Listed Building record MDR12213 - St Philip and St James's Church, Atlow Lane, Atlow

In 1874 a new church was built at Atlow, replacing an earlier chapel that had stood immediately below it [see SMR 703]. While the old chapel was dedicated to All Saints, the new church was dedicated to St Philip and St James. Cox notes "…it seems to us an ill-judged thing thus to alter the ancient sequence". (1) The present church at Atlow was erected in 1874 on a site a little above the old one, which was then removed. It is a neat edifice of stone in the Early English style, and comprises chancel, nave, south porch and bell turret containing one bell, dated 1593. The entire cost, exclusive of the site, which was given by H C Okeover Esq, was about £1000. The old chapel was named All Saints, but the present church, having been formally opened and consecrated by Bishop Selwyn on the 1st of May, the festival of SS Philip and James, it was dedicated to those saints. (2) The present church is entirely 19th century. Its position, in a narrow enclosure, with a road immediately to the east and a steep slope on the west, suggests it occupies the exact site of the earlier chapel. (3) This is contradicted by the Tithe Map, which appears to show the chapel further to the west, with nothing occupying the site of the present church. (4) St Philip and St James, of 1874, is a small stone Early English-style church by H I Stevens, comprising nave, chancel and bell-turret. The interior is enlivened with brick and coloured tiles. The design must have been made before Stevens' death in 1873. (5)