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The Church transformed:

Sanctuary and Transepts

Accommodation in the Church was beginning to be stretched in the sixties. Eventually it was decided that an extension to the (liturgical) East end would be useful: firstly to accommodate a larger sanctuary, and secondly to provide more places for people in a pair of transepts.

This development took St. Alban’s from a substantial church to a very large structure with a feeling of cathedral in shape and scale. The architects chosen, Ellis Williams, decided to adopt a completely different approach in the new area of the building. Firstly, the cost of continuing the original scheme would have been crippling; and secondly, there is something very staid and traditional about the original nave which seemed to demand freshening and colour.

The plan adopted was a simple one: to replace the arched system used for the nave with square-headed forms: square windows with rectilinear tracery, flat coffered ceilings, and a big rectangular wall like a backdrop to close the vista from the nave.

The walls were to be relieved by deep alcoves whose tops would be glazed, allowing natural light to funnel into the church; and over the sanctuary a tented pyramid would also be pierced so that sunlight could flow from concealed windows above the Altar.

The new Sanctuary

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Before and after: St. Alban's Church 1956  and 1966