Using the plans and drawings in the ICBS archive

Churches that do not exist

Sometimes a parish wanted to build a church, but the ICBS did not give them funding, or the scheme failed in another way.

For example in 1837 the parishes of Guilsfield and Welshpool (both in Powys) wanted to build a new church in the hamlet of Llanerchbrochwel. The ICBS did not give them the money, and so the church was never built. It might have looked like this:

groundplan and elevation

Looking at the number of seats, and at the proposed position of the church in the landscape, how many people do you think might have attended services had the church been built?

Sometimes a church was built or repaired with money from the ICBS, but has since been demolished, or converted for other purposes. St Erkenwald in Southend (Essex) was built with money from the ICBS in 1910. It was demolished in 1995. Here is a plan of the church that was built. This website [http://www.st-erkenwalds.co.uk] was made by a local man who was fascinated by the church - it includes photographs and lots of information from other sources.

groundplan

See if you can find the ICBS files and plans for the churches described in these other website articles. What do the plans add to the information in the articles?

The discovery of Anglo-Saxon churches - by The Ecclesiological Society
Kirtling Parish Church - by History Trail Church and State (BBCi)

How do the ICBS plans help you with information for your own church?

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Research Guide Table of Contents

Researching the history of your church
Start by looking at the church
Find out more
A few examples from the ICBS