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, ...

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

parish church in Preston,

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority, borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the Engli ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. It was designed by

Nugent 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 in 1938–39.

History

With the expansion of the hamlet of Preston into a suburb of Paignton during the late 19th-century and early 20th-century, a mission room was first established around 1904. A temporary church dedicated to St Paul was then erected in 1909 as 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 ...

to Christ Church, with accommodation for 200 persons. As additional church accommodation was soon required, a second temporary church was erected adjacent to the other in 1912, with accommodation for 350 people. By 1937, the parish of Christ Church had a population of over 8,000, which was forecast to increase in the following years. With support from the Christ Church Parochial Church Council and the

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...

, Rev. A. Harrington, the vicar of Christ Church, launched an appeal to raise £10,000 for a new, permanent church to be built. £4,600 had already been raised over previous years towards such a building. In October 1937,

was hired to design a church capable of accommodating up to 450 persons. Messrs. Wippell of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

were later hired as the builders and construction began on 31 October 1938. The original intention was to build the nave, chancel and lower part of the tower, omitting the upper part of the tower and a chapel until more funds were raised. By the time construction began, a sum of £8,214 had been achieved and a loan of £2,000 received. The foundation stone was laid by Dame Violet Wills of Haytor, in the presence of the Bishop of Exeter, on 14 January 1939. In May 1939, the Parochial Church Council unanimously decided to complete the entire church under their contract with Messrs. Wippell. Funds continued to be raised and a revised plan for the tower was submitted by Cachemaille-Day in June 1939. The completed church, which cost £12,500 to build, was consecrated by the Bishop of Exeter, the Right Rev.

Charles Curzon Charles Edward Curzon (15 April 1878, in Kensington – 1954) was an Anglican bishop, the 6th Bishop of Stepney from 1928 until 1936 when he was appointed Bishop of Exeter. He educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Christ's College, Cam ...

, on 9 December 1939. St Paul's was later made its own parish in 1948. A church hall was built adjacent to St Paul's in 1969. In 2002, St Paul's and Christ Church were united as a joint benefice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Paul's Church, Preston, Paignton Buildings and structures in Paignton

Churches completed in 1939 Nugent Cachemaille-Day buildings