| |
|
Rosebery
Road Methodist Church, Norwich
 |
|
Rosebery
Road runs between Angel Road and St Clement's
Hill in New Catton, to the north of the city
centre, and this elegant little church is
signposted from both ends. The foundation stones
give the date of opening as March 12th 1908, and
looking at the cast iron signposts I thought that
they were probably original, dating from the days
when the church was built. The housing of
Rosebery Road is of a similar date. In 1958,
fifty years after the church was opened, it was
gutted by fire, and so presumably none of the
original furnishings have survived. The church
website tells us that many
organisations... helped raise funds for the
restoration - it would be nice to think that
this would be just as true if it happened today.
Last year, Rosebery Road Methodist Church
celebrated its centenary.
|
This red
brick structure is roughly Perpendicular in style, and is
similar to the contemporary Bramford Road Methodist
Church in Ipswich. One nice touch here, though, is the
pair of towers which flank the frontage. They taper
assymetrically, in a manner reminiscent of the work of
Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow and elsewhere, and
it would not be fanciful to see a hint of East Anglian
Art Nouveau about them.
| Otherwise,
all is familiar from other churches of this
denomination at the turn of the 20th Century,
when it was reaching the peak of its influence.
This is one of several Norwich churches where a
foundation stone was unveiled by the local MP,
Sir George White, whose name is a common one to
find on buildings in the city. Today,
Methodist congregations are hemorrhaging faster
than just about any other, and although this
still seems a lively church, it will be important
in the future that fine buildings like this one
are not lost to us. It is a pity that it was not
recorded in even the revised Norfolk Pevsner;
not only would this be a reminder to future
generations of its significance, but might also
have let us know who the architect was.
|
 |
|
|
|
