The Building
Emmanuel Church was designed by Henry
Clutton and built in 1861. It was dedicated in 1892.
Built on land provided
by the owners of nearby Kinnersley and Hartswood Manors, it provided a
place of worship for the local community and in particular for employees of
local landowners, especially those who lived and worked at Kinnersley and
Hartswood Manors. The benefactors also provided a Rectory nearby.
The church consists of a nave, chancel,
north east vestry (former organ chamber), a tower sited at the north east
of the nave and a south porch.
After the war,
restoration and improvements were made. In 1962 the organ was moved from
the Chancel Vestry to a newly constructed gallery at the west end. The
church roof was also retiled.
In 1980, the parish became a plurality with St.
Nicholas', Charlwood. The Rectory was sold and further improvements
were made to the church. The west end of the nave was converted to provide
a choir vestry on the ground floor with sliding doors separating it from
the nave. An accessible toilet and, at first floor level, a meeting room
with kitchen facilities ( known as the Upper Room) were constructed, all
necessitating the extension of the organ gallery to its present position.
Back
Stained Glass
The windows are particularly fine and
many of them were designed by the eminent Victorian artist Henry Holiday.
Like many churches in the land, the church suffered war damage during the
1939-45 war. One bomb that fell in the fields to the south of the church
blew in the south windows of the chancel and cracked the largest east
window, which had to be replaced.
Organ
Installed in 1862, the organ is a fine
example of the early work of J W Walker.
It was enlarged in 1910 to its current size of 2 manuals and pedals with 8
speaking stops and associated couplers. The action is a tracker throughout.
The organ was fully restored in June
2006.
Font
The original Font is sited in the
Churchyard and used for floral displays.
The font now in use in the church was
retrieved from the derelict Chapel of St. Mary and the Angels, Duxhurst.
The brass plaque on the wall behind the Font is a memorial to Lady Henry
Somerset of Reigate Priory, in recognition of her pioneering work at the Duxhurst
Settlement from the late 1890’s until her death in 1921. A few vestments
and ornaments from the Duxhurst Chapel were also given to Emmanuel Church
for safe keeping.
Lych Gate
There is a very fine Lych Gate
commemorating the fallen of the 1939-45 war.
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