Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 04/06/2018

TF 64 SE
1/34

HUNSTANTON
Church Street
Church of St Edmund

(Formerly listed Church of St Edmund, GREEVEGATE (north) and NORTHGATE (east), New Hunstanton, previously listed as St Edmunds Chapel)

II

HISTORY
Parish church of New Hunstanton built in 1865-1869, with north aisle of 1879, by Frederick Preedy, architect of Worcester, for his cousin Henry Le Strange of Hunstanton Hall, at a cost of £3,700. Built to serve the community of New Hunstanton developed by Henry Le Strange as a seaside resort, following the coming of the railway in 1862.

DETAILS
EXTERIOR: knapped flint rubble, carstone and freestone dressings, C20 tiled roof. Nave, west narthex addition, aisles, south porch, chancel and north vestry. High Victorian Gothic, four bay nave, aisles and clerestorey, two bay chancel. West front with lower narthex lean-to with five light window, three lancets to gable. five-light east window. Carstone banding to walls. Plate tracery clerestorey, bar tracery elsewhere, early Decorated details. South porch flint, addition of c.1914.

INTERIOR: four bay arcade alternating rounded and octagonal piers. Open roof with massive scissor braces, similar to contemporary roof of Old Hunstanton church. Chancel arch with four detached shafts. Rood beam and figures C20. Capitals may be attributed to R. L. Boulton of Worcester, Sculptor. East window by C. E. Kempe, c.1890, south aisle south east window Ninian Comper 1912.

Historical note: the church was the site of a protest by members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), the militant suffrage organisation formed by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903. From 1905 WSPU members, known as suffragettes, used direct action in their campaign, beginning with civil disobedience and escalating to include serious criminal damage and bombing. Non-violent direct action remained important and in 1913 the ‘prayers for prisoners’ protests were begun. These took place in churches throughout the country and involved women quietly interrupting church services chanting ‘God Save Mrs Pankhurst’ and praying for other suffragette prisoners. In March 1914 an unknown woman stood up in St Edmund’s Church after the benediction and said ‘Oh, God we beseech thee to lead thy church to a true repentance for Her toleration of the treatment of political prisoners who are fighting for justice and purity, and give Her to see Her grave responsibility in this matter, for Christ’s sake. Amen.’ The gendered language was typical of members of the Church League for Women’s Suffrage.

This list entry was amended in 2018 as part of the centenary commemorations of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.

Listing NGR: TF6746241075

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26346249

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy