St George's Church is an

Anglican church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

of modern design in the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

Letchworth Garden City Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

in Hertfordshire. Opening in 1964 and arrow-shaped with a 120-foot concrete spire, the congregation are seated in a semi-circle facing the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

. The church building is in the style of the

Liturgical Movement The Liturgical Movement was a 19th-century and 20th-century movement of scholarship for the reform of worship. It began in the Catholic Church and spread to many other Christian churches including the Anglican Communion, Lutheran and some other Pro ...

following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It was Grade II listed in 2015 for "its striking architectural form, expressed through a diverse range of materials to provide an innovative building of real quality both in composition and detailing."Church of St George with garden walls, steps and three concrete benches
-

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

website

History

For about 850 years the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

for the village of

was the Church of St Nicholas, but as more and more houses were built in the area and Norton gradually became a suburb of Letchworth the need for a larger church in the area became apparent and a design for a large Gothic style church and hall were put forward. However, only the hall was built, opening in 1915 and being used for worship for about 50 years. After

the nearby Grange Estate was built and the need for a new church became even more pressing. From 1955 to the early 1960s local people regularly contributed towards the cost of building a new church.History of St George's Church - The Parish of Norton, Letchworth Garden City website
/ref>Giles, Deborah, St George’s Church, Parish of Norton, Letchworth Garden City, (2003)

Design

St George's church was built to the design of the architect Peter Bosanquet (1918-2005) of

Brett, Boyd and Bosanquet Brett, Boyd and Bosanquet were a partnership of British architects, known particularly for their post-war church designs in southern England. The founders were Lionel Brett (1963–2004), Kenneth Boyd and Peter Bosanquet (died 2005). Brett and B ...

architects. Bosanquet also designed much of the church's furniture and fittings, including the pews, which were crafted from African utile wood. The church is considered to be Bosanquet’s "most innovative and successful design." In addition, he designed the

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

s’ wands, all the candle holders and stands and the hymn board, which were made at the nearby Norton School. The fibreglass sculpture of Christ suspended over the altar was designed by the sculptor Harry R Phillips (1911-1976) and was intended to represent the Resurrection and the Ascension. Building work on the triangular piece of land began in August 1962 with the firm of J T Openshaw Ltd of Letchworth as the main contractors; the final cost was £46,000. The foundation stone was laid by John Trillo, the

Bishop of Bedford The Bishop of Bedford is an episcopal title used by a Church of England suffragan bishop who, under the direction of the Diocesan Bishop of St Albans, oversees 150 parishes in Luton and Bedfordshire. The title, which takes its name after the to ...

on 27 April 1963, with the church being consecrated on 27 July 1964 by

Michael Gresford Jones Edward Michael Gresford Jones (called Michael; 21 October 19017 March 1982) was a Church of England bishop. He was the son of Herbert Gresford Jones who was also a bishop. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge and ...

Bishop of St Albans The Bishop of St Albans is the Ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. The bishop is supported in his work by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Hertford and the Bishop of Bedford, and three ar ...

. The church "is unconventional in its form, with an arrow-shaped plan and fan-shaped seating arrangement focusing on a forward altar and communion rail at the north-east end" which enables the entire congregation to have an uninterrupted view. The use of unadorned concrete and natural wood were intended as a reminder of the simplicity and poverty of the life of Christ. The circular black concrete font is placed around the only pillar in the church, to symbolise that as the pillar physically supports the church so does

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

support the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

wrote of the church:

"An ingenious and impressive design, well fitted to its corner site. The large sweeping roof continues the vernacular spirit of the early houses. Only the exterior textures are a little disappointing. Particularly notable is the integration of structure and fittings. The tall concrete spire, formed of two sides of a triangle, shelters a roof light, and penetrates through the roof to serve as a backdrop for altar and crucifix. The roof is supported at the w(est) end by a concrete pier, around which is the font, like a large shaft ring. The w(est) entrance is neatly contrived beneath the organ gallery."''The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire''

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
(revised by Bridget Cherry),
Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...
(2002) -
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
pg 229

Set into the mosaic floor beneath the font is a Roman tile from

St Albans Cathedral St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

to mark the connection between the Cathedral and the parish church.

Gallery

File:St Georges Letchworth Christ.jpg, Statue of the Risen Christ above the altar File:St Georges Letchworth Choir.jpg, The organ and choir File:St Georges Letchworth Lady Chapel.JPG, The Lady Chapel File:St Georges Letchworth Madonna and Child.JPG, The wooden Madonna and Child

Sources

*Lever, J., Powers, A., Stamp, G., ''Twentieth Century Architecture 3 - The Twentieth Century Church'', (1998) *

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

, N, Cherry, B, ''The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire'', (1977), pg. 43 *Giles, Deborah, ''St George’s Church, Parish of Norton, Letchworth Garden City'', (2003) *Tompkins, Susan, ''Visiting an Anglican Church'', Lutterworth Educational, (1981)

References

External links

St George's on the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation websiteSt George's - Hertfordshire Churches in PhotographsSt George's on the Modernism in Metroland website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Church, Letchworth

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

History of Hertfordshire Churches in Hertfordshire Saint George's Church, Letchworth Letchworth Buildings and structures in Letchworth