Church designed by the Preston-based architect, Wilfrid C. Mangan, who worked extensively in Portsmouth diocese. In this case he was working with his older brother James. St Saviour is a work of considerable originality in its detailing and its Italian Romanesque style is most attractive and unexpected in this context.

Mary Ward and her husband built Weston Manor in 1869-70 (designed by George Goldie) with a private Catholic chapel. Her ambition was to build a Catholic church at Totland, but it was her son who died in 1915 and made this a reality by leaving £5,000 for this purpose. The church was eventually built in 1923 to designs by the well known Catholic Church architects Mangan & Mangan of Preston.

Description

In style the church is like an Early Christian basilica or Italian Romanesque church. Bright red brick, the main body of the church a rectangle with shallow-pitched and deeply overhanging tiled roof. Much lower lean-to aisles, screened at each end by raised walls elegantly curved. East view of polygonal apse and projecting side chapels, all with shallow roofs and deep eaves. The west front has a colonnaded narthex (now enclosed with glazing) and the distinctive vertical feature of the northwest tower with exaggeratedly projecting eaves. A polygonal baptistery (now Martyrs Chapel) projects from the west face of the tower. Striking brickwork patterns. Round arches throughout. Arched-corbel tables and other decorative brick projections. ‘Perhaps the form was based on that of a Romanesque basilica, but with overtones of Art Deco and strident individualism’ (Pevsner & Lloyd).

The interior is spacious and largely of red brick with decorative use of blue brick. West gallery. Arcades with segmental arches on square pillars, with herringbone patterns in the spandrels and paired clerestory windows above. The sanctuary arch is broad and the sanctuary internally is half-domed and semi-circular, plastered and painted white in contrast to the red brick. The half-dome is pierced by three small windows. The narrow passage aisles have transverse brick arches and the nave is roofed with robust utilitarian trusses with diagonal bracing.

The furnishings are generally plain. Open wooden pews. The font (repositioned in the 1990s) has a deep octagonal bowl with carved Gothic panels on a base of clustered polished shafts. It looks earlier than the church and may have been brought from elsewhere. In the Martyrs Chapel a painted triptych of 1983 by Lyn Cottrall, together with paintings of St John Fisher and St Thomas More. The sanctuary was reordered in 1973 by C. A. F. Sheppard; the furnishings are not of aesthetic note. The organ is placed on the west gallery and may have been installed in the 1950s but dates from the late-nineteenth century, by Bryceson Brothers of London. It has no case. Stained glass, not of particular interest, mostly at the east end and mostly figures of saints. Some windows signed by Barrowclough & Sanders of London.

Entry amended by AHP 1.1.2021

List entry (the church and presbytery were listed in October 2021)

Church

II

Summary: Roman Catholic church, completed in 1923, designed by the Preston-based architects WC and JH Mangan for the Diocese of Portsmouth; to the north-east are a pair of walls flanking the principal entrance way.

Reasons for Designation: The Roman Catholic Church of St Saviour, including the brick entrance walls, Totland Bay, Isle of Wight, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest: * the inter-war church has an strong and well-detailed external brick design in an Italianate Romanesque style that includes a prominent corner tower (campanile); * the churches interior has a strong continuity with the external design, and retains good-quality joinery, as well as marble and mosaic work.

Historic interest: * it is a good example of the work of WC Mangan, a notable early-C20 church architect who was responsible for several designs for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth, working along with his brother JH Mangan

Group value: * it has a strong architectural and functional relationship with the associated presbytery (Grade II), and a historic association with the nearby Weston Manor (Grade II*), the home of the church’s patrons.

History

The Church of St Saviour is a Roman Catholic church located on land which formed part of Weston Manor estate in the late-C19. Weston Manor (Grade II*, National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1209416) was built for Mary Ward and her husband William Ward, between 1869 and 1870 to designs by George Goldie; it included a purpose-built Catholic chapel. Mary’s ambition was to build a separate Roman-Catholic church in Totland; however, it was her eldest son Edmund Granville Ward who realised his mother’s ambition by leaving £5000 for this purpose upon his death in 1915. The site of the church was located to the north of the house, and near to an existing school (which later became St Saviour’s Roman Catholic school) and a Roman-Catholic burial ground. The Church of St Saviour was designed by the Preston-based architectural firm Mangan and Mangan and completed in 1923. The Buildings of England Isle of Wight volume comments that the form of the church was perhaps ‘based on that of a Romanesque basilica, but with overtones of Art Deco and strident individualism’ (Lloyd and Pevsner, 2006, pp145-146). In addition to the church, the contemporary presbytery to the south was also designed by the same architects. The sanctuary was reordered in 1973 by CAF Sheppard. In the late C20 (1999), a hall was added to the south of the church and linked to it by a covered walkway.

The architect Wilfrid Clarence Mangan (1884-1968) undertook several commissions for the Portsmouth diocese. At St Saviour, Wilfred worked with his brother James Henry Mangan (1876 -1935) who he was in partnership with from 1908 until 1926. Wilfred was amongst the most prolific inter-war and post-war Roman-Catholic church architects in England and several examples of his work appear on the National Heritage List for England, including Church of English Martyrs, Tilehurst Reading (Grade II, 1925-1926, NHLE entry 1456862) which he also designed with his brother.

Details

Roman Catholic church, completed in 1923, designed by the Preston-based architects WC and JH Mangan for the Diocese of Portsmouth; to the north-east are a pair of walls flanking the principal entrance way. The attached 1999 parish centre* and linking covered walkway* are not included in the listing.

MATERIALS: a brick building, laid in a variety of bonds, with brick detailing, and topped by tile roofs.

PLAN: the church has a cruciform footprint orientated roughly east to west, with a tower attached the west end.

EXTERIOR: the church employs patterned brickwork and Romanesque-style features including single-light round-arch windows with tile voussoirs (most of which contain leaded glazing, apart from at the east end), brick banding and a dogtooth dentil course under the eaves. The decorative brickwork includes panels with a cruciform motif employed at various points around the building. The building retains some metal raingoods including several decorative hoppers. The west front has a colonnaded narthex (enclosed with later glazing). Above, in the west gable end, are four windows, and a central recessed niche containing a later mosaic panel. This end is flanked by a pair of sweeping brick buttresses. Attached to the north-west is the tall bell tower incorporating recessed panels with projecting headers, bracket corbels beneath arched openings, and exaggerated projecting eaves topped by a pyramidal roof. A polygonal former baptistery (later the Martyrs Chapel) projects from the north-west corner of the church. The main body of the church is topped by a shallow-pitched tile roof with overhanging eaves supported by moulded timber brackets. The building is flanked to the north and south by lean-to single-storey aisles with single and paired windows. Above is the clerestory with single and paired windows divided by vertical brick bands. East of the aisles are a pair of flanking flat-roof single-storey wings with concrete parapets, and above are a further pair of sweeping brick buttresses. At the church’s east end is a polygonal apse decorated by recessed arcading, and to the north and south a pair of polygonal single-storey side chapels; all have shallow roofs and deep eaves.

INTERIOR: the main entrance is through the narthex which is divided from the main body of the church by a brick partition with blind arch recesses on either sided; a central pair of timber doors leads through to the nave. To north is the polygonal former baptistry; it includes the original metal and timber rails, a metal and timer altar (which may have relocated here from elsewhere in the church), and a painted triptych of 1983 by Lyn Cottrall, together with paintings of St John Fisher and St Thomas More. On this side of the church is the bell-tower’s stone staircase which also leads up to the organ gallery. Within the main body of the church there are round arches throughout, and a combination of red brick with blue brick detailing has been used. Most of the internal wooden doors include leaded-glass panes. The nave has a parquet floor. Above the west end is the organ gallery fronted by a timber rail. The current organ is a late-C19 instrument by Bryceson Brothers, which is understood to have been installed in the 1950s. The nave is flanked by arcaded aisles with segmental arches on square pillars, and herringbone patterns in the spandrels. Above is the clerestory windows which are divided by brick pilasters. The walls are topped by stepped brick corbels. The nave has an exposed timber roof consisting of principal king-post trusses with diagonal bracing; the trusses are supported by moulded corbels. Most of the open wood pews are original (some closed-back pews to the rear of the nave are later replacements). The font (repositioned in the nave in 1990s) has a deep octagonal bowl with carved Gothic panels on a base of clustered polished shafts. The stations of the cross are stone reliefs which have replaced the earlier wooden panels. At the east end the nave is flanked by doors leading to, the confessional and sacristy on the north side, and a pair of storerooms to the south, as well as a southern side entrance door. There are statues at various locations within the church. There is other original metal work within the church including some surviving wall-lamp brackets and the sacristy bell. The east end, beyond the broad brick chancel arch, has white painted plaster walls and ceilings. There is a short chancel with semi-circular stained-glass windows, below which are arches leading to the side chapels. The chancel, side chapels and altar steps have a mosaic floor laid in a fan pattern with a black marble border; the altar rails have been removed. The marble-clad high altar was brought forward to this location in the 1970s. The apsidal sanctuary has a half-dome roof and is lit by three small stained-glass windows. Most of the original stained-glass windows are in the east end and some are signed by Barrowclough and Sanders of London. There is a stained-glass window at the east end of the southern clerestorey; this was added at a later date. Against the east wall is the marble-clad tabernacle; the original timber reredos has been removed. The sanctuary is flanked by silver sanctuary lamps and round-arch niches; the southern niche contains the stone piscnina. The wooden chancel furniture, including the pulpit, are later additions.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURE: to the north-west of the church is the main entranceway flanked by curving Flemish-bond brick walls with square piers, all capped by tiles. The walls incorporate projecting headers in a diaper pattern and the piers include tile panels with a cruciform-motif that mirrors those found on the main church.

* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest. However, any works to these structures and/or features which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require Listed Building Consent (LBC) and this is a matter for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to determine.

Sources

Books and journals: Lloyd, D, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, (2006), 145-146

Websites: Mangan and Mangan, accessed 4 June 2021 from https://manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk/index.php/partnerships/mangan-j-h-and-wc

Other: Architectural History Practice, Taking Stock, St Saviours, 2007, for Diocese of Portsmouth

Presbytery

II

Summary

Presbytery to the Roman Catholic Church of St Saviour, completed in 1923, designed by the Preston-based architect WC and JH Mangan for the Diocese of Portsmouth.

Reasons for Designation

The presbytery to the Church of St Saviour, Totland Bay, Isle of Wight is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest: * its external brick design is well-detailed and compliments the design and detailing of the main church.

Historic interest: * it was designed by the same architects of the church, WC Mangan, a notable early-C20 church architect who was responsible for several designs for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth, and his brother JH Mangan.

Group value: * it has a strong architectural and functional relationship with the Church of St Saviour (Grade II), and a historic association with the nearby Weston Manor (Grade II*), the home of the church’s patrons.

History

The Church of St Saviour is a Roman Catholic church located on land which formed part of Weston Manor estate in the late-C19. Weston Manor (Grade II*, National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1209416) was built for Mary Ward and her husband William Ward, between 1869 and 1870 to designs by George Goldie; it included a purpose-built Catholic chapel. Mary’s ambition was to build a separate Roman-Catholic church in Totland; however, it was her eldest son Edmund Granville Ward who realised his mother’s ambition by leaving £5000 for this purpose upon his death in 1915. The site of the church was located to the north of the house, and near to an existing school (which later became St Saviour’s Roman Catholic school) and a Roman-Catholic burial ground. The Church of St Saviour was designed by the Preston-based architectural firm Mangan and Mangan and completed in 1923. The Buildings of England Isle of Wight volume comments that the form of the church was perhaps ‘based on that of a Romanesque basilica, but with overtones of Art Deco and strident individualism’ (Lloyd and Pevsner, 2006, pp145-146).

A presbytery was built at the same time as the church. It is understood to have also been designed by Mangan and Mangan. The footprint of the house has been almost entirely unaltered since it was first built. The porch entrance arch, formerly open, has been enclosed with uPVC glazed frame, and the doorway beyond has also been replaced by a later glazed uPVC doorway. Originally the building had leaded single-glazed casements; these have all been replaced with leaded double-glazed uPVC casements.

The architect Wilfrid Clarence Mangan (1884-1968) undertook several commissions for the Portsmouth diocese. At St Saviour’s, Wilfred worked with his brother James Henry Mangan (1876 -1935) who he was in partnership with from 1908 until 1926. Wilfred was amongst the most prolific inter-war and post-war Roman-Catholic church architects in England and several examples of his work appear on the National Heritage List for England, including Church of English Martyrs, Tilehurst Reading (Grade II, 1925-1926, NHLE entry 1456862) which he also designed with his brother.

Details

Presbytery to the Roman Catholic Church of St Saviour, completed in 1923, designed by the Preston-based architect WC and JH Mangan for the Diocese of Portsmouth. The pair of late-C20 single-storey pitched-roof brick garages* are not included in the listing.

MATERIALS: stretcher-bond brick building with brick and tile detailing, topped by hipped tile roofs and a brick stack.

PLAN: the dwelling has a roughly L-shaped footprint, with an entrance porch on the west side.

EXTERIOR: the two-storey presbytery is on a raised plot and accessed from the driveway by a set of steps leading up to the single storey flat-roof west entrance porch. The ground-floor window openings consist of a range of single, double, triple and quadruple lights divided by brick mullions; the openings are topped by panels with oversized splayed brick and tile arches arranged in a sun-burst motif. The plainer first-floor openings are a variety of single, two and three-light casements. All of the windows contain late-C20 leaded uPVC double-glazed casements. The porch entrance arch has been infilled by a later uPVC door and is topped by a brick arch in a similar style to the window decoration. A double band of slightly projecting brick headers runs around the building at first-floor level, and includes, between the bands, tile quoins and a tile cruciform-motif above the main entrance. On the south elevation is a ground-floor box window. There is short brick wall attached to the lower rear (east) wing.

INTERIOR: the internal uPVC porch door appears to be a later replacement for the original entrance door. It leads through to a central hallway surrounded by rooms on three sides. There are six-panel doors with brass door furniture in simply moulded architraves throughout the building. On the ground floor most of the rooms and hallway contain skirting, picture rails and decorative plaster borders to the ceilings. There are also two early-C20 fireplaces. The study fireplace has been boarded-up; it retains its decorative timber surround. The living room has a grey-stone fireplace with a timber surround, mantel shelf and mirrored over mantle. There also some inbuilt wooden cupboards and shelving in the study and dining room. The central dogleg staircase has a rounded teak timber handrail with scroll end at the bottom, and a stick banister around the first-floor landing. Above the landing is a loft hatch. The first-floor rooms have skirting and in one of the bedrooms is a timber chimney surround with a boarded-up fireplace.

* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest. However, any works to these structures and/or features which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require Listed Building Consent (LBC) and this is a matter for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to determine.

Sources

Books and journals: Pevsner, N, Lloyd, D W, The Buildings of England: Isle of Wight, (2006), 145-146

Websites: Mangan and Mangan, accessed 4 June 2021 from https://manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk/index.php/partnerships/mangan-j-h-and-wc 

Other: Architectural History Practice, Taking Stock, St Saviours, 2007, for Diocese of Portsmouth

History Practice, Taking Stock, St Saviours, 2007, for Diocese of Portsmouth

Heritage Details