Giles Gilbert Scott's design for St Alphege's was inspired by the ancient church of St Maria in Cosmedin, Rome, and distilled the main elements of the much larger original into a small building 120 feet by 50 feet to seat 400 persons. The nave was separated from the side aisles by six rounded arches and five pillars each side. The sanctuary, raised above the level of the nave, was terminated by a semi-circular apse. The honey coloured stone contrasted with the rich blue of the flooring. Lighting was by decorative golden sunburst fittings suspended above the nave. (view nave)   Entrance was by a three-bay loggia porch. A tall campanile was to be constructed at a later date, together with the Lady Chapel, sacristy, west gallery, presbytery and hall.

" The church was my first essay into the Romansque style of architecture. It has always been one of my favourite works; my only regret is that it has not proved possible to complete the exterior by building the campanile."

"The floor was an interesting experiment in using small pieces of linoleum, in the same manner as marble is used to give a tessalated floor of rich colour and pattern. It follows the traditional effect given by the marble floors in some of the old Basilica in Italy." (view floor)

The walling stone came from the local quarries in Box, but that for the pillars, which have a polished surface, was from Leckhampton, near Cheltenham. The distinctive roof tiles were imported from the Lombardy region of Italy.

The capitals at the top of each pillar are carved with informative motifs. Those on the north side depict scenes from the life of Our Lady, and those on the south side from the life of St Alphege. Those supporting the choir and organ loft depict persons associated with the design and building of the church, including Giles Gilbert Scott. In all there are carvings of 50 scenes by the sculptor William Drinkwater Gough on the 14 pillars. (examples: Scott and Alphege).

The altar is covered with a rectangular canopy or baldachino supported by four gilded oak pillars carved by Stuflesser of Ortieo and decorated by Watts of London. Around the walls of the side aisles the fourteen Stations of the Cross depict Our Lord's journey to his Crucifixion; the bas-relief stone panels beautifully carved in a simple style representative of the 1920s era in which they were created.

Work on the church recommenced after World War 2. The Lady Chapel and sacristy were completed in 1954, the millenial anniversary of the birth of St Alphege, enabling the church to be consecrated. The presbytery and link corridor followed in 1958 and the parish hall in 1959. The west gallery was finished in 1960 enabling the organ to be installed - a fine instrument built in 1915 to demonstrate the quality of craftsmanship produced by its builders, Rushman and Draper of Liverpool. Unfortunately, it was only possible to build the campanile to half its design height at this late date because of the nature of the soil, resulting from the proximity of the adjacent stream. In 1989 the church celebrated its Diamond Jubilee.

  ............  

An Illustrated Booklet about the church is available, containing 24 pages with 8 B/W illustrations, size A5.

A CD of the church is also available containing a Guide Book and a Slide Show , for use with home computers and DVD players. Put the CD into a computer to view or print-out a 42-page A4-size Guide Book with 115 colour photos, detailing:

• The Story of the Building of the Church, and a look around the Church
  
• Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect
  
• The Story of St Alphege
  
• All the Pillar Carvings showing the lives of Our Lady and St Alphege, plus carvings of Giles Gilbert Scott & other figures associated with the building.
  
• The Stations of the Cross carved panels.
  
• St Joseph's Church.