Charles Church is a now derelict church in the UK. It was the second oldest parish church in Plymouth, Devon, England.

Overview The church was founded around 1640, but not completed for many years. It is a Gothic style church, consisting of a west tower, with spire, a nave with north and south aisles, north and south porches, and a chancel with vestry. The tower was completed in 1708, and the original wooden/lead covered spire was replaced by a stone spire in 1766.

During the nights of 21 and 22 March 1941, the church was entirely burned out by incendiary bombs during the Plymouth Blitz. When World War II ended it was decided not to rebuild the church. In 1958, at a service conducted by the vicar of the parish, J Allen James, the church was dedicated as a memorial for the 1,200 civilian deaths in air raids.

There have been several histories written about the church; most of them focus on the fabric of the building rather than the spiritual life of the church and ministers.

Significance The church was an important centre of spiritual life for the city for 300 years as it was the mother of many younger churches and boasted a number of important clergy. Although the building is now a monument, the tradition of ministry at "Charles" is not lost and is carried on by the Parish of Charles with St Matthias, one of its daughter churches. It is an important landmark for the city of Plymouth. St Andrew's Church is now the mother church of Plymouth.

History

Legal founding (1634–1641)

In 1634, the mayor and thirty members of the council assembled and passed a resolution to petition King Charles I, for permission to divide the old Parish of Plymouth into two and build a second church.

The reason for a second church was not that the existing Church of St Andrew was too small (it could comfortably seat 1,200 and the population was around 8,000 at the time), but rather one of religious controversy. Plymouth had grown into a Puritan town. This is hinted at by the Pilgrim fathers who felt at home here, "kindly entertained and courteously used by divers friends there dwelling". Mayflower Steps, photos and history of Plymouth Past and Present Theological differences between the Anglican Church and the mainly Presbyterian Puritan clergy meant that the High Anglican king did not see eye to eye with the townsfolk on religious matters.

Tensions grew between the king and the town over St Andrew's. In addition to the minister the town regularly appointed a "lecturer" to supplement the minister in his ministry. This lecturer might listen to the minister's morning sermon and refute it in his own evening sermon. Battles were fought over the choice of ministers for the church and at times the king ordered the town's choice to be refused admission or tried to appoint his own lecturer.

This tension led to King Charles to ignore the request for a second church for seven years. Eventually Robert Trelawny, who had become Member of Parliament for Plymouth (and despite his royalist sympathy) persuaded the king to act. On 21 April 1641 the letters patent were signed and sealed. An Act of Parliament was passed on 6 July 1641 and given royal assent on 7 August. It cost the town £150.

The old parish was split in two and the new parish was to the east; The King insisted the church be named after himself. St Andrew's came to be known as "the Old church" and Charles Church "the New church", titles that stuck for a long time. The Act stipulated that no clergyman could hold both livings.

The plot of land first sited close to Sutton Pool was unsuitable as the extended parish boundaries would make it less accessible, so a second plot of was found and given to the church by a William Warren who received both a burial plot inside the church and a seat inside. It was well located for the houses of the parish and fairly close to the ruins of a 12th-century Carmelite monastery.

Building work (1641–1904)

Building commenced immediately in 1641 but was halted the following by the English Civil War as men were needed for the defence of the town. The church remained in that state until 1645 when the town was relieved; staunchly Protestant, Plymouth sided with Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians; it held out against the King's men throughout the Civil War, almost alone in a Royalist West Country.

There is evidence that the incomplete church was used for stabling horses during the siege. However, it appears that some parts were used for worship. A wedding is recorded on 10 May 1644, baptisms from January 1645 and burials from 4 August 1646 (some pages have been lost so there may have been earlier ones). The oldest communion plate is hallmarked 1646. Although the church was not consecrated until 2 September 1665, the first minister (Francis Porter) was in place as the preaching minister from 1643. A glance at the map of the besieged city in 1643 reveals that the church is marked but without a roof on the plan.

After the war, work began again, albeit slowly due to financial difficulties. Eventually, the church was finished in 1657 although a spire was not added until 1708 and the tower covered in a cap of wood instead. Once complete the church stood out from the city. It was one of the leading examples of a post-Reformation Gothic style church in the country. The architect was thought to be a disciple of William of Wykeham.

The conveyancing happened very shortly before the consecration twenty-four years after the church was started. Francis Porter, who was Presbyterian, conformed and kept his living and the church was consecrated by Bishop Seth Ward of Exeter on 2 September 1665 (after the restoration of the monarchy). In 1670 the churchyard was consecrated. The consecration caused a little controversy as the bishop wanted to dedicate the church to "Charles, King and Martyr". The Puritans insisted the church be named according to the letters Patent of 1641 signed in Charles's own hand. (The bishop succeeded in dedicating the Church of King Charles the Martyr in nearby Falmouth.)

Francis Porter died in 1675. There followed four ministers until Thomas Martin. Martin completed the tower with a wooden spire coated with lead (replaced in 1767 with a stone spire).

Towards the end of the 18th century Dr Robert Hawker became the church's minister. He was an Evangelical, and was extremely popular as a preacher. The church expanded in numbers and galleries were created in 1815, with the first daughter church, Charles Chapel, also being built at that time.

Charles Church was a Gothic styled church. It consisted of a west tower, with spire; nave with north and south aisles; north and south porches and chancel with north vestry. The tower was completed in 1708 and was originally surmounted by a wooden lead covered spire. This was later to be blown off in strong winds and replaced by the stone spire in 1766. It was said at the time that witches had knocked the wooded spire off with their broomsticks.

In 1708 the West Gallery was erected. Six bells were added to the church in 1709 and a chiming clock was given in 1719.

The porches were added to the church in 1864. The south porch, located in the centre of the south aisle had a 17th-century pointed outer doorway – this is still visible today in the ruins of the church. The fire caused by the blitz revealed a doorway in the north wall of the church.

+ List of Alterations and Restorations (slightly abridged) 1787 Sunday school begun by Dr Hawker 1796 Lower churchyard paved and walled 1798 Foundation of "Household of Faith" school laid 1815 North and South galleries erected 1816 New pulpit 1824 Higher West Burial ground opened 1828 Alterations – new pulpit, new west gallery, new fronts to gallery, new pews 1832 Higher East Burial ground opened 1846 Organ erected 1851 Tower and spire repaired 1864 Church entirely renovated – new porches, staircases, reredos, east windows, gas standards 1869 Four windows inserted in north and south walls 1872 Windows inserted in the south aisle in memory 1876 New gates and piers near vestry 1884 Churchyard alterations complete 1887 Restoration of church approved 1888 Removal of pews and chairs substituted, north and south galleries removed, window erected in north aisle 1889 Northwest porch finished 1889 Windows inserted in north aisle in memory 1891 Window inserted in northwest porch in memory 1893 New vestry erected 1898 Eight bells in steeple rehung and two treble bells given 1901 Restoration of the organ 1904 Erection of the memorial hall

Attendance figures in 1851

The 1851 church census gives us some idea of what a normal attendance would have been like although it is by no means accurate. On 30 March 1851 the attendances were:

+ Results of 1851 censusChurchMorningAfternoonEvening Charles Church Adults 823 296 935 Children 213 213 --- St Andrew's Church – Note: 1,400 free and 1000 other seats Adults 1,600 1,000 1,600 Children 200 --- --- Charles Chapel (St Luke's the daughter church) Adults 500 --- 500/600 Children --- --- ---

Plymouth combined returns Population: 52,221 Percentage sittings per person: 45.6% Number of sittings: 23,805 Additional sitting required to seat 58% population: 6,483

From the figures it is clear that the Charles Chapel and St Andrew's figures are estimated and little care was taken over them (if they were returned at all and not estimated by the census makers). The Charles figures have a ring of authenticity about them and this may indicate that they are accurate.

The question of how many sittings Charles had is difficult to arrive at. The church had three galleries in addition to its pews. The church is approximately half the size of St Andrew's. A figure of 900 sittings is given by the one author in 1977 although this is not clear whether or not all the galleries were taken into account. Charles Church was popular and may have been full that morning. Nationally there were a large number of absences on that day so we must presume that the church could seat over 1,000.

On the day of the census there was a total of 2,480 attendances. This is probably made up of a large number of "twicers". In 1827 it was estimated that the parishioners numbered 10,000 and it was clear that there was a need for more churches.

Expansion of daughter churches (1829–1910)

The Victorian period was a boom time for the church building. The 1851 census discovered a need for more sitting (the 58% population noted above). Nationally the population grew from 19 million in 1861 to 30.5 million in 1901. This population growth was in the towns and not in the country. The need became apparent for more churches to meet the spiritual needs of increasing numbers parishioners. People started moving out from the centre of the towns to the suburbs and Plymouth was no exception as the population increased steadily from the early 18th century to 1814. As Charles parish extended a great distance anyway there was a large increase in population.

+ The Daughter churches of Charles 1 July 1829 St Luke's (Charles Chapel) 21 June 1855 St John Sutton-on-Plym 19 September 1870 Emmanuel 27 November 1876 St Jude 25 October 1887 St Matthias (now Charles with St Matthias) 15 October 1904 St Augustine 26 September 1907 St Simon 26 July 1910 St Gabriel

Charles Church went on to seed eight daughter churches from 1829 through to 1910. The first came about following the death of Hawker. His curate Septimus Courtney was expected by the congregation to become priest, but he was succeeded by James Carne. A protest meeting resulted in the building of the first daughter church of Charles in 1827 called Charles Chapel (later it became a parish and was renamed St Luke's).

The church, under the influence of the evangelicals, was extremely active, and many new church buildings and alternations were made in this time. Charles is no exception and a large number of developments and restorations were made to the building during that period.

Missions and Education