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BUILDING THE NEW CHURCH
In 1874 a Building Committee was formed. By 1876 £600 had been raised and John Loughborough Pearson was invited to submit plans for a permanent church. The builders chosen were Goddard and Sons of Dorking. The estimated cost was £15,000, though the final cost was over £16,000. Money was raised by low interest loans of £50 by members of the congregation. Three families pledged half their income
The foundation stone was laid by Horatio, Lord Nelson on 20th April, 1880. According to the Croydon Chronicle of 24th April there was great rejoicing on that day with three celebrations of Mass, Mattins, a public luncheon and tea for 60 or 70 workmen. Cemented into the stone were some coins, a short history of the church, a beautifully illustrated list of the names of Lord Nelson, clergy, church wardens, architect and builders. An excited throng scrambled on to the scaffolding and the officials' platform for a better view as "the stone was lowered into its proper place". But where is it?
The old and new sites overlapped so, as building progressed, the wooden church was gradually demolished - first the south transept, then the aisle, the chapel and part of the choir, squeezing the congregation into an ever narrowing space. When completed Pearson's church was lacking tower and vestries. It was not until 1895 that the commodious new vestries were opened - thus ending the discomfort endured by clergy, choir and servers in the temporary wooden vestries which ran along the north side of the church. The tower has never been completed, though in 1903 the foundations of the porch were already in place and on 19th October, 1913 the porch and part of the tower were dedicated by Archbishop Davidson.
THE ARCHITECTURE
Described by Canon Heazell in 1934 Saint Michael's Church Croydon is one of Mr. Pearson's happiest efforts. It is by no means this famous architect's largest church, but its proportions are so carefully planned that it appears to be much larger than its actual size. The interior possesses great dignity and there is a restful balance of parts to which is added the beauty of simple and quiet detail.
The church is a fine example of Mr. Pearson's traditional style, after the manner of the thirteenth century; its chief characteristic being brick fillings to the panels. Internally, the church is faced with yellow London stock bricks and Bath stone dressings. It is cruciform in plan and consists of nave and choir, both with aisles; there is an ambulatory encircling the apsidal sanctuary. There are north and south transepts with chapels opening out from their eastern sides.
The church has a total internal length of one hundred and fifty feet, the width between the piers is twenty-four feet, and the height of the nave vault is fifty-three feet. There is a western internal porch, or narthex, entered by a door on the north side; this is vaulted at a height of fourteen feet, with a gallery over, and separated from the nave by an arcade of three graceful arches.
The nave is divided into five bays, four only of which have arches opening into the aisles, the western bay being occupied by the narthex. The ground arcades are well proportioned and consist of piers of clustered shafts with moulded bases and capitals. The piers carry simply moulded equilateral arches. The triforium stage is merely a blank wall, six feet in height, and is separated from the arcade and the clerestory by horizontal string courses. The clerestory windows are single lancets widely splayed within. The west end above the gallery over the narthex is completely filled with two broad lancet windows. There is no chancel arch, but in place of this, vaulting ribs with dog-tooth mouldings mark the divisions of the crossing east and west.
The south transept is lighted by a group of three tall lancet windows set high up. The north transept wall is treated differently, having an arcade of four lights, surmounted by a large rose window, which fills the entire space. The choir occupies one bay east of the crossing, beyond which is the sanctuary of two bays and the semi- circular east end of five divisions.
An ambulatory surrounds the chancel, and on the south opens, by means of a second arcade, into the Lady Chapel. This chapel is thirty five feet long, fifteen feet wide, and eighteen feet high; it has a vaulted ceiling supported by four clustered columns. East of the north transept is the Chapel of St. George, behind which runs a vaulted corridor leading to the vestries. Above St. George's Chapel is the organ chamber at a height of twenty-two feet from the floor.
The beautiful organ case occupies the whole space above the western choir aisle and the east wall of the north transept. The high altar stands nine steps above the floor of the nave, and is a little east of the chord of the apse. Behind it is a wooden gradine which carries the altar ornaments, giving a pleasing vista of the coloured windows of the ambulatory. Undoubtedly, the distinctive feature of the whole church is to be found in the architect's skilful use of vaulting, the elegant curves of which are very attractive. The exterior of the church, which is of red brick with Bath stone dressings, is somewhat severe though very dignified. There are two angle turrets on either side of the west window, or two stone spires north and south of the choir aisle rising considerably above the chancel roof. The church is crowned with a lofty fleche covered with copper, which rises to a height of one hundred and twenty feet above the floor of the nave, and forms a landmark in every direction (now, alas, this view is largely obscured by the towering office blocks surrounding the church that have been built in the last forty years). The principal entrance to the church is by the south porch beneath the tower, which at present is built to the height of sixty feet. The architect's design includes a lofty tower and spire.
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