Our present church is made up of three parts – a large Sanctuary built in 1897-8; the smaller Avenue Hall to the north of it, built in 1934 to replace a temporary ‘tin church’ opened to soldiers and sailors in the Great War; and, connecting these two brick buildings, a modern steel-and-glass Concourse with a curved roof, built in 2002-3 with an internal courtyard behind it. This three-part ensemble resulted from Project 2000, an ambitious plan spearheaded by Rev. Cliff Bembridge (minister, 1995–2011), who led us in renovations to adapt the building for changing needs.
Traditional pews were removed from the Sanctuary to create a more flexible, multipurpose area with chairs. A modern, well-equipped kitchen was built next to the Concourse to enable better fellowship events. And the Avenue Hall was reordered to create new office and activity spaces (the ‘Church Halls’) for church-related community projects such as the Avenue Centre, as well as for our Junior Church and Boys’ Brigade groups. These much-improved facilities generated further ideas for community work.
For our remarkable sanctuary of the late 1890s, we’re indebted to the Nonconformist church architect of a Norfolk Baptist family, James Cubitt (1836-1912). He’d already won recognition for his design of Union Chapel, Islington (1876-89), hailed as a masterpiece for sung and spoken word, seating 1800. Working with G.F. Collinson, Cubitt used some of the same principles in planning the Avenue building. Both churches have an impressive turret, use wood to beautiful and functional effect in high ceilings, and have column-free naves; the sanctuaries of both churches are large and airy. Cubitt designed these spaces with people in mind, making visibility and acoustics a priority so that everyone could see and hear well.
Union Chapel, Islington, original angled pews across a wide nave
In December 1898 when Avenue Church was consecrated, it was one of the first public buildings in Southampton to be lit by electricity, a new power source used to activate the organ pipes, too. The building’s ventilation system drawing airflow through its turret was another innovation, although that apparatus would require serious repair in the 21st century. In the meantime, our own search to improve efficiency led to the installation of a solar-panel array on the south slope of our Halls roof in 2019. Generating clean electricity to help combat climate change is not only part of our commitment to care for the community, but also aligns with agreed URC policy to reduce the church’s carbon footprint and cut greenhouse gases.
A final notable feature of our building is its set of richly coloured stained glass windows at the Sanctuary’s east end. Designed in memory of members who died in the 1950s, these are the work of the Scottish stained glass artist Gordon McWhirter Webster (1908 – 87). They form a triptych around the central image of Christ’s Resurrection (shown here), depicting, on either side, Christ’s Nativity (left side), and Christ’s Sending out of the Disciples (right side).
A particularly interesting case concerns our recent Project 2020, prompted by the urgent need to repair the turret, tower and stonework of our 120-year-old sanctuary. Through the church’s own fundraising and substantial grants from URC Wessex Synod and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we were able to restore sensitively Cubitt’s deteriorated air shaft – part of the ventilation system he designed into the building in 1898. Linked to this physical renewal, we investigated other aspects of the building’s history and community, yielding educational benefits from our archives as well as a safer building for everyone.
In drawing on fifteenth-century Perpendicular Gothic style, Cubitt had chosen red brick with Bath stone dressings. His impressive tower dominates the church’s western end, with its corbelled embattled parapet and four stone pinnacles. A polygonal stair turret on the north-west corner emerges to an open timber canopy, tiled, and the central spire bears a beautiful wrought-iron cross with spiral embellishments (seen here during restoration).
Modern viewers may not have noticed all these details. Whether hidden inside the building’s structure or located too far from human eye level to be appreciated, some of Cubitt’s design beauties had escaped us! But through Project 2020, we learned how the church’s natural cooling system works by means of the turret, using the natural effects of hot air rising and the drawing of a chimney. Cool air taken in through ground-level inlets will keep the congregation comfortable on hot days, while the chimney, presented as a turret, completes the drawing out of warm air at the top through a purpose-designed ventilation hatch in the tower’s wall. Ingenious.
View of the Sanctuary’s internal roof structure through the ventilation hatch, looking down on the worship area
Besides repairing the tower’s window stonework, leadwork channels, and crenelations, specialist craftsmen also restored the turret’s internal wooden structure, visible oak tracery and pyramid tiles (shown here).
Project 2020 helped us preserve, research and celebrate the history of Avenue St Andrew’s. Essential building works made our tower safe and protected the treasures in our archives. We thoroughly enjoyed engaging with schools, musicians, and a host of volunteers to share the benefits of our heritage.
Our learning, and sharing, will go on.