Christ Church, Totland is a
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, ...
in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
located in
Totland
Totland is a village, civil parish and electoral ward on the Isle of Wight. Besides the village of Totland, the civil parish comprises the western tip of the Isle of Wight, and includes The Needles, Tennyson Down and the hamlet of Middleton.
The ...
,
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
.
History
The church dates from 1875 and was designed by the architects
Habershon and Pite.
[The Buildings of England, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. ]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 ...
In 1869 a temporary church of wood was erected opposite the present church. This was re-erected on Totland beach where it served as a village reading room and library and subsequently as an annex to the Totland Bay hotel. The current church was finished and consecrated in 1875. The extension was built in 1905.
The lych-gate was built in 1906. It is not in alignment with the church (as is normal with such structures) as it was built with the assumption there would be a further extension to the church (which was never built) to bring it into alignment. The wood used reputedly came from
H.M.S. ''Thunderer'', which fought at the
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
.
Organ
The pipe organ dates from 1911 by the builder
Norman and Beard
Norman and Beard were a pipe organ manufacturer based in Norwich from 1887 to 1916.
History
The origins of the company are from a business founded in Diss in 1870 by Ernest William Norman (1851–1927). In 1876 he moved to Norwich where he wen ...
. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Totland, Christ Church
Church of England church buildings on the Isle of Wight