St Paul's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

Rusthall Rusthall is a village located approximately 2 miles to the west of the spa town of Tunbridge Wells in Kent. The village grew up around a large property called "Rusthall" located on Rusthall Common. Rusthall is a modern village, the majori ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

St Paul's Church was built in 1849 on the edge of Rusthall Common by

William Nevill, 4th Earl of Abergavenny William Nevill, 4th Earl of Abergavenny (28 June 1792 – 17 August 1868), styled Hon. William Nevill until 1845, was a British peer and clergyman. The fourth son of Henry Nevill, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny, he was ordained in 1816 and occupied two ...

as part of his Nevill Park Estate. The church was designed by

Henry Isaac Stevens Henry Isaac Stevens FRIBA was an architect based in Derby. He was born in London, in 1806, and died in 1873. In the late 1850s he changed his name to Isaac Henry Stevens. Family His parents were Isaac Stevens and Elizabeth Young. He married An ...

as he was working on another church in nearby

Fordcombe Fordcombe is a village within the civil parish of Penshurst in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The village is located on the northern slopes of the Weald, five miles (8 km) west of Royal Tunbridge Wells. The church, part of a uni ...

. The building was financed by

Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge Field Marshal Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, (30 March 1785 – 24 September 1856) was a British Army officer and politician. After serving in the Peninsular War and the Waterloo Campaign he became Secretary at War in Wellington's ...

because he was aware of Stevens' work in his native

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and wished to support him. Another architect, a local man named N. E. Stevens (no relation), was also involved in the design. The church was built in a 13th-century (

Early English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

) style as part of the

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

movement. It was built out of local sandstone in a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

layout with a flat-roofed tower and belfry. It was then expanded in 1865 with an extra aisle and pews added and connected to the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with a pointed

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

. In 1913 it was expanded again with a

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

porch added on the west side of the church. In 1922, Rusthall's war memorial was constructed outside St Paul's to commemorate soldiers from Rusthall who died in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The church retained a number of its original fixtures including its original font, and as such in 1974 it was granted Grade II listed status. The war memorial and the churchyard wall on which it stands were also listed at Grade II at the same time. The church was seen as a symbol of the wealth of the

borough of Tunbridge Wells The Borough of Tunbridge Wells is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. It takes its name from its main town, Royal Tunbridge Wells. The borough also contains the towns of Paddock Wood and Southborough, along with n ...

as it was described by

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery Abolitionism, abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Nav ...

that: "the churchyard is chockablock with expensive tombstones and memorials".

Additional buildings

As well as St Paul's Church being built, two school buildings were constructed on the site at the same time, although these were later converted into houses. In 1887, to accommodate the village expanding, a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

affiliated to St Paul's Church was built in the middle of Rusthall. This Mission church later became known as St Paul's Church Centre and is used as the

parish hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church architecture, church, generally for community and Charitable organization, charitable use. In smaller and village communities, it is often a separate building near the ...

of St Paul's Church as well as for hosting services, which up until the 1970s were conducted by a

lay reader In Anglicanism, a licensed lay minister (LLM) or lay reader (in some jurisdictions simply reader) is a person authorised by a bishop to lead certain Church service, services of worship (or parts of the service), to preach and to carry out pastoral ...

. It cost £1,000, paid for by Mr J. Stone-Wigg, and was designed by Henry Taylor. The simple brick and tile building has

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s and a

bell-cot A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

on the roof, and was extended in 1908.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rusthall, St Paul's Church Grade II listed churches in Kent Church of England church buildings in Kent Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Kent

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

Diocese of Rochester

History

Additional buildings

See also

References