Church of St Edward the Confessor, Kempley

The church was built to the design of Randall Wells (1903-4) and is Grade II* listed. St Edward's was described by John Betjeman as "a mini-cathedral of the Arts and Crafts movement". The church, dedicated to Edward the Confessor, was built as a chapel of ease by the Lord of the Manor and major landowner, William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp, because St Mary's Church, Kempley was too far away from the main centres of population in the parish and liable to flooding. St Edward's became the parish church in 1975 following the redundancy of St Mary's. Wells had acted as William Lethaby's resident architect at All Saints' Church, Brockhampton-by-Ross, (1901–02) where Lethaby's experimentation with…

The church has three sculpted stone reliefs designed by Wells: above the entrance Christ carved by Wells and a local carpenter Walter James; within the porch, a Virgin and Child by Laurence Turner; and on the East wall, the Crucifixion, again by James. The rood, carved by David Gibb, originally from Glasgow and said to have been the last ship's figurehead carver in London, was painted by Wells and his brother Linley, through whom Wells had obtained the commission. The seating, the prayer desk, the rails and the altar were designed by the architect and made in English oak by Peter Waals at the Daneway Workshop, Sapperton, during the partnership of Ernest Gimson and Ernest Barnsley. The…