St. Alban's Church,

Swaythling Swaythling is a suburb and electoral ward of the city of Southampton in Hampshire, England. The ward has a population of 13,664. Swaythling is predominantly residential in character, and noted for its large student population due to its proxi ...

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, stands on Tulip Road, just off the main Burgess Road. The church, and its associated hall, 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, H ...

Creation of the parish

The Parish of St. Alban was formed at the beginning of 1932, mainly out of the South Stoneham Parish, but at that time there was no St. Alban's church, only a site on which to build it. The land had been part of Swaythling Farm and had been acquired through the foresight of the then Archdeacon of Winchester (Ven. A. E. Daldy). Until the new church was ready worship in the new parish took place in St. Agnes Church, from 1905 to 1933, on Portswood Road and in the Burgess Road Mission which until then had been in Highfield Parish (latterly known as St. Alban's Mission). St. Alban's Church was completed in 1933. The site was large enough for not only for the church but for the vicarage and large halls; the importance of the grouping of the buildings means that they are collectively listed as Grade II on the

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list of protected buildings.

Architecture

St. Alban's Church was one of the first to be designed by the noted architect

Nugent Francis Cachemaille-Day Nugent Francis Cachemaille-Day (1896–1976), often referred to as NF Cachemaille-Day, was an English architect who designed some of the most "revolutionary" 20th-century churches in the country. His Church of St Nicholas, Burnage has been c ...

and built by the Southampton builders GE Prince & Sons. A "big

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 ...

church with (a) low, broad central tower,"The Buildings of England: Hampshire, page 574 it is on the Latin Cross plan and is late Gothic in style. The traditional outward appearance of the church contains a "spacious and well shaped interior", with a centralised altar that Pevsner described as "original and innovative". The east end of the church which would normally have formed the chancel was used as a

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

, while the main altar is sited under the central tower much closer to the congregation - now a common arrangement but present at St. Alban's from the first. Space for a choir, which in churches at this time was generally seated between the congregation and the altar, was to be provided in a western gallery which was never completed due to a lack of funding. St. Alban's was one of the first churches Cachemaille-Day designed and it shows the architect's early exploration of the logic 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 ...

which would come to a fuller expression in the more obviously radical designs of later churches, for example St. Michael's, Northenden. The east window is by

Christopher Webb Christopher Rahere Webb (1886–1966) was an English stained glass designer. His unusual second name was derived from that of the founder of St Bartholomew's Priory in London where his father, Edward Alfred Webb and his uncle, Sir Aston We ...

(1886–1966), one of the most important stained-glass artists of the mid twentieth century, whose other work in Hampshire includes the east window of the Bishop's Chapel at

Wolvesey Palace Wolvesey Palace is the residence of the Bishop of Winchester, located in Winchester, England. The bishops had previously lived in the adjacent Wolvesey Castle. Background The site of Wolvesey has been the home of the Bishop of Winchester sin ...

. The main figures in the window represent

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

flanked on the left by

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and

St. Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church i ...

, and on the right by

St. Alban Saint Alban (; ) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded at an earl ...

and St. Wilfrid. The glass was the gift of Mrs F. Watkins in memory of her husband.

Clergy

''Vicars of St. Alban's'' 1932–1946 The Revd Harold Bennett 1946–1967 The Revd Howard Rees-Jones 1968–1976 The Revd Kenneth Bachell 1976–1988 The Revd Frank Chivers 1988–1991 The Revd John Moore (Priest-in-Charge) In 1992 the parishes of St Alban's and St Mary's were united as Swaythling Parish. ''Vicars of Swaythling'' 1992–1999 The Revd John Moore 2000-2013 The Revd Canon Gary Philbrick 2014–Present The Revd Peter Dockree

Notes

References

Pevsner, N. and Lloyd, D., ''The Buildings of England: Hampshire and The Isle of Wight'' (1973)

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

External links

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St Alban's on achurchnearyou.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Albans Church, Southampton 20th-century Church of England church buildings Churches completed in 1933 Churches in Southampton Church of England church buildings in Hampshire Grade II listed churches in Hampshire Nugent Cachemaille-Day buildings Christian organizations established in 1932