THE PLANNING OF THE REBUILT ST MARK'S CHURCH (1960)
The original church of 1845 was a building in the style of architecture known as the Gothic revival. The church consisted of nave, aisles, chancel, south transept, containing a Lady Chapel, vestries, organ chamber and a tower and spire. It was generally held by those who knew the old church (pre-1940) that it possessed a spacious and dignified nave but the remainder of the building suffered from various defects. For example, the chapel was placed in the south transept with a most inconvenient seating arrangement. The vestry accommodation was totally inadequate and the chancel was cramped by choir and clergy stalls. A more serious defect was the lack of natural lighting within the building due mainly to the very small size of clerestory and aisle windows, several of which were filled with stained glass.

Although the church, except for the tower and spire, was practically destroyed in October 1940 as a result of enemy action, (see picture) it was possible to retain the original foundations and various parts of the external walling including the north aisle wall and the west wall with its window. The reconstruction of the church on the original foundations enabled a war damage claim to be negotiated on the basis of a reinstatement, instead of on the basis of a plain substitute building, which was to the advantage of the Parish.

When it was known that the church was to be rebuilt on the original plan, it became possible to introduce improvements which corrected the previous defects. It was possible to provide a new Lady Chapel, new choir and clergy vestries and, by omitting the pitched roofs to the aisles and raising the eaves of the nave roof, to provide a considerable area of extra lighting in the clerestories. Also larger windows have been possible in the rebuilding of the south aisle wall. A more dignified treatment of the south transept with the adjoining turret has been possible and the relationship of this feature with the new south aisle walling has improved the external elevation to St Mark's Hill. A further great improvement in the appearance of the building has been the lowering of the pitch of the roof slopes over the nave and chancel, thus enabling the roof surfaces to be carried through from east to west in one continuous unbroken line.

There are many other minor alterations and improvements. In the design of the interior the main objective has been to provide a building having an atmosphere conducive to worship and for this reason the interior has been planned to give spaciousness and lightness and simplicity in the treatment of the various architectural features.

A further great improvement has been achieved by bringing the sanctuary and altar forward from the east wall and nearer to the congregation. This has been possible by placing the choir vestry at the east end of the church with a gallery over, the vestry being separated from the sanctuary by a corridor and screen wall forming a reredos, and by placing the choir and organ console at the west end. The gallery becomes available for an augmented choir or for an orchestra or to accommodate an overflow from the congregation during the Greater Festivals of the Church. The general re-planning of the east end of the church provides a much more convenient and workable arrangement as, for example, the access for a Priest to the Lady Chapel from the sacristy without entering the body of the church.

The Altar is set in a broad open space with clergy stalls on either side of it; the Bishop, too, has his seat there on the north side of the sanctuary. The people in their pews come close to the altar for they must take their full part in the celebration of the Holy Communion. Often in a church the priest stands alone and remote at the altar, while the people, separated from him by choir stalls, kneel and pray apart. We have built our church for corporate worship: it is a liturgical church.

The Choir sang from the west end of the church, where on a raised platform were the organ console and three rows of stalls for men and boys. Surpliced choirs in the chancel were a new development in the nineteenth century. Before the Reformation priest and cantors sang the service within an enclosed chancel, while the people - who could not read - stood in the nave. But in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when choirs began to sing in English accompanied by village minstrels, they sang from a west gallery: we have returned to this practice. (In practice it was found very difficult for the choir, organ and people to remain in time together, and so the Choir and organ later moved to stalls in the South aisle.)

If the chancel and nave have been designed for Sunday Holy Communion the great offering of the life of the parish to God, the Lady Chapel has been planned so that that offering may go on perpetually. Here in a self-contained church seating 29 (plus another 8 if necessary) the Holy Communion will be celebrated on weekdays, and the Daily Office (Morning and Evening Prayer) said by the clergy, who have permanent desks at the back. The Prayer Book tells them that they are to pray for you all in this way, every day. Here in the aumbry (cupboard) in the north wall of the chapel sanctuary the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ will be kept ("reserved") ready at all times to be taken to the sick and housebound, so that they may share in the same Holy Communion. A white sanctuary lamp burns to tell us that the Sacrament is available. We hope that the Chapel will be used continually, both for services and by parishioners who come there to pray as they pass by the church. For this reason we shall never speak in the Chapel except during services. This rule of silence is absolute, and binding on visitors and staff alike. Nor may the Chapel be used as a passage way. The north door does not give access to the nave and will be closed before nave services.

The Spire of 1860 remains pointing the community up to God. The clock face on the west side speaks a word of warning VIGlLATE Beware! Guard the minutes! Above the four evangelists face the four corners of the parish. The church has been constructed of stone to match as nearly as possible the original work. The interior is of brickwork with plastered surfaces and windows and pier plinths of stone. The roof over the nave and chancel is covered with Westmorland green slates. Roof timbers have been "Tanalised" as a protection against dry rot and beetle. Great care has been taken in designing all the fittings to ensure that man's best endeavour is expended in God's service.

We acknowledge the skill of all those employed in the re-building of the building as a whole, the fashioning of all stone and woodwork, the fine painted ceiling in the two bays over the sanctuary and eastern gallery, the several beautiful stained glass windows and the fine embroideries and needlework.

St Mark's was fortunate in her architect, Romilly B. Craze FRIBA, a man of skill, with sympathy both for traditional Gothic and for modern designs; a man of vision and of devotion. No detail was too much trouble for him, and every suggestion of the church was carefully received, interpreted or rejected, to impose a unity on the whole restoration. In addition the church used many artists of all schools of thought; young artists and art students who had never designed for the Church before, as well as those whose reputation was firmly established. Nothing, except hassocks and hymnbooks, was mass-produced. Every detail and every piece of work of the restoration has been well done, for God is only served by man's best.


Taken (with amendments) from the pamphlet "Surbiton Parish Church: Beauty for Ashes", published in 1960 to celebrate the reconsecration of the rebuilt St Mark's Church.

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