Christ Church St Ewen... Bristol
Welcome to Christ Church St Ewen, the church was built between 1786 and 1971 and the significant tower was designed by Thomas Party and the body was built by William Party (his son). In 1883 the Interior and entrance was refurbished by Henry Williams. There is also a amazing Automaton clock which strike on the quarter hours. The church is a grade II listed building. Welcome to Christ Church St Ewen, the present church was designed by William Paty and was completed by his son, Thomas Paty, between 1786 and 1971. The Paty family were architects and craftsmen involved in building and joinery as well as design. Christ Church is arguably their masterpiece and is renowned amongst Georgian churches for the elegance of it's interior and the clever use of light and space. It follows the design tradition of Gibb's St Martin-in-the-fields, London and has similarities with Badminton church, Gloucestershire. On the tower quarter-boy figures strike the quarter hours on the automaton clock. The church is made of sandstone and whilst still an amazing sight it has become weathered with age.
Information on the rock used to build the church: Sandstone (sometimes known as arenite) is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains which are geologically cemented together. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, and is commonly found tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white and black. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, certain colours of sandstone have been strongly identified with certain regions. The formation of sandstone involves two principal stages. First, a layer or layers of sand accumulates as the result of sedimentation, either from water (as in a stream, lake, or sea) or from air (as in a desert). Once the layers have accumulated, the sand becomes compacted by pressure of overlying deposits and cemented by the precipitation of minerals within the pore spaces between sand grains. Sandstone has been a popular building material from ancient times. It is relatively soft, making it easy to carve and has been widely used around the world in constructing temples, homes, and other buildings. It has also been used for artistic purposes to create ornamental fountains and statues. Some sandstone is resistant to weathering yet easy to work, which makes sandstone a common building and paving material (including in asphalt concrete). Because of the hardness of individual grains, uniformity of grain size and friability of their structure, some types of sandstone are excellent materials from which to make grindstones, for sharpening blades and other implements. Non-friable sandstone can be used to make grindstones for grinding grain, e.g., gritstone. Weathering and Erosion Often people believe that weathering and erosion are the same thing, they are different geomorphological processes. Weathering is the breakdown of rock into smaller pieces, and erosion is the movement of that weathered material. There are three main types of weathering: physical, chemical, and biological. Physical weathering causes breakdown of rocks without chemical changes to the rocks. Chemical weathering causes breakdown of rocks by compositional changes to the rocks through chemical reactions. Biological weathering causes breakdown of rocks by the effects of organisms living on the rocks. There are four main types of erosion: water, ice, wind, and gravity. Water erosion occurs by way of rain. Ice erosion occurs by way of glaciers. Wind erosion occurs by way of fast-moving air. Gravity erosion occurs by way of weathered particles of rock falling from their original positions. One form of weathering is blistering: Sandstone carbonates over the years and a thick skin forms around the stone that is exposed to the weather – hence the stone loses its vibrant original colour with its new skin. This skin in turn traps droplets of water which freeze in winter and literally blister the sandstone. Over the years this blistering repeat and repeats with each harsh winter and wears away at the stone.
Questions:
1) Observe the stone carving around the door. Tell me if you can see any form of weathering on the carvings? E.g. are the carvings easy to see, what do you think they are of, are they rough or smooth, can you see any damage and how do you think this is caused?
2) Tell me if you can see any evidence of other weathering on the flatter front walls of the church, what type of weathering can you see (info above may help)
3) Optional take a photo with the church in the background.
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