Building MPM776 - CHURCH OF ST SIMON

Anglican Church built between 1864 and 1868 to provide a Parish Church for the new inhabitants of this part of Southsea. Designed by Thomas Hellyer of Ryde in the Neo Early Decorated style, and consecrated in 1868. Built of yellow brick with red brick bands and dressings. The interior has an apsidal chancel, aisled nave of five bays, clerestory, organ loft and chior and clergy vestries. [1,2]

Grade II Church. 1864-66. By Thomas Hellyer of Ryde. Yellow brick in Flemish bond with red brick bands and dressings. Steep pitched Welsh slate roofs, red clay ridge tiles.

STYLE: Neo Early Decorated. PLAN: five bay aisled nave, two bay chancel with polygonal apse, organ loft on south with choir and clergy vestries on north, south-west entrance porch. EXTERIOR: south face: to left is a porch with splayed corner. Boarded door recessed behind stone cusped head and set under pointed yellow gauged brick arch with intermediate red bricks. Brick dentilled eaves and slated lean-to roof. On left within splayed face is a stone two-light geometrical tracery window with gauged brick pointed arch set within facing steep stone coped gable. To right the aisle has four three-light stone reticulated tracery windows, each light with lancet head, sexfoil pane over centre light set under gauged brick pointed arch. Red brick band at springing level and blow stone sills. Flanking brick stepped buttresses. On right is a narrow recessed stone lancet window set under gauged brick pointed arch. Further right is a low projecting porch with boarded door set under gauged brick pointed arch. Facing stone coped gable. On far right is the organ loft projecting from chancel with facing stone coped gable.Two recessed stone cusped lancet windows with stepped brick jambs and head. Nave has six paired two-light reticulated tracery clerestory windows, each set under gauged brick pointed arch. East face: polygonal apse to chancel has five tall two-light traceried stone windows each set under gauged brick pointed arch. Each side of apse is a two-light stone traceried window.

North face: similar to south face except no porch and at east end is a flat roofed vestry and boiler house. West face of nave has diagonal stepped buttress to each corner and two taller central buttresses each terminating with a pedimental stone cop. Facing stone coped gable at centre between buttresses is a low lean-to roofed porch with three small recessed stone cusped headed windows each set under a flat stone arch. To left and right are three narrow stone lancet headed windows, each set under gauged brick pointed arch. Centre of nave at high level is a tall three-light with flanking two-light reticulated stone windows, each set under a gauged brick pointed arch.

INTERIOR: north and south arcades to aisles have stone columns supporting stepped red and yellow brick pointed arches, each with brick roll moulded and label. Set within the arcade spandrels are circular panels in red and yellow brick inscribed with the Beatitudes. Clerestory windows set under patterned yellow and red brick pointed arches. Nave has queen post roof with diagonal boarded ceiling to rafter soffits, and aisles have lean-to boarded ceilings. Boarded ceiling to chancel. Full height chancel arch with red and yellow brick pointed arch springing from brick piers, each with three tier slim stone column set within recessed corner of brickwork. North and south arcade to chancel, each with central stone column with flanking brick pilasters. Two brick pointed arches lead to organ loft at south and vestries to north. Over each opening is a small five bay open clerestory, each with pointed brick arch springing from paired stone short columns with abacus. Below each of the five apsidal windows is a recessed panel with patterned tiled mural; centre three panels have pointed heads and contain texts. Two bays at west end have inserted late C20 partition to form church centre. Chancel has stained glass windows. [2]

<1> Offord, J, 1989, Churches, Chapels and Places of Worship on Portsea Island (Bibliographic reference). SPM39.

<2> Historic England, The National Heritage List for England (Index). SPM35.