most noted for its interior decoration, and in particular its early use of terracotta. The church was aChapel of Ease ofWelshpool's St Mary's Church and had a separate endowment. It cost £6000 to build and this was raised by public subscription[1] as well as being supported by the Earl. The congregation of Christ Church dropped dramatically during the twentieth century and in 1998 it was closed and sold in 2002 to Karl Meredith and Natalie Bass who are in the process of restoring the church, partly as a house and partly for community use.[2]
A large Anglo-Norman style church byThomas Penson, 1839–44, and just earlier than his St Agatha,Llanymynech in Shropshire. Nave, North and South aisles, apse, South porch, North-West tower. Exterior very roughly detailed, with huge conical turrets and massive buttressing. Interior of a grand Romanesque kind, with columns with scalloped capitals, a clerestory, si and a flat ceiling.
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In this church moulded yellow bricks andterracotta were used for the Romanesque arches of the nave and for the apsidal vaulting of the ceiling. It is likely that Penson, whose offices were atOswestry was using the experimental terracotta that was being produced at the brickyards connected with the Oswestry Coalfield betweenTrefonen andMorda.[3] Penson also used terracotta forLlanymynech church, St David's ChurchNewtown and the porch atLlangedwyn[4]
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The font is very finely cast in terracotta and is reminiscent ofCoade stone.[5] A similar, but later cast stone font is at Leighton Church, near Welshpool.
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The carved woodwork of the pews is impressive and particularly thearmorial finials of the Earl of Powis’ family pews. These are finer than the similar pew ends in Leighton church.
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The church has an important organ by Gray of 1817.
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The church has some fine decorativeencaustic floor tiles. Some of these were manufactured byMinton, but the source of armorial tiles with the Royal Coats of Arms, the Earls of Powis and the Bishops of St Asaph have not been identified.
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Three apse windows probably by David Evans of 1844, Three windows by A O Hemming of 1892
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Those buried here include judgeWilliam Henry Watson,[6] and members of the family of the Earls of Powis. TheCommonwealth War Graves Commission register and maintain the graves of 12 British service personnel, comprising one officer and four soldiers of the army fromWorld War I, and three army soldiers and one officer and one airman of theRoyal Air Force ofWorld War II; these include two brothers, Viscounts Clive, who were sons of the4th Earl of Powis.[7]
