St Gilbert & St Hugh's Church

Why the Church is Special

The Church of St Gilbert and St Hugh was designed by William Bucknall and Sir John Ninian Comper and built in 1902/03. The design of the church is quite extraordinary and possibly unique and was undoubtedly influenced by the "Arts & Crafts" movement which was most popular at the time.

Born in 1864, Comper is known as one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects, designing both churches and stained glass windows.  Comper met Bucknall in 1888 and set up a partnership with him in Westminster. Comper married Bucknall's sister and together they had 6 extraordinarily successful children including Nick Comper, one of Britain's most brilliant and influential aeronautical engineers of the early 1930's. He was best known for the design and manufacture of the 'Comper Swift' light aircraft.

Sir John Ninian Comper's father, a priest, died suddenly whilst giving strawberries to poor children in Cuthie Park, Aberdeen and so from 1903 the strawberry became Comper's signature. The Church of St Gilbert & St Hugh which was completed in 1903 includes his strawberry signature.

Sir John was knighted in 1950 and following his death in December 1960 his ashes were buried beneath the windows he designed in Westminster Abbey.

Click below to read the details of the Grade 2 listing for this church from Historic England:
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1146623

Our Friends Group

By 1996 the Parochial Church Council realised that drastic steps needed to be taken to restore the Church to its former glory. Quotations were sought and several grants were found and so in 2001 the restoration work started. Unfortunately this almost depleted the Church funds and so 10 years later it was agreed to start a 'Friends of SS Gilbert & Hugh' specifically to cover the ongoing renovations and maintenance of the Church and Church Hall so that they can be enjoyed by future generations.

For more information and how to join the Friends group please contact Revd Ian Walters on  ianrwalters(use the usual at symbol)outlook.com 

Would you like to help the Friends raise money to keep this important but small church safe, without spending a single penny? 

It's easy......... please give it a try.

Click on this link to register your support: www.easyfundraising.org.uk

Follow the instructions which are really easy and then when you shop with Amazon, Argos, M&S, Tesco, eBay and over 2000 other retailers, they give money to the church.  It doesn't cost you a penny, and you could even save money with special offers and voucher codes.