St Peter's Curdridge

St Peter's Church, Curdridge is in the Deanery of Bishop's Waltham, Diocese of Portsmouth and in the Patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Winchester.

The Foundation Stone, which can be found outside the South door of the Chancel, was laid by Miss Augusta Burrell of Fainthorne Manor, (now the YMCA National Centre), on the 29 November 1887. The Church was built at a cost of £6,000 by George Dobson, Contractor, of Colchester, to the design of the Ecclesiastical Architect, Sir Thomas G Jackson, ARA, of London, to replace the Chapel of Ease.

The building is in the 15th century English Gothic style. The dimensions are: Nave 64 feet; Chancel 32 feet; span of Chancel 21 feet. The walls are faced outside with flint and have dressings of box ground stone. The wrought masonry of the inside is of chalk from Betchworth Quarries, Surrey. The Tower and Bells were added in 1895. The Church was consecrated on the 6 November 1888 by the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt. Revd. EH Browne. The Churchwardens were Paymaster in Chief, Sir JS Moore, RN and Mr EH Liddell, whose father, the Very Revd. Dr. Henry C Liddell, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford and Chaplain to Queen Victoria, assisted in the service.

STAINED GLASS WINDOWS

On the North side, the first window above the 1914-1918 Memorial is of two great English heroes, King Alfred and St. Alban. Note the head and face of Lionel Lee, in whose memory the window was given, which has been incorporated in the figure of St Alban. Over the 1939-1945 Memorial is the window depicting Jesus, the Good Shepherd and St Peter, the Patron Saint of this Church. The third window is of St Edward and St George, again two typical English heroes.

The great East window shows Christ crowned in glory in the centre, with St John and St Peter on the left and St Paul and St Mark on the right. The South Sanctuary window is of St James and St John, brothers and sons of Zebedee, nicknamed Boanerges - Sons of Thunder. This window is in memory of Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Nowell Salmon, VC, GCS, who is buried in the Churchyard (see page 5), The Chancel window shows the Prophet Isaiah and St Luke.

SANCTUARY

Behind the Altar is an alabaster marble recedos by Farmer and Grindling.

CHANCEL

The Organ, built by Holditch, was installed in the Chapel of Ease in 1879, but was enlarged and moved to the present Church. In 1944 an electric blower was installed. The brass Lectern was given at the time of the Consecration and the Bible was purchased in 1922 for £3 18s. 9d.

NAVE

The Pulpit is of Portland stone below and wainscot oak above, with linen-pattern panels and open tracery, surmounted by a cornice of running foliage. The Crucifix above the Pulpit was found in an antique shop and is thought to have been a wayside cross brought to the country by a soldier after the Second War. The wood on which it is mounted came from an old oak beam which had been removed from 80tley Flour Mill. The paying stones in front of the Pulpit and Lectern and inside the main porch door are from the Chapel of Ease. The roof timbers are of two types: over the Chancel is a strong, flattened barrel roof: the Nave has an elaborate design with ten frames supported from corbels.

GENERAL

It is of interest to know that one of Mr EH Liddell's five sisters, Alice, was the girl about whom Lewis Carroll wrote his books 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Alice through the Looking Glass'. Perhaps Alice herself was present at the Consecration Service, Sitting in the front pew?

The Church Architect, Sir Thomas G Jackson (1835-1924) was a pupil of Sir Gilbert Scott. He built two other churches in Hampshire - All Saints, East Stratton (consecrated on the 1 November 1888), and St John the Evangelist, Northington (completed in 1889). From 1905 he helped plan the under-pinning of the East end of Winchester Cathedral.