St Agatha's, Landport

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50°48′9″N, 1°5′20″WCoordinates: 50°48′9″N, 1°5′20″W

St Agatha’s

St Agatha’s from Cascades Car Park
Building information
Town Portsmouth
Country England
Architect J. Henry Ball
Client Anglican Church
Engineer W.R Light and Son of Southsea
Construction start date 1838
Completion date 1894
Date demolished 1895
Cost £3,250
Structural system Basilican
Style Italianate Romanesque


St Agatha’s Landport is an historic church in the Landport district of Portsmouth. Originally situated in an area of extreme deprivation[1]today it stands proudly alone, the “Cathedral of the car parks”[2] in the city’sshopping district. A magnificent building[3] it replaced a much simpler mission church[4]. The church was built due to the inspirational leadership of FatherRobert William Radclyffe Dolling, an Irish Anglo-Catholic priest whose social conscience lead him to fight against a range of domestic ills for his impecunious parishioners. At the same time he was able to charm astonishing amounts of money out of the wealthy residents of nearby Old Portsmouth[5]. The inside was equally sumptuous[6] but the intensity of the ritual lead to a row with the Bishop of Winchester [7]. His successor Father Tremenheere continued to beautify the interior until 1914 when another long serving incumbent arrived. Father C.W Coles was to serve the parish through two world wars[8] until 1954 when the last service was held. For the next 40 years it became a naval store until the Traditional Anglican Communion took it over for a form of worship very similar[9] to that originally provided by Dolling. It is also used for concerts[10] but faces an uncertain future as its locale is developed as part of the “Northern Quarter” initiative[11].

  1. ^ “Don’t touch the holy Joe: Father Dolling’s battle for Landport and St Agatha’s church” Bryant, R: Hampshire, Ragged Right, 1995 ISBN 1-89826-905-2
  2. ^ Geograph image
  3. ^ Architectural Description
  4. ^ ”Portsea Island Churches” Lubbock,R :Portsmouth City Council, 1969
  5. ^ “The life of Father Dolling” Osborne, C.E: Nottingham, Arnold, 1903
  6. ^ "The buildings of Hampshire & The Isle of Wight"Pevsner,N/Lloyd,D.W: Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1967 ISBN 0-300-09606-2
  7. ^ ”Ten years in a Portsmouth slum” Dolling, R.W.R: London, Brown Langham, 1903
  8. ^ [http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/churches/st_agathas/pillar.htm War memorial
  9. ^ 1994-Traditional Anglican Communion
  10. ^ Recent concerts
  11. ^ Northern Quarter Regeneration
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