St Catherine's Church, Hoarwithy

St Catherine's Church, Hoarwithy
Church of St Catherine, Hoarwithy
Church of St Catherine, Hoarwithy
St Catherine's Church, Hoarwithy Location in Herefordshire
Coordinates: 51°57′41″N 2°39′45″W / 51.9613°N 2.6625°W / 51.9613; -2.6625
Location	Hoarwithy, Herefordshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	[1]
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	26 March 1987
Architect(s)	John Pollard Seddon
Architectural type	Church
Groundbreaking	c.1870
Completed	1901
Administration
Parish	Hentland
Diocese	Diocese of Hereford
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Elizabeth Davies
Assistant priest(s)	Revd Frances Phillips

The Church of St Catherine is a Church of England parish church at Hoarwithy in the English county of Herefordshire. Brooks and Pevsner describe it as "the most impressive Victorian church in the county. Designed in an Italian Romanesque style by the architect John Pollard Seddon for the Revd William Poole, vicar of Hentland with Hoarwithy, it is a Grade I listed building.

The original chapel on the site was a "brick building" of the 1840s which Poole considered; "An ugly brick building with no pretensions to any style of architecture." Coming into his inheritance in 1870, Poole commissioned Seddon to undertake a total rebuilding. The building history is "unclear"; designs were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1874, and the main building period appears to have been 1878-79, although English Heritage records much work as post-dating 1885. Brooks and Pevsner consider that this may relate "largely to the internal decoration." Work has continued into the 21st century with the addition of the "Dubricius" polyptych by the artist Edward Kelly, and the restoration of the organ.

The church has an "imposing campanile," of four storeys, with an open arcaded ground floor. The church is of sandstone, which encases the brick structure of 1840. A North porch is linked to the arcades of the campanile by a loggia.Historic England describes the design of the church as "eclectic Rundbogenstil" with "Byzantine, French, Venetian, Lombardic, Tuscan and Sicilian Romanesque influences."Simon Jenkins considers the church; "a complete work of revivalist art, rare for its date, an astonishing creation."