Churches of the British Isles

Christ Church, Emery Down, near Lyndhurst, is on the southern side of the main road through the village. Its origins lie in the fact that, in the mid-nineteenth century, Admiral Frederick Moore Boultbee (1798-1876) visited Emery Down and bought a house here. Construction of the church, along with that of a school and almshouses (Boultbee Cottages), was due entirely to the admiral's generosity and foresight. His house became the vicarage after the death of his niece.

Work on the church was completed in early 1864, with consecration later that year. The architect was William Butterfield FSA (1814-1900), the first Victorian architect to experiment with constructional colour and a pioneer of the High Victorian phase of the Gothic Revival. Christ Church is built of red New Forest brick, with blue diapers detailed in a polychromatic design, and Bath stone. The choir stalls contain unique kneeling boards, to Butterfield's specification.

Our Lady of the Assumption & St Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, Lyndhurst, is at the south-east corner of Empress Road as it turns northwards. It is a fine example of the Early English style of architecture. It was built between 1895-1896, in stone with Bath Stone copings and mouldings. The work was carried out at the behest of Edouard Souberbielle, a French doctor who funded the costs in memory of his wife, Marie Louise, who died while on holiday here.

Lyndhurst Cemetery Chapel lies within the grounds between the Southampton Road and Beaulieu Road to the east of Lyndhurst. Also referred to as Bolton's Bench Cemetery and Whitemoor Cemetery, in 1883, with the churchyard at St Michael's becoming full, the Lyndhurst Burial Board made an application to the Commissioner of Woods and Forests for a plot of land here. Built in 1884-1885 on a former gravel pit, the chapel is in the older, northern section of the cemetery.

Christ Church, Colbury, is on the eastern side of Deerleep Lane, about three hundred metres south of the Hunters Hill junction. It was built in 1870, either by Frederick Ibbotson (the church's own website) or Benjamin Ferrey (Historic England), and was consecrated on 8 March of that year. The walls are of flint with stone dressings for this aisleless nave of four bays with a chancel of three bays. It underwent renovation work in 1993 and the Lady Chapel was opened.

Photos on this page kindly contributed by Karen White, Douglas Law,and John Mottishead, all via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group.