Draft Features of St Paul’s Church

St Paul's Church is a red sandstone building constructed in Gothic style and is a Grade II listed building because it has architectural merit worth preserving. The stone may be from Woolton Quarry but that cannot be confirmed.

THE TOWER

The tower has a slate roof in the form of a pyramid and with a window on each side roof, there are also louvered windows around the bell chamber in which the St William bell hangs – it was named after the benefactor William Leeming.. Below the louvered windows are narrow vertical windows; and below these are three irregularly placed windows supplying light to the choir staircase. A side door gives access to the nave and choir.

The picture on the right, showing the tower and the two entrances was taken from the Town Row end of the church on a dull day towards the end of January.

THE CHURCH FAÇADE

There is a statue of St Paul in a space above the small buttress in between the two doorways and above the statue is the main feature of the front four windows which give light to both choir and nave. At the peak of the south facade is a small, arched window.

THE BAPTISTRY

The octagonal room with windows is to the left of the interior church narthex, whilst this was the original location for the Baptistry, it now houses the Mart.

Showing way out from the church into the narthex and the choir loft above

THE ENTRANCE

This area - the narthex - is screened-off with wood panelling and engraved glass which has the twin advantages of helping to keep the heat in and the outside noises out. Its ceiling is the floor of the choir, above. The Holy water fonts are placed inside the two entrance doors.

THE NAVE AND AISLES

The Nave is some 54 feet long and 24ft wide and is separated from the side aisles by four arches and three pillars, each of which is crowned with a Bath stone capital moulded in the early English style. The crowning glory of the Nave is the barrel-vaulted timber roof that leads comfortably into the timbered roof above the altar.

The timbered roofs of the side aisles compliment the roof and are joined by a timbered saddle-back. Each bay of the aisles has a three-light window. The whole effect is warm and welcoming - which may help to explain why our Church is so popular with those getting married.

A noticeable feature of the nave is the lighting that is supplied by large hanging lanterns, which are exact replicas of those installed during Monsignor Breen's renovation and were designed and executed by a local smith.

The whole of the floor area, including the altar, is covered with parquet flooring which is frequently re-sealed to preserve the warm colour of the wood; the main and side altar floors are particularly beautiful with rich patterns in contrasting woods.

Towards the front of the sanctuary is the lectern, which was made out of marble from the former pulpit.

THE SANCTUARY

The altar is the focal point of our Faith and represents the Table of the Lord of the Last Supper, here in St Paul's it is prominent in our vision, services and our lives as we move from Baptism, through Confirmation, Holy Communion and Matrimony to our Requiem. In any church or cathedral anywhere in the world you will see that the altar is, architecturally, the centre-piece.

St Paul's altar is made of marble and alabaster with an inset marble altar stone containing the relics of the Saints. The altar has three mosaics on its front which show two angels, one either side, swinging a thurible with which to incense the central figure - a lamb standing on a small hill or knoll from which flow four streams of water (representing grace flowing from the Mass); two marble angels also flank the altar.

Originally, the altar was set back against the rear marble reredos glass but with the requirements of the modern liturgy, introduced after Vatican II Council that sat from 1962 to 1965, the altar was moved forward to its current position. The repositioning has brought home more than ever before the uniting of the worshipper and the celebrant who now faces the congregation across the Sacrament on the altar.

There used to be a short flight of marble steps leading up to the original altar, which enabled the Priest to ascend them and place the Monstrance in the Throne for exposition during Benediction, or at Quarant Ore; today access to the Tabernacle is on the same level as the altar.

The word tabernacle means dwelling place and in a Church, it is a place where the Eucharist is retained. The location must be prominent; the Tabernacle must be immovable, solid and not transparent and locked to secure the Eucharist.

St Paul’s Tabernacle is flanked by two marble angels and has a thin strip of purple marble in front of it, on either side of which are spaced the words, "In Thy Tabernacle I Shall Dwell For Ever."

The thin marble columns immediately below are from the old pulpit (which stood where the Font now stands).

Suspended by chains from the ceiling, over the front of the altar, is the Sanctuary Lamp which is kept burning to indicate the Real Presence of the Eucharist in the Tabernacle.

There are five pairs of windows round the chancel with three pairs having stained glass, the other two do not. The central section depicts the Trinity whilst the pair to the left show St Margaret of Scotland (holding a cross) and St Paul (book and sword) with a deep blue shield above them bearing two crossed swords. The pair to the right depict St Peter (two golden keys) and St Matthew (pen and book) with a deep red shield bearing the golden crossed keys of St Peter. A quatrefoil fills the space at the top of each set of windows.

There are more features described in Part 2

Notes

The webmaster is very grateful to the Parish Centenary History Group for allowing their work to be edited for this page. It is hoped by the group that they will publish a document with more details in the near future than what is on this page.
Also, grateful thanks to Jack Cooper for his history of the parish, published in 1989-90. Some of the drawings by Ray Crawford in that work were scanned and appear on this page.
Gratitude to people who have allowed us to use photographs especially to those who are called the ‘official’ photographers of the parish!