St Luke's Church - Saint Luke's Road, Cheltenham, UK - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

St Luke's website tells us:

St. Luke’s was built in a wave of growth in the mid-1850's. Services were held for a while in school premises on Bath Road but in response to the need a new church building was erected.

The building was consecrated on 7th November 1854. It was designed by F W Ordish and from the beginning followed the style which the Victorians called “Geometric Decorated Gothic”. Today the tower is fairly substantial but the oddly-shaped “broaches” on its corners betray the original intention to build a tower some 40 feet higher still!

The local edition of “The Buildings of England” noted the “ugly fat broaches” but states that St. Luke’s has many details that are “delightfully peculiar” including the window traceries. Look out, too, for the painted carvings of angels and bishops in the corners of the church.

The church was built partly as a chapel for Cheltenham College, whose boys had previously attended Christ Church. It was designed to seat 1,100 people and, at various times, it has had 3 separate galleries in use.

The church is Grade II listed with the entry at the English Heritage website telling us:

Church. 1853-54. By Frederick W Ordish of London. Promoter, the Rev Close; partly intended for schoolboys from nearby Cheltenham College. Cost »5,738. Chancel enlarged 1866 by John Middleton. Interior carvings probably by Boultons of Cheltenham. Drilled Cotswold stone with ashlar quoins and dressings and with plain tile roof. Middle Pointed style.

PLAN: cruciform, with west tower; 4-bay aisled nave with clerestory and south porch, crossing with north and south transepts, 4-bay chancel with south lady chapel, north vestry, west tower has heavily broached spire.

EXTERIOR: chamfered plinth; diagonal offset buttresses. South porch: pointed doorway has plank doors in triple-chamfer to head with hollow and roll moulding. Aisles have 3-light windows in 4-centre arched surrounds with Decorative-type tracery to heads ('highly original, unorthodox, and complicated tracery, each one different', Verey). Clerestory windows are quatrefoils in circle. Further entrance to west end at base of tower: pointed doorway with 4 orders of arches to head with hollow and roll moulding and hoodmould on foliate stops. Above a tall 3-light windows with Decorated-type tracery to pointed head, hoodmould with face stops; clock to west side; upper stage has 2-light pointed belfry openings on continuous sill band and with impost band; lucarnes to spire. Similar 3-light windows to transepts and to chancel with 5-light east window, hoodmould; Lady Chapel has lancet lights to side and 3-light window to east, similar to vestry at north.

INTERIOR: nave has double-chamfered pointed arches on alternate octagonal and 4-columnar piers with wider octagonal piers to crossing, double-chamfered pointed arches to tower and side chapels, similar arches to transepts on 1/2 octagonal pillars. Double chamfered chancel arch with ovolo moulding hollow-moulded hood on corbels carved with figures and foliage. Tower has wooden screen and double doors with stained glass cusped lancets; gallery over. Chancel (enlarged and enhanced by Middleton) has arcade of 3 pointed openings with double-chamfered heads. Chancel windows have black marble columns and moulding to head, hollow-moulded hoodmould with headstops. East end ornately carved with outer lozenges with foliate infill and septfoil panels with lily, primrose, lily of the valley etc. Above a frieze with inlaid decoration of coloured stone. Around altar an arcade with finials and pinnacles and mosaic panels within with symbols of the 4 Evangelists, on black marble plinth, and incorporating sedilia (to south) and piscina (to north); angles playing instruments to arches. Capitals have foliate decoration. Behind altar an arcade on coloured marble plinth and 'banner' inscribed 'Do this often in remembrance of me', cusped panels have faces in relief of 4 Evangelists with Christ to centre. Scissor roof on corbel faces, to nave and transepts; panelled roof to chancel. South transept has wrought-ironwork screen brought from St John's Church (since demolished); altar rail has ornate scrolled 'balusters'. Octagonal font with symbols of the Apostles on black marble pillars and with oak cover. Coalbrookedale tiled floor throughout. Octagonal oak pulpit with perpendicular-type decoration. Pine pews.

HISTORICAL NOTE: interior carving has similarities with that of Church of the Holy Apostles, London Road, Charlton Kings (qv), known to be by Boultons. A complex roofscape that enhances the exterior appearance and interest of the exterior. Standing as it does in the middle of a small square, the church makes an important contribution to the townscape of the area. Notable for the variety and richness of its exterior tracery.

The church's website (http://www.stlukes-church.org.uk/about-st-lukes/our-services/) lists the times of services:

At St. Luke’s you will find different flavours of worship: standard and more innovative services, traditional and modern music, the organ and the drum kit. We’re trying to give everybody a chance to worship God in a genuine way.

We run an inclusive all-age worship service, called SundayONE, on the first Sunday of each month. Our normal monthly service pattern is:
8am  Holy Communion
  
10am  1st Sunday  All-Age Worship
 2nd Sunday  Holy Communion
 3rd Sunday  Morning Worship
 4th Sunday  Holy Communion
 5th Sunday  Morning Worship 

Children’s groups meet during the services every Sunday except the 1st.
On the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month we also celebrate Holy Communion, at 10am.

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