As of 22 April 2018[update], The Rev. Phillip Johnson
The first completed work by the renowned architect
Sir Walter Tapper, this is a Grade II listed church in the parish of Malvern Link and Cowleigh. The church was the gift of Louisa Vavasour Livingstone in memory of her husband Arthur Guinness Livingstone, the former Archdeacon of Sudbury.[1] The foundation stone was laid on 19 December 1902, and dedicated by Bishop
Charles Gore of Worcester on 3 October 1903.[2]
As the church was paid for entirely by Mrs Livingstone, the parish used funds allocated to a planned Mission Hall for Newtown to instead build the hall adjacent to the Church.[2]
The grounds have not been consecrated for burial.[2]
Exterior
The design is in the
Early English style with
lancet windows, and features a stone relief of the Ascension by
Harry Hems[1] on the tower. Twelve yew trees line a path to the main South door. There is no other external decoration. The nave roof is of Cumberland slate and the stonework is from Guiting quarry in the Cotswolds.[2]
The tower contained two bells until the sixties, when they were sold to raise money for electrical work.[2]
The
chancel screen, the
font cover and the cross and candlesticks on the altar are the work of George Bainbridge Reynolds, while the
rood is the work of an unknown artist from
Oberammergau.[2]
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abcdefghSmith, Rev. David S. M. (2003). The Church of the Ascension: A History and Guide (4th ed.). The Warden and District Church Council of the Church of the Ascension.