Christian's early work on churches in the 1840s had importantly led to the beginnings of this success.
Soon after establishing himself in Bloomsbury Square he produced the winning design in the competition for St. John the Evangelist, Hildenborough, in Kent, his first church, completed in 1844.
Notably, the church was in Christian's favourite Early English Gothic style, built in stone with tall, pointed lancet windows and was of a preaching church form, very broad, open and spacious inside, centring attention on the sermon during services.
This reflected Christian's own preferences and strictly held belief, being a serious and rather forbidding low-church Anglican.
His Evangelical religion was deeply woven into his life; he regularly worshipped at St. John's Chapel, Downshire Hill, in Hampstead, and was for more than 35 years a Sunday School teacher and superintendent there.
He read Matthew Henry's (1662–1714) Exposition of the Old and New Testaments(1708–10) every day and always kept Sunday free of business.
His fondness for incorporating into his designs improving mottoes, proverbs and biblical quotations perhaps expresses this aspect of him – 'Thwaitehead' the house he built for himself in Hampstead displayed his favourite, "God's Providence Is Mine Inheritance", while his own office bore the motto "Trust And Strive".
After his success at Hildenborough Christian began work on Illustrations of Skelton Church, Yorkshire, his only book, published in 1846.
The Church of St. Giles in Skelton, York, is a small perfect example of the Early English style of Gothic architecture which Christian so admired and was built about the year 1247 probably by the masons of York Minster's south transept.
It must have been a delight for Christian when he was later appointed to restore the church, providing it with an impressive new open timber roof in 1882.
Some of the drawings for the publication were done by J. K. Colling (1816–1905), a friend and fellow pupil from their time in Habershon and Brown's offices.
Colling was a master draughtsman and later provided foliage designs for the interior decoration of Christian's National Portrait Gallery.
Christian gained some recognition from these achievements, particularly from supporters of the Gothic Revival in architecture, and he went on to win the competition for the restoration of St. Mary's Church, Scarborough in 1847 which he called 'the cornerstone of success'.
That year Christian was appointed Consulting Architect to the Lichfield Diocesan Church Building Society and also became a consulting architect to the Incorporated Church Building Society, a body established in 1818 for funding the building and restoration of churches throughout the country.
Christian later became Chairman of its Architects Committee.
Christian's early work on churches in the 1840s had importantly led to the beginnings of this success. Soon after establishing himself in Bloomsbury Square he produced the winning design in the competition for St. John the Evangelist, Hildenborough, in Kent, his first church, completed in 1844. Notably, the church was in Christian's favourite Early English Gothic style, built in stone with tall, pointed lancet windows and was of a preaching church form, very broad, open and spacious inside, centring attention on the sermon during services. This reflected Christian's own preferences and strictly held belief, being a serious and rather forbidding low-church Anglican. His Evangelical religion was deeply woven into his life; he regularly worshipped at St. John's Chapel, Downshire Hill, in Hampstead, and was for more than 35 years a Sunday School teacher and superintendent there. He read Matthew Henry's (1662–1714) Exposition of the Old and New Testaments(1708–10) every day and always kept Sunday free of business. His fondness for incorporating into his designs improving mottoes, proverbs and biblical quotations perhaps expresses this aspect of him – 'Thwaitehead' the house he built for himself in Hampstead displayed his favourite, "God's Providence Is Mine Inheritance", while his own office bore the motto "Trust And Strive".After his success at Hildenborough Christian began work on Illustrations of Skelton Church, Yorkshire, his only book, published in 1846. The Church of St. Giles in Skelton, York, is a small perfect example of the Early English style of Gothic architecture which Christian so admired and was built about the year 1247 probably by the masons of York Minster's south transept. It must have been a delight for Christian when he was later appointed to restore the church, providing it with an impressive new open timber roof in 1882. Some of the drawings for the publication were done by J. K. Colling (1816–1905), a friend and fellow pupil from their time in Habershon and Brown's offices. Colling was a master draughtsman and later provided foliage designs for the interior decoration of Christian's National Portrait Gallery. Christian gained some recognition from these achievements, particularly from supporters of the Gothic Revival in architecture, and he went on to win the competition for the restoration of St. Mary's Church, Scarborough in 1847 which he called 'the cornerstone of success'. That year Christian was appointed Consulting Architect to the Lichfield Diocesan Church Building Society and also became a consulting architect to the Incorporated Church Building Society, a body established in 1818 for funding the building and restoration of churches throughout the country. Christian later became Chairman of its Architects Committee.
Ewan Christian