3-028-504 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Croydon New Parish Church, 1870. 'Croydon church, having been rebuilt by Mr. Scott, R.A., was consecrated, on the 5th January, by the Bishop of London, who also preached. The design of the new edifice is in harmony with the original building, which was, it may be remembered, burnt down. The style is Perpendicular, and the plan consists of nave, north and south aisles, chancel, and chancel-aisles...The present building, which is 18 ft. longer than the old church, is by this means rendered of the same seating capacity as its predecessor, which contained galleries. The total cost will be about £35,000...Within the walls of the church were interred the remains of Archbishops Grindall, Whitgift (a great benefactor of Croydon), Sheldon (the founder of the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, whose monument was totally destroyed by the fire), Wake, Potter, and Herring'. The previous medieval building underwent some restoration in the 1850s under the direction of George Gilbert Scott. However, on the night of 5 January 1867, a fire broke out - possibly caused by overheating of the poorly positioned flues of recently installed Gurney stoves - which eventually gutted the entire building. From "Illustrated London News", 1870.