St Luke's Church, Buckfastleigh
 Plymouth Rd, Buckfastleigh TQ11 0DA

http://www.stlukes.buckfastleigh.org
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HOLY TRINITY CHURCH ~ ST. LUKE'S CHURCH

Following the fire at Holy Trinity, the original parish church, in 1992 the Parochial Church Council, after much discussion decided to rebuild St Luke's as a modern church in the centre of the town.  This would be a completely new building to offer the people of Buckfastleigh a modern place of worship for Church of England services and including a lounge and a hall for use by the community.

The design of the building started with the wish to seat people close to the altar table and so instead of the mediaeval long narrow church we have a hexagonal shape as well as a separate lounge and a small prayer chapel and an office alongside.  Because the ground slopes we have been able to incorporate a large hall and meeting rooms underneath the ground floor.  All of these rooms are available for use for appropriate activities. The new church is a modern building, rooted in the past but looking to the future.  

 

Our architect was Ronald Weeks, Chairman of Percy-Thomas Partnership, an international firm of architects and designers. Ron was responsible for the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Bristol and also for the new Severn Bridge . Having been born and brought up in Buckfastleigh where he sang in the church choir, Ronald Weeks  was the obvious choice encouraged by the Rev. Timms who was Vicar at that time.

Instrumental to the rebuild of this new church was Rev Timms'  successor, Rev. John Rowland, who despite many set backs stuck with the project to its completion. 



Once inside the church the soaring height of the hexagonal space makes an unforgettable impression.  Light comes in through the glazed areas at a high level so that the artificial theatre type lighting is only needed on dark days. 

THE DESIGN: The new St Luke’s has been planned as a place of worship and prayer in the middle of the community with additional facilities to enable the building to be used every day of the week. 

The Sanctuary is a large area, around which are grouped 250 chairs with an aisle in the middle.  Glass doors lead to the lounge where extra seating can be arranged if required.  Another set of glass doors lead to a chapel on the far side. 

The main entrance is at the side of the worship area so that you walk in past the font and Baptistry, symbolically through baptism into the church.  Lettering is sandblasted into the floor “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ says the Lord, ‘no-one can come to the Father except through Me”.  A light and airy atmosphere is created by use of glass and white painted walls, also giving the church an open and welcoming feel. 

The pattern in white, terracotta and black with a blue background on the sanctuary floor was inspired by a visit to the cathedral in Siena in Tuscany and adapted to the hexagonal shape.

The Prayer Chapel near the entrance has glass blocks interspersed with stained glass windows from the old St Luke’s church which was demolished to make way for the new building.

The Fleche completes the building from outside enabling anyone to see a cross from whichever direction they look at the church. 

Holy Fire : The dance and drama performance that many watched on Easter Day 2004 told our own story of the fire at Holy Trinity and subsequent decision to build our new St Luke's here in the town.  It was an imaginative and moving portrayal of what happened here.  The representation of the flames and smoke licking through the stone walls and destroying all that we held dear was particularly emotive.  Then there was the shock and horror on the faces of those who discovered what had happened, and the symbolic retrieval of the cross from the ruins.  After the clearing up and anguish about what to do next, it was inspiring to see hands reaching up towards heaven in prayer.  Then, behold I make all things new!  We saw lots of activity with plans, builders' hard hats and tools of the building trade.  Everybody was very focused and they all had a job to do.  Finally, to the glorious music of Mozart, here we have the new church all completed. What a moment to savour!  The continuing life of the church was then well represented by the children dancing in and out of the twisting and turning blue river of life, full of energy and vigour.  This is our story and it needs to be told.

St Luke's was awarded joint third prize in the Edward Morshead Award for 2004 at Dartmoor National Park Headquarters.  A presentation ceremony is held annually to highlight special projects which are beneficial to the community and enhance the environment, so a wide variety of activities are covered.  The award was for the development of St Luke's, while other projects such as mine restoration and reconstruction of bronze age huts were among the prizewinners.  Our architect and vicar were both there to receive the cheque and the certificate, which can be seen in the foyer.  

Holy Trinity Church   

The church of Holy Trinity stands on top of the hill between Buckfast and Buckfastleigh  where it is a landmark for miles around, especially at night when the spire is floodlit.  It is a mystery why it was built on top of the hill instead of in the town, but a recent excavation organised by Devon Archaeological Society may have shed some light on this conundrum, as explained in more detail below. 

On the night of 21st July 1992 Holy Trinity Church was almost destroyed by fire, but fortunately the tower was saved, together with the walls and some of the pillars.  

The bells were rescued and later re-hung, while the Norman font is now to be found in the new church of St Luke’s in the town.  

During the excavations, the semi-circular apse and foundations of an earlier church were discovered within the walls of the 13th century building.  In addition, they found three important Anglo-Saxon burials which would suggest that this might actually be the site for the earliest monastic community of Buckfast. 

Holy Trinity continues to be used for occasional services and sometimes by the local drama group.  The churchyard around it is kept tidy and the atmosphere is one of quiet and tranquility with attractive views across the local countryside.  Recently a group of volunteers have started to clear some of the vegetation which has grown up around the oldest tombs – we are looking for a balance with natural wild flowers growing but not concealing the memorials.  

This is a place where residents and visitors find peace in tranquil surroundings.  We hope that you will visit it and use the opportunity to pray in the place where prayers have been said and answered for at least 800 years.  

 

Report of the Holy Trinity Excavation

 At Easter 2002 a small team of archaeologists from several British universities undertook a trial excavation at Holy Trinity Church in Buckfastleigh.  The team opened three small trenches on the north side of the church to investigate the results of a ground penetrating radar survey completed in 1995.  This seemed to indicate that an earlier building may have stood on the site before the present church was built, the earliest parts of which date to the thirteenth century.  All three trenches that were opened proved to be very rich in buried archaeology.  In the first, in the north chancel chapel, part of the wall of an apse was found (a semicircular eastern end, probably dating to the Saxon period), standing on a rubble platform which was built to act as its footings.  In the middle of the north aisle, the probable north-west corner of the early church was located in the form of massive buried limestone walls. 

However, it was in the middle trench, extending north from the nave into the north transept, that some of the most important finds were made.  Here there were parts of what the archaeologists believe is a late Saxon and medieval cemetery.  The Saxon date was suggested by a distinctive kind of grave, known as a charcoal burial, where a body was buried in a charcoal-lined grave.  

The Buckfastleigh example was particularly intricate: in addition to charcoal there was also a coffin and a grave with plastered sides.  Project director Dr Andrew Reynolds commented, "this kind of thing is very unusual and puts Buckfastleigh on a par with important churches from places like Winchester, York and Gloucester.  We were thrilled to find such well-preserved and unusual archaeology".  The charcoal burial had been dug through the mortar floor of the early church, which is also an unusual survival.  Other finds included medieval floor tiles and ridge tiles from the roof.  Precise dates will be available after radiocarbon dating has been completed on a number of samples, but the archaeologists believe that the building they discovered may be the oldest church ever excavated in Devon.  They hope that they will be able to come back to do more work in future years on this very important site.  Dr Sam Turner. 

The Parish rebuilt the spire and cleaned and re-hung the bells which are rung on special occasions. However, they were unable to raise sufficient money to restore the building to its former state. The site  is still used for some weddings and other events


View from hilltop where Holy Trinity Church is located >

Pray with us that the church in its worship, fellowship and witness, will convey the Good News that Jesus brings to our world.  

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