DESIGNS FOR COUNTRY CHURCHES. BY GEORGE TRUEFITT, ARCHITECT, JHrmbrr of tfje ©ttlesiologital S>orirtj). LONDON : JOSEPH MASTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET, AND 78, NEW BOND STREET, MANCHESTER: SIMMS AND DINHAM. MDCCCL. LONDON : PRINTED BY JOSEPH MASTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET. THE VERY REVEREND G, H. BOWERS, D.D. DEAN OF MANCHESTER, ETC. ETC. ETC. THE FOLLOWING WORK IS INSCRIBED BY HIS FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT SERVANT, GEORGE TRUEFITT. PREFACE. As the present work appeals principally to the eye, being composed of sketches, it may at first sight hardly seem to require a preface ; but being intended to illustrate attempts at design, some explanation may be permitted with reference to its pretensions and the motives for submitting it to the Public ; and for this purpose, a cursory retrospective glance at the rise and progress of the revival of the taste for Pointed Architecture in this country appears necessary. The reaction in favour of the style that is now almost invariably adopted in our Ecclesiastical buildings may be traced, to a considerable extent in the first instance, to the spirited publication of a few such serials as "Britton's Cathedrals," " Pugin's Examples," &c. These important works, being richly edited and containing accurate delineations of some of the most beautiful specimens of English mediaeval art, were conse- quently well calculated to have a powerful influence over the public taste at a period when apathetic ignorance seems to have been the leading- characteristic of all connected with the development of Church Archi- tecture. They were followed by others of a similar antiquarian character ; and the demand for illustrated information on the subject gradually 6 increasing, many first-rate examples were engraved and laid before the Public. The consequence was, that after some time a strong desire for practical imitation sprung up, and the favour with which the Heathen Temple had been hitherto received as a model for the Christian Church sensibly diminished. The reaction still steadily progressing, an attempt to respond to it was found necessary by the Architects of the day ; and numerous designs, in which pointed arches and pinnacles appeared as leading features, were accordingly prepared and carried into execution. Public taste, however, in due time improving, the worthlessness of these first productions became evident, and the members of the profession then began to perceive, that while utter ignorance prevailed as to the principles of the style in which they were called upon to design, their only chance of avoiding failure lay in a servile repetition of examples already in existence : this plan was accordingly introduced and by degrees adopted as a general rule. Books of examples appeared in rapid succession, and " Authority" having taken the place of " Originality," Church Architec- ture and " Copyism" became synonymous terms. The period for a more correct knowledge of the groundwork of the art was nevertheless gradually arriving, and the publication of the " Glossary," with the works of Messrs. Rickman, Bloxam, and a few others, considerably hastened its approach : a comparatively correct classification of the various gradations of style was obtained, and the chief chronological difficulties were overcome ; but one great obstacle still existed, and it is to the publication of the excellent practical rules and correct advice of the Cambridge Camden (now the Ecclesiological) Society, and of the " True Principles of Christian Architecture," by Mr. A. W. Pugin, that we are chiefly indebted for its removal. These works at once gave the clue to the real spirit of the style, and in a great measure cleared up the mystery that had so long attended it. Much additional critical information and many admirable illus- trations have since been laid before the public, for the most part by 7 members of the profession, and the opportunities of obtaining a correct knowledge of the principles and practice of Pointed Architecture having increased in every direction, the result has been, that within the last few years many original conceptions have been most successfully carried out. Such appears to be the present position of the art in England. A reasonable anticipation may therefore be indulged in, that the period is now drawing near when nothing but design in its strictest sense will be admitted in any of our modern Ecclesiastical buildings. In the mean time however, the degrading epithet " Copyist," is suffered to remain in full force, and such being the case, it cannot but be desirable that every architect should do his best towards relieving the profession as soon as possible from the stigma conveyed by such a term. It is with these feelings, and an earnest desire that such attention may be speedily drawn to this point as will lead to its satisfactory and permanent settlement, that the present sketches for " Country Churches" have been made. They cannot pretend to be elaborate studies, being for the most part designed in perspective on the stones from which they are printed; neither are they put forward as models for indiscriminate imitation, being generally conceived with reference to specific though imaginary varieties of site : they merely profess to be attempts to think in " Gothic," exclusive of actual authority, and as such their Author trusts that they may be favourably received. GEORGE TRUEFITT. 6, Bloomsbury Square, May, 1850. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. Temporary Churches are often required; they should however not only contain the requisite number of sittings, but be made as Ecclesiastical as possible in appearance. Design No. 1 is for a Church of this description; it consists of a Chancel, Nave, Vestry, and North Porch, opening from the West, to be constructed entirely of wood and plaister, as in " half-timbered" houses, the roofs to be covered with thatch or reeds. It should be borne in mind that the materials are to be re-used elsewhere. The scanty population of a small country village only requires for its Church accommodation a Chancel, Nave, and Vestry, with some place for hanging the bells, as in Design No. 2. If there be both North and South Doorways to Nave, and only one Porch is to be erected, it should be placed on the North side, the colder of the two. In this sketch, the small Tower with its shingle roof is supported internally on Arches, springing from corbels in the South and West walls, on to a Column, the position of which is shown in the plan. No. 3 is for rather a larger Church, it has a Chancel, Nave, North and South Porches, with Vestry and North Tower ; the latter to contain the children and organ. The flag-staff has a definite purpose in the design, being invisible in the distant perspective, but giving apparent height and carrying the eye up to a satisfactory termination on approaching nearer to the building. A Church with Chancel, Nave, Vestry, and Octagonal Lantern over East end of Nave, is shown in Design No. 4, a single Bell is in the Western gable ; the Vestry in this case is sketched on the South side. This design is arranged for a site in which trees are principal features, the finish to Tower or Lantern under such circumstances should not be too high. 10 Churches should always be designed to suit the spot where they are to be erected. No. 5 is supposed to be on a slope, so that on the North side the floor of the Church is about level with the ground, hut on the South, as shown in the view, the entrance is up steps externally — instead of internally. This design consists of a Chancel, Nave, Transepts, Vestry, and Aisle to South Transept, a turret for one Bell is placed at angle of South Transept. N.B. An archway should have been shown on plan in the Western wall of Aisle. No. 6 is designed for a small Church to be built of flint with stone dressings, and as the colour of slate would hardly form a sufficient contrast with the general tint of such a building, it is supposed to be covered with plain and cut tiles. The chimney that is required for the Vestry fire-place in a modern Church should never be concealed — or rather attempted to be concealed — but should from the first be duly considered by the Architect, as a necessary feature in the design, and treated accordingly. No. 7 is very simple, consisting of a Chancel and Nave, with plain Western Tower and wooden South Porch. A Church Tower should always have a decidedly solid appearance, as no amount of decoration can ever make it look well, if meagre in general outline. It may be well to remark here, that one of the principal errors in modern Churches seems to be, that they are almost always designed with over large belfry windows, the result of which disproportion is, that the Towers appear much smaller than they really are : these features should never be made larger than is absolutely necessary for their object, viz., the effectual transmission of the sound of the bells. Pointed Architecture is especially capable of being adapted to sites involving apparent natural difficulties ; No. 8, for instance, shows a Church supposed to be erected on a confined piece of ground, with a stream running in front of it, under such circumstances it seems desirable to take advantage of the restriction in preference to diverting the stream and levelling the ground ; such varieties in the site should indeed hardly be considered in the light of difficulties, for when properly treated they may always be made to add picturesque individuality to a design. No. 9 is for a Church with Chancel, Nave, Aisles, Vestry and Tower, with Broach Spire at West end of South Aisle. The sky-line of a Tower and Spire should be " cut up" as little as possible, for in this country the atmosphere is rarely sufficiently clear to admit of our seeing from a distance much of the external detail of a design, the outline therefore is of the utmost importance. Lucarnes should be small, so as to project but little from the face of the work, for if they are made at all prominent, the sph'e from a little distance will have a broken appearance, and look almost as if surrounded by scaffolding. The entasis of a spire should never be perceptible. No. 10 is a small cross Church without Aisles, a Bell Turret is shown to Western gable of Nave, the Vestry is on the North side ; it is supposed to be arranged for a site either at the foot of a hill or where there are lofty trees in its immediate vicinity. In such a situation, an Architect should carefully avoid entering into what cannot fail to prove an unsuccessful competition with Nature, he should on the contrary aim at contrast, and instead of attempting to give his building an aspiring 11 character, he should rather make it appear broad and massive, and endeavour to give it an air of quiet repose. A Chancel and Nave under one roof is shown in No. 11. The Bell Turret at South-West angle is supported on buttresses, the Porch also forming part of the composition. Rain water pipes always look best if brought away from the angles, and as no useful feature should be left unstudied in Pointed Architecture, a pipe, with head, shoe, and straps, is introduced in this sketch, and endeavoured to be made ornamental. No. 12 is for a cross Church with lofty central Tower and Spire, the latter to be of wood and covered— like the other roofs— with plain and cut slates. No. 13 shows a design for a Church, consisting of Chancel with Aisles, Nave and Aisles, Vestry, North and South Porches, and Western Turret for two Bells. Although a larger it is, perhaps, a more simple Church than any of the former. The Nave and Aisles are under one roof, and the Chancel with its Aisles forms three gables at the East end ; it is designed for a site similar to that for No. 10. In No. 14 the Tower, South of Nave, is intended to be used as a Vestry. The rough arch above belfry windows causes, it will be observed, a slight break in the parapet, this it was not perceived it would do, until the drawing was nearly completed. When such a thing occurs, as will sometimes be the case in the carrying out of a building, a straightforward endeavour to work the accident into the design, seems preferable to any patched attempt at unnatural concealment. No. 15 is a sketch for a Chancel with South Aisle and North Vestry under one roof, and a Nave with North Tower ; the latter being square on the ground plan, but breaking by degrees externally into an octagon, and finally being crowned with a low spire. The peculiarities of No. 1 6 consist chiefly in the arrangement proposed for hanging the hells ; there would be no tower, or turret, but the Nave roof would be boarded at the collar beams, and the bell or bells would be placed at the West end of the space thus enclosed. The introduction of a couple of dormers, and an opening in the gable, as shown, would allow of a proper transmission of sound. No. 17 consists of a Chancel, Nave, and Aisles, South Porch and North Vestry, with a Western Tower which has its staircase turret at the South-East angle, and is carried up above the parapet. When a Tower — as in this case — has buttresses, they should be broad and project well, for the most massive structure may be rendered absolutely weak in appearance by the use of meagre ill designed ones. No. 18 is a design for a small Church having a Chancel, Nave, Vestry, and Porch, with a gabled Turret for three bells at the West end. Stone and flint are supposed to be used in its construction. 1-2 If in a country town with an increasing population, anew Church is required, and sufficient funds are not collected for the erection of a building containing all the accommodation that it seems probable will ultimately be needed, a design may be made that will admit of gradual development. No. 19 may serve to illustrate this. The Chancel with its Aisles may be first completed — the arches towards the Nave being blocked up for the time — afterwards the Tower up to the belfry windows, may be built with part or the whole of the Nave, its intended aisle windows being inserted in the arches which would of course be temporarily filled in ; then the Nave Aisles may be added, and finally the erection of the upper part of the Tower, and the Spire would complete the design. No. 20 is a sketch for a Church with Chancel, Nave, Vestry, and Western Tower. In this design the angles of the octagonal spire, are alternately over the centres of the belfry windows and opposite the angles of the tower ; another feature of the design is, that instead of corbelling from the square to the octagon inside the tower, the set-offs are all external, thus allowing the angles of the spire to be clearly seen between the pinnacles. 4 N K V E CHANCl — tn.