English Lutheran Church - Lawrence, Kansas - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

The English Lutheran Church (c. 1870, 1900, 1936, 1941, 1992-1993) is located at 1040 New Hampshire in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas (pop. 52,738). The two-story, rusticated limestone, Gothic Revival church sits on a limestone block foundation and is surmounted by an asphalt shingled, cross-gable roof. A bell tower rises from the southwest corner. The spire surmounting the bell tower is covered with metal shingles. The building has an eastern facade orientation with overall measurements of approximately forty-six feet east to west and seventy-eight feet north to south. In 1905 a parsonage was built south of the church and in 1917 a garage was built.

The English Lutheran church is an example of the picturesque Gothic Revival church. The shift toward Gothic in church design "was in large measure the result of the revival in interest in liturgy promulgated by the Cambridge Society in England, and The Ecclesioloqist which it published, as well as by branch societies in the United States." The Gothic Revival style is characterized by a steeply pitched roof, wall surface extending into gable without break and windows that extend into the gable.

The Gothic Revival church, echoing its medieval inspiration, creates a picturesque effect by variety, irregularity, and contrasts. The tower with a belfry is important as a symbol and as a design element. It may be flat, topped by a spire, or rise from the roof ridge as a bell cote. Omnipresent pointed-arch window openings may be single or grouped and of various shapes.

The church was constructed in two phases, 1870 and 1900. The 1870 building had an overall rectangular form and was surmounted by a gable roof. In 1900 the church enlarged to the east with a north/south gable expansion to incorporate a Sunday school. During this time one of the four windows on the north elevation was filled in. The west facade has better construction than either the north or south elevations. Overall, though, the second phase of stone masonry is better constructed than the first. The church is surmounted by an asphalt shingled, cross-gable roof.

The exterior of the church is constructed of rusticated limestone quarried locally at Mount Oread. The corners are defined with large rusticated quoins. The quoins are more pronounced on the 1900 building expansion. The lintels and lancet arches on the 1870 building phase have tooled edges and a pointed face. The 1900 expansion lintels and lancet arches, though, are roughly finished. The rusticated limestone surface of the walls contrasts with the cut stone trim around the doors and windows.

The west facade constructed in 1870 is composed of three lancet windows and the bell tower. A limestone water table located approximately a foot from the ground is finished with the same trim as the limestone surmounting the lancet windows. Entry into the church occurs through the bell tower located on the southwest corner. The bell tower entry has a contemporary door but it is speculated that the jamb is from the second building phase. Two lancet vents pierce the second story of the tower. Both the door and double grouping of lancet windows are surmounted with limestone lancet arches that are finished with a pointed surface and tooled edge. The bell tower is surmounted with a metal shingled spire. On top of the spire is a cross painted with a neon border.