Nottingham St Philip

Features and Fittings

Chancel altar

This was originally just a rectangular oak table covered with a frontal.

In 1925 a reredos made by a local builder Mr Mayfield was added at a cost of £25. At the same time the altar was raised on two steps at a cost of another £7. The reredos was the same width as the altar. It was also made of oak stained to medium brown. It had five panels, the central one reaching to the pediment had a cinquefoil head, the two either side were slightly shorter and narrower with trefoil heads, the outer pair were both lower and narrower but had cinquefoil heads. The space between the heads of the lower panels and the pediment were filled with blind tracery.

On either side of the reredos a full-length red drape was suspended on a brass rail.

Altar Rail – Chancel

An oak rail supported on cast iron shafts with ornate cantilevers.

St Luke’s Chapel altar

This altar was moved from St Luke’s church and installed in St Philip’s in 1925. It was a plain oak table covered with a red frontal cloth. The oak reredos also formed the corridor between the nave and the entrance to the organ chamber, which also housed the organ-blowing equipment and bell rope.

Altar Rail – St Luke’s Chapel

Similar to the one at the high altar but the cantilevers were not so substantial or ornate. It is not known if this rail also came from St Luke’s.

South Aisle Chapel Altar

A wooden table on turned legs was installed in this area during the latter part of the church’s life, possibly in the late 1950s or early 1960s; it too had a red frontal cloth.

Seating

Chairs mainly joined together in rows. They were made from beech wood and highly polished. There were nineteen rows on each side of the nave and in each aisle. Some rows had fewer chairs to allow for the clerestory pillars. Seating capacity was about 500.

Choir stalls

Three rows of stalls on either side of the chancel with an additional two-seat row to the left of the organ. All were of oak, panelled and finished in a medium oak colour.

The interior, c1910-14

Lectern

Originally a wooden lectern was located on the chancel step in line with the central aisle. It is in a central position on a 1910-14 photograph of church interior. It appears to have a crossed base supporting a four-piece crossed shaft carrying the carved fronted reading slope. By the 1950s it had been replaced by a brass model, topped with by an eagle with extended wings and relocated to the left close to the pulpit.

Pulpit

An octagonal wooden pulpit with two pierced panels in each face was positioned just in front of the chancel arch on the south side. It is visible on the 1910-14 photograph.

Priests’ Seats

On either side of the chancel step set close to the wall were two high backed wooden seats for the use of the clergy. Close to each one there was a reading desk with a sloping top supported on lightly carved planked uprights.

Bishop’s Seat

A cross-framed wooden chair was located in the sanctuary to the left of the altar. It had a solid wooden seat and a pierced back-panel.

Font

An octagonal cream-coloured stone font capped by a plain wooden cover embellished by a large brass handle was at the west-end of the church. It was raised on a separate plinth. The column supporting the bowl then rose from a basal plinth continuing upwards in a concave curve to the bowl. This lower section was carved from one piece of stone. Each of the eight panels of the bowl had a carved inset motif with a circle, some were stylized roses but at least one had a cross.