St John Fisher, Rochester

Introduction

The architect was Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel (1887-1959). The church is built of red brick in English bond with stone dressings and a tiled roof. A reconciliation room is located on the north side of the nave.

Architecture and furnishings

The west front doorway has a semicircular pediment displaying the papal tiara and keys below the date '1953'. The Stations of the Cross are finely carved stone reliefs influenced by Eric Gill's Stations at Westminster Cathedral. The sanctuary is dominated by a large ceramic reredos of 1955 by Joseph Ledger, hand-painted by Phyllis Butler. The plan is longitudinal, with a chapel and the sacristy at the northeast.

The west front has a central gabled section flanked by two lower sections under cross roofs. The central part of the west front has a circular gable window above a stone band below which is a canopied statue of St John Fisher flanked by two round-headed windows. The lateral sections of the west facade each have a circular window above paired round-headed windows. The narthex below the organ gallery houses the repository, the stair to the gallery and a storage room.

The six-bay nave has a queen-post roof. At the northeast is the two-bay Blessed Sacrament Chapel (formerly the Lady Chapel). The sanctuary is lit by four windows on either side and has a panelled barrel vault with stencil decoration. The carved decoration of the stone altar with a lily and a crowned M indicates the original dedication.

Above the altar hangs a copy of the San Damiano Cross. There is a memorial plaque to Charles and Rachel Arnold. On either side of the sanctuary arch are statues of Our Lady and St Joseph. The large panel of the reredos depicts St John Fisher with a small image of St Augustine, surrounded by St George, St Thomas of Canterbury, St Justus, St Paulinus, St Michael the Archangel, St William of Perth, St Thomas More and St Andrew.

The individual panels of the reredos are framed in green slate. The canopy above the reredos has square panels painted with elements from St John Fisher's coat of arms (the saltire cross and the leaping fish) and the dove of the Holy Spirit in the central panel. Biblical inscriptions in Latin run around the sanctuary, being verses from John 17:3 and Psalm 34, verse 5. The frontal of the high altar has the arms of St John Fisher, flanked by the ChiRho monogram.

The forward altar is of stone, the lectern and chair are of timber. On either side of the reredos hang two modern paintings signed Don Cox, 1998, depicting Pentecost and Christ. In the southeast corner of the nave is the circular stone font, carved with the ChiRho, the fish symbol and the first line of the Asperges Me (Psalm 51). Nearby, at the east end of the south side of the nave, is a small chapel with a statue of St John Fisher.