Brockhampton (near Ross-on-Wye)

All Saints' Church

Main article: All Saints' Church, Brockhampton

The construction of nearby All Saints' Church, financed by Mr and Mrs Foster (as a memorial to her parents), was completed in 1902, the work of the Arts & Crafts pioneer W. R. Lethaby.

Straddling a sloping south-facing site, the first impression of All Saints' is that of a traditional English thatched church. In fact, Lethaby's ingenious 'partnership' of a thatched roof sitting on top of un-reinforced cast-concrete roof, pre-dated current thermal insulation thinking by more than a century.

The interior's most striking feature is the lofty vaulted roof, formed of four bays of lime-washed shuttered concrete, divided by slender sandstone arches (the stone came from the now-redundant local Capler quarry). At Brockhampton, Lethaby predicted the Modern Movement's short-lived passion for patterned concrete surfaces, by leaving the internal face of the Nave's roof lining unplastered.

The architect's decision to carry out the entire project using direct labour craftsmen (eschewing the conventional building contractor route) is thought to have been a contributing factor to his subsequent ill health and decision to concentrate on teaching and writing. All Saints' Brockhampton was Lethaby's last significant building. Randall Wells served as his resident architect on site.

In The Buildings of England: Herefordshire, Nikolaus Pevsner describes All Saints' as "perhaps the most thrilling church in any country of the years between historicism and the Modern Movement". In the introductory section of the revised edition of Herefordshire, All Saints' Brockhampton is described as "one of the most convincing and impressive churches of its date in any country".

The church contains many examples of Christopher Whall’s stained glass work.

The Hotel Monterey Grasmere in Osaka, Japan, features a three-quarter scale replica of the church as a wedding venue on the 21st and 22nd floors of a tower block.

References

References

1. (1996). "The Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996". [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)]].
2. (2011). "Neighbourhood Statistics - Area: Brockhampton (Old Gore) (Parish) - Age by Single Year, 2011 (QS103EW)". [[Office for National Statistics]].
3. Pevsner, Nikolaus. (1963). "The Buildings of England - Herefordshire". [[Yale University Press]].
4. "The Buildings of England: Herefordshire". Revised by Alan Brooks. {{ISBN. 978-0-300-12575-7. Published Yale University Press.
5. [https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2009/30-october/news/uk/japanese-tie-the-knot-at-replica-church-in-the-sky ''Church Times'' article]
6. [http://www.brockhampton.com/japan.htm Village website]
7. [http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/135862/How-a-church-was-faithfully-recreated-in-a-skyscraper How a Church Was Faithfully Recreated – In a Skyscraper, ''Daily Express'', 24 October 2009]