Rugby - St Oswald
Not an obvious church to visit, St Oswald's in New Bilton does it's best to blend in amongst the houses on Lawford Road, and being a low brick building without tower or spire it is easily missed. The most visible north elevation has a curiously domestic look to it, the only obviously 'church windows' are those at the east end, and is easily missed in passing. For many years I had little more than such fleeting glimpses of this building, and only rose window aroused my interest, until I noticed the fine windows illuminated from within one night, which suggested something of a light under a bushel....
My first visit was with a friend during a school lunchbreak and unsurprisingly we found it locked, so a year or two later returned by bike, coinciding with the end of the Sunday service and was given a very warm welcome and invited in to look around. The glass was lovely and well worth the wait!
My first visit was with a friend during a school lunchbreak and unsurprisingly we found it locked, so a year or two later returned by bike, coinciding with the end of the Sunday service and was given a very warm welcome and invited in to look around. The glass was lovely and well worth the wait!
The original church was built in 1864 and consisted of the present north aisle, which culminates in the distinctive rose window at the east end. The architect was the renowned George Edmund Street, yet this was very much a humble building on a tight budget and does not relate to his better known works. However the church soon required enlargement and another big name architect, George Frederick Bodley, was brought in to add the present, much larger nave and chancel to the south, relegating Street's church to a side aisle. The option of balancing this with a new south aisle was kept open with an arcade and columns embedded into the very temporary-looking south nave wall.
The interior is light and airy, architecturally plain but enlivened by some attractive furnishings and some good stained glass. Worship has clearly leant towards the High Church Anglican, so much so that one could easily assume this to be a Catholic church judging by it's internal appointments (but this effect may decrease now that the parish has amalgamated with the very Evangelical St Matthew's).
The interior is light and airy, architecturally plain but enlivened by some attractive furnishings and some good stained glass. Worship has clearly leant towards the High Church Anglican, so much so that one could easily assume this to be a Catholic church judging by it's internal appointments (but this effect may decrease now that the parish has amalgamated with the very Evangelical St Matthew's).
My main interest in visiting this church however was the stained glass, which though only found in three of the windows makes a visit here highly rewarding. The earliest piece is the rose window at the east end of the present north aisle (former nave and chancel) with it's seven oculi depicting the Lamb of God surrounded by six half figures of angels. The style and execution is somewhat primitive but it remains a very quirky, attractive piece, apparently designed by the then vicar of nearby Bilton in 1864 (whether he made it himself or which studio might have done this remains a mystery).
The main east window of the church is by Powell's of Whitefriars c1920 and is a fine example of their work, five lights centred on a Crucifixion and Christ in Glory surrounded by saints, angels and swirling foliage against a blue ground. At the base are three panels of a priest and altar servers that were apparently added later in the 1950s, presumably by the same studio as they blend in extremely well.
The finest piece here however is the stunning late Morris & Co glass in the north aisle, very much in the tradition of Burne Jones but actually the work of his successor as the studio's chief designer, John Henry Dearle, from 1922 (also by Dearle for Morris & Co the huge west window of nearby Rugby School Chapel). The Madonna & Child are shown seated centrally with kneeling adoring angels either side, set against a field of lilies. It is a gem of a window, and it's unusual rectangular shape enhances the impression that a painting in jeweled light has been hung on the wall.
The main east window of the church is by Powell's of Whitefriars c1920 and is a fine example of their work, five lights centred on a Crucifixion and Christ in Glory surrounded by saints, angels and swirling foliage against a blue ground. At the base are three panels of a priest and altar servers that were apparently added later in the 1950s, presumably by the same studio as they blend in extremely well.
The finest piece here however is the stunning late Morris & Co glass in the north aisle, very much in the tradition of Burne Jones but actually the work of his successor as the studio's chief designer, John Henry Dearle, from 1922 (also by Dearle for Morris & Co the huge west window of nearby Rugby School Chapel). The Madonna & Child are shown seated centrally with kneeling adoring angels either side, set against a field of lilies. It is a gem of a window, and it's unusual rectangular shape enhances the impression that a painting in jeweled light has been hung on the wall.
The furnishings include a chancel screen designed by Bodley in 1900 crowned by a coloured Crucifixion group, but far more impressive is a second cavalry group at the west end, this time in unpainted wood and on a far larger scale; this was the Crucifixion that formerly crowned the chancel 'rood' screen at George Gilbert Scott's majestic Holy Trinity Church in Clifton Road, Rugby, a stunning building I remember well, which was tragically demolished in 1983. The screen it once crowned is now at the west end of All Saints, Leamington Spa, where the former church's organ can also be found. Initially it was installed in the last bay of the nave on the north side facing the organ (where I first saw it in the 1990s), now it has been moved further into the church and mounted on a new partition wall where it can be more easily seen. The Holy Trinity Crucifixion is a magnificent piece of late Victorian church art, and though it seems somewhat overlarge for this church it can at least now be studied in detail at ground level. The parish is to be highly commended for giving it a home.
Around the church are various devotional figures and a fine set of stations of the cross, carved and painted in very low relief in the 1940s. Nobody knows who the artist of these panels was, so if anyone has any information on this the church will be pleased to know.
Around the church are various devotional figures and a fine set of stations of the cross, carved and painted in very low relief in the 1940s. Nobody knows who the artist of these panels was, so if anyone has any information on this the church will be pleased to know.
St Oswald's more recently was threatened with closure but opted instead for unification with the nearby parish of St Matthew's, a thriving Evangelical congregation closer to the town centre. Following their decision to close their church building in 2011 St Oswald's has become the main focus of worship, and there may yet be further alterations and extensions to the building as a result.
The church is normally kept locked so visitors will have to either make an appointment with the parish to see the interior or attend a service here. I have found them to be a very welcoming parish on both my visits, following morning mass and on Heritage Weekend open days.
Aidan McRae Thomson 2012
The church is normally kept locked so visitors will have to either make an appointment with the parish to see the interior or attend a service here. I have found them to be a very welcoming parish on both my visits, following morning mass and on Heritage Weekend open days.
Aidan McRae Thomson 2012