'Hursley Church shows us typical ideas about Christianity and church building, ideas which were held by most people in Victorian England.'

‘Hursley Church shows us typical ideas about Christianity and church building, ideas which were held by most people in Victorian England.’

The original Hursley church, the foundations of which were laid in 1752, was built in a part Palladian, part Dutch hybrid style, but it retained the church tower, which is of 12th or 13th century origin; it consisted of a nave and two aisles in red brick, and two stone quoins. Inside it exhibited many characteristics seen in other churches of the style, most notably St. Mary’s at Avigdon. Many of the church’s characteristics would have been influenced by the Age of Enlightenment movement, which saw rapid expansion in the fields of science and technology lead to an increased amount of knowledge, and thus the questioning of religion. In response to this the Church changed its focus from ritual and sacrament to explanations of Christianity and its relevance to modern life. Church buildings became lighter and more open (this is shown by the absence of stained glass in the original church), with much of the awe inspiring darkness and cold  favoured by Gothic churches being eschewed in favour of simpler and more open designs. Greater emphasis was placed on the priest and his words; this was achieved by downplaying the altar and moving the pulpit to a position of prominence. A prime example of this can be found in the now abandoned church in East Street in Chichester, in which the altar is actually concealed from view by the pulpit. It is even noted that fires had been lit in the church to create warmth; this going directly against the cold effect desired by earlier churches.

  In order to fully understand why these changes took place, we must examine the background to which they occurred. Britain entered industrial revolution at around 1750. This would have lead to mass migration away from the country parishes, communities in which the church would have been predominant and in which it would have exerted a great deal of power, as the inhabitants left to find work. It would have also lead to an influx of Irish immigrants, creating many new converts to Catholicism, and many Scottish immigrants, leading to conversions to the various Free Churches. It also lead to many workers simply not going to church at all. It is estimated that less than 50% of the population attended church in this period. The Anglican Church began to lose power rapidly as the Government catered to the growing numbers of non-Anglicans by passing legislation to allow non-Anglicans to sit in Parliament and attend English universities. So, we can see that the church became far less a focal point in the populations’ lives. Men like Keble were concerned not just by this, but by the direction in which the Church of England was heading; churches like the 18th century Hursley exhibited puritan characteristics, as well as characteristics which could be said to Roman-esque; Rome had links not just to Catholicism, but also to Paganism, due to the fact that the early Roman civilation was Pagan. Keble believed that the foundation of Christianity was Christ and his suffering; therefore, the downplaying of ritual, sacrament and the altar took away what Keble believed to be the very essence of Christianity. Keble was the son of a Gloucester vicar, and so would have indoctrinated in pre-18th century Christianity from a very early age; at 14 he attended Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and five years later graduated with a double first in classics and mathematics. His remained linked with Oxford for his entire life, becoming a fellow of Oriel College in 1812, where he met his future collaborators Pusey and Newman. It was not until 1833 however, that the Oxford movement was formed; Keble, whilst living in Fairford, preached a sermon at Oxford on the subject of extensive liberalism in the Church of England. Keble found many supporters in Oxford, and the Oxford movement (which would later develop into the High Anglican branch of the Church of England) was formed. Keble was not noted as a particularly eloquent preacher, but his books The Christian Year and Lyra Innoccentium bought him suffienct funds for him to be able to partly demolish the 18th century Hursley church. This would have been a great personal victory for Keble. Keble believed that the Church was the means through which God and his subjects could communicate, and that the preservation of the sacrament was vital. When he set about re-designing Hursley Church, he had one main objective. He wanted to restore the majesty and awe-inspiring characteristics of the Church. He wanted to downplay the words of the priest and emphasise the importance of Christ and his disciples. Both Keble and the architect of the church, J.P. Harrison, admired the ideas of A.W.N Pugin. Pugin believed in the ‘Gothic Revival’, a movement which sort to reverse the trend of falling church attendance numbers by harking back to the Middle Ages, a time in which the church was all-powerful. Pugin’s work can be seen in the House of Commons. The Gothic Revival influence at Hursley is obvious; the heightening of the 14th century tower along with the addition of a spire show this to be true. Tall towers and spires are typical gothic characteristics. The present church has a nave, and north and south aisles under separate roofs to create a dark atmosphere and restore an air of mystery. Inside, the plain glass of the 18th century church is replaced by elaborate Victorian interpretations of medieval stained glass windows, the most prominent of these being the proverbial centrepiece; Christ on the crucifix. Christ and his suffering are clearly meant to dominate. Flanking Christ are John and the Virgin Mary; both have connections with the sacrament. The interior of the Church is based largely on ideas put forward by Neale and Webb in their 1843 edition of Durandus, ‘On the Symbolism of Churches and Church Ornaments’. The stain glass windows are a testament to this: