Church of the Ascension, Malvern Link

Church of the Ascension

Church of the Ascension, Malvern Link
52°07′41″N 2°19′52″W / 52.127969°N 2.331116°W / 52.127969; -2.331116Coordinates: 52°07′41″N 2°19′52″W / 52.127969°N 2.331116°W / 52.127969; -2.331116
Location Malvern Link, Worcestershire
Country United Kingdom
Denomination Anglican
History
Founder(s) Louisa Vavasour Livingstone
Dedicated 3 October 1903 (1903-10-03)
Consecrated 4 October 1989 (1989-10-04)
Architecture
Functional status Active
Heritage designation Grade II Listed[1]
Designated June 20, 1991 (1991-06-20)[1]
Architect(s) Walter Tapper[1]
Style Early English
Years built 1902 to 1903
Administration
Parish Malvern Link with Cowleigh
Deanery Malvern
Archdeaconry Worcester
Diocese Worcester
Clergy
Vicar(s) As of 2015, The Rev. Peter J Knight

The first completed work by the renowned architect Sir Walter Tapper, this is a Grade II listed church in the parish of Malvern Link and Cowleigh. The church was the gift of Louisa Vavasour Livingstone in memory of her husband Arthur Guinness Livingstone, the former Archdeacon of Sudbury.[1] The foundation stone was laid on the 19th of December 1902, and dedicated by Bishop Charles Gore of Worcester on the 3rd of October 1903.[2]

As the church was paid for entirely by Mrs Livingstone, the parish used funds allocated to a planned Mission Hall for Newtown to instead build the hall adjacent to the Church.[2]

The grounds have not been consecrated for burial.[2]

Exterior

The design is in the Early English style with lancet windows, and features a stone relief of the Ascension by Harry Hems[1] on the tower. Twelve yew trees line a path to the main South door. There is no other external decoration. The nave roof is of Cumberland slate and the stonework is from Guiting quarry in the Cotswolds.[2]

The tower contained two bells until the sixties, when they were sold to raise money for electrical work.[2]

Interior

The high altar is of stone, a feature of the influence of the Oxford Movement, with a triptych hanging above it, which is closed during Lent.[2] The saints portrayed on the triptych are connected with the life and work of Arthur Livingston: St Patrick (Irish ancestry); St Frideswide (depicted with Christchurch, Oxford, where Livingstone was educated); Hugh of Lincoln; The Venerable Bede, as Livingston was Canon of Durham; St Ethelreda of Ely and St Edmund of East Anglia, due to Livingstone's connection with Sudbury.[2]

The chancel screen, the font cover and the cross and candlesticks on the altar are the work of George Bainbridge Reynolds, while the rood is the work of an unknown artist from Oberammergau.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Historic England. "Church of the Ascension, Malvern Link  (Grade II) (1349465)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Smith, Rev. David S. M. (2003). The Church of the Ascension: A History and Guide (4th ed.). The Warden and District Church Council of the Church of the Ascension.

External links

Gallery

Church of the Ascension, Malvern Link
Relief sculpture of the Ascension by Harry Hems
Relief sculpture of the Ascension by Harry Hems 
Main door and entrance path
Main door and entrance path 
Exterior Eastern view
Exterior Eastern view 
Exterior Western view
Exterior Western view 
High Altar
High Altar 
Interior Eastern view
Interior Eastern view 
Interior Western view
Interior Western view 


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