St Mary's Church, Pixham

Image: © Stefan Czapski Taken: 9 Jun 2012

At the corner of Leslie Road and Pixham Lane. By no means a typical Surrey church. The design is, in fact, an early work by Edwin Lutyens, circa 1900. Lutyens grew up at Thursley, in south-west Surrey, and his early commissions in that area seem to be inspired by local tradition, making much use of traditional materials http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2453442. The church he designed for Pixham shows signs of a more independent attitude. Curiously, this church was overlooked by Prof. Pevsner and Ian Nairn when they compiled the Surrey volume of 'The Buildings of England' in 1962 - being included only when Bridget Cherry revised the volume in 1971. For the listing text see http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-404266-pixham-church-dorking Update, October 2014: I can't help thinking that Lutyens was influenced by CH Townsend's design for the little church at Blackheath, south-east of Guildford http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4211955 The similarity between the façades (west-fronts) of the two buildings is undeniable, especially as Lutyens doesn't stray far from Townsend's yellow-ochre and terracotta 'palette'. Rather cleverly - I think - Lutyens uses a miniature version of Townsend's open bellcote, bringing it forward to make it part of the overall composition of the west front. On the other hand, Lutyens didn't retain Townsend's overhanging eaves, which seems to me a pity.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0