ST MICHAEL'S & ALL ANGELS CHURCH, GREAT TEW
REORDERING, REPAIR & EXTENSION
SIGNIFICANCE
St Michael’s Church is located in the unforgettable ironstone village of Great Tew. The Grade I listed Norman church was rebuilt in the 13th Century, remodelled in the 14th and remained largely unchanged since the early 19th Century reordering by Rickman.
St Michael’s Church is located in the unforgettable ironstone village of Great Tew. The Grade I listed Norman church was rebuilt in the 13th Century, remodelled in the 14th and remained largely unchanged since the early 19th Century reordering by Rickman.
View from South Porch |
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CLIENT
The Incumbent, Churchwardens and members of the Fabric Committee worked together to develop the brief. They demonstrated great understanding of the significance of the church building and its setting, as was their clarity in the missional need of church and community. We have been working with the church team for over 20 years, realising this transformational project alongside our work as inspecting church architects is hugely rewarding.
The Incumbent, Churchwardens and members of the Fabric Committee worked together to develop the brief. They demonstrated great understanding of the significance of the church building and its setting, as was their clarity in the missional need of church and community. We have been working with the church team for over 20 years, realising this transformational project alongside our work as inspecting church architects is hugely rewarding.
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 View through Extension |
KEY ARCHITECTURAL FEATURE
The elaborately carved south doorway from c.1170 remains, its arch with a band of zigzag under a hood with billet and sawtooth decoration – the alignment and relationship of the new building and the south door was key to the project, to retain the view through the church and extension of the churchyard beyond.
The elaborately carved south doorway from c.1170 remains, its arch with a band of zigzag under a hood with billet and sawtooth decoration – the alignment and relationship of the new building and the south door was key to the project, to retain the view through the church and extension of the churchyard beyond.
Proposed Ground Floor Plan
CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPMENT
Our key challenge was to secure collective support for change and development at St Michael’s from the Oxford DAC, West Oxfordshire Planning Authority, Historic England, SPAB and other interest groups. We developed a series of design options to meet the missional need and carefully appraised the impact on the fabric and setting. We worked closely with experts including Hugh Harrison to determine the significance of the internal timber fixtures and fittings, particularly those brought in by Rickman, and collectively concluded that minimising change within the church was the right approach.
Our key challenge was to secure collective support for change and development at St Michael’s from the Oxford DAC, West Oxfordshire Planning Authority, Historic England, SPAB and other interest groups. We developed a series of design options to meet the missional need and carefully appraised the impact on the fabric and setting. We worked closely with experts including Hugh Harrison to determine the significance of the internal timber fixtures and fittings, particularly those brought in by Rickman, and collectively concluded that minimising change within the church was the right approach.
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DESIGN We pulled the extension away from the North Aisle to allow the surround of the north door and the stonework of the wall to breath and be clearly legible. We carefully aligned the circulation space within the new building on axis with the crossing of the historic church and maintained the visual connection to the churchyard. We worked hard to ensure the scale and massing of the new building in the context of the cascading elevations of the clerestory and aisle, and made a feature of the parapet walls, echoing those of the medieval church. |
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DESIGN
We pulled the extension away from the North Aisle to allow the surround of the north door and the stonework of the wall to breath and be clearly legible. We carefully aligned the circulation space within the new building on axis with the crossing of the historic church and maintained the visual connection to the churchyard. We worked hard to ensure the scale and massing of the new building in the context of the cascading elevations of the clerestory and aisle, and made a feature of the parapet walls, echoing those of the medieval church.
We pulled the extension away from the North Aisle to allow the surround of the north door and the stonework of the wall to breath and be clearly legible. We carefully aligned the circulation space within the new building on axis with the crossing of the historic church and maintained the visual connection to the churchyard. We worked hard to ensure the scale and massing of the new building in the context of the cascading elevations of the clerestory and aisle, and made a feature of the parapet walls, echoing those of the medieval church.
SUSTAINABILITY
At St Michael’s our goal has been to reduce the area of the church that we ‘heat’ for meetings and church work – the Vestry has been carefully designed to ensure the PCC and occasional meetings can be held in the new building, in comfort, rather than try to deliver that comfort within the large volume of the church building.The extension uses locally sourced materials and has been designed to a high level of thermal efficiency – the design also provides a draft lobby between the church and extension to moderate the environmental conditions between the two spaces. As part of the reordering within the church we introduced electric panel heating to the pews to ‘heat the people’ and improve the comfort of users – without radically changing the environmental conditions within the historic building.
At St Michael’s our goal has been to reduce the area of the church that we ‘heat’ for meetings and church work – the Vestry has been carefully designed to ensure the PCC and occasional meetings can be held in the new building, in comfort, rather than try to deliver that comfort within the large volume of the church building.The extension uses locally sourced materials and has been designed to a high level of thermal efficiency – the design also provides a draft lobby between the church and extension to moderate the environmental conditions between the two spaces. As part of the reordering within the church we introduced electric panel heating to the pews to ‘heat the people’ and improve the comfort of users – without radically changing the environmental conditions within the historic building.
North Elevation
MATERIALS
One of the joys of Northwest Oxfordshire is the distinctive properties of the ironstone geology. The traditional buildings within Great Tew are all built from the rich vein of oolitic stone quarried on the outskirts of the village. Our extension has been built with stone quarried from within the Great Tew Estate, and carefully detailed and finished to the highest standard to ensure old and new are united in quality, tone, texture and geology.
One of the joys of Northwest Oxfordshire is the distinctive properties of the ironstone geology. The traditional buildings within Great Tew are all built from the rich vein of oolitic stone quarried on the outskirts of the village. Our extension has been built with stone quarried from within the Great Tew Estate, and carefully detailed and finished to the highest standard to ensure old and new are united in quality, tone, texture and geology.
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Lobby Linking the Old and New
CHALLENGES IN DELIVERY
Careful consideration was given to placing the new building and trench arch drainage system to work with significant burials. The works on site were during Covid shutdowns and we worked hard on site to maintain good lines of communication between all the interested parties to ensure the works could progress as planned, on time, budget, and to a high quality.
Careful consideration was given to placing the new building and trench arch drainage system to work with significant burials. The works on site were during Covid shutdowns and we worked hard on site to maintain good lines of communication between all the interested parties to ensure the works could progress as planned, on time, budget, and to a high quality.
Section Facing West
