St. Martin's of Tours Church in Basildon Town Centre was officially opened on 10th November, 1962 in a consecration service conducted by the Bishop of Chelmsford; Rt. Rev. John Gerhard Tiarks. Its design was the work of local architect Trena M. Cotton.
The Church received a royal visitor on October 9th, 1968 when Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent (Katharine Windsor) dedicated the new south porch and
Christ sculpture. The 10-foot high Christ figure was designed by the artist
Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones and completed in fibreglass at his studio in Broomfield near Chelmsford, Essex. It was to be his last completed work as a short time later he was admitted to St. John's Hospital in Chelmsford where he died on 10th December 1968. The fibreglass figure is of our Lord pierced by shafts of light with his hands outstretched towards the town in service of the people. It is an invitation of welcome to all to enter.
Huxley-Jones, F.R.B.S., was a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and studied at the Wolverhampton School of Art (1924-1929) and from 1929-1933 at the Royal School of Art, South Kensington. For many years he was principal of the school of sculpture at Grays Art School, Aberdeen, Scotland. He was famed for his statue of Helios at BBC Television Centre and the Joy of Life Fountain in Hyde Park. He was married in 1934 to the artist and sculptress (Rose) Gwynneth Cobden Holt and they lived from around 1949 at High House, Broomfield in Essex. His grave, and that of his wife is in St. Mary churchyard at Broomfield.
The work of
Huxley-Jones also features elsewhere within the Diocese. His
Woman of Samaria is a fibreglass figure at
St Peter's Aldborough Hatch, while at
Chelmsford Cathedral, Huxley-Jones' work includes a Christus in St Cedd's Chapel, a carving of St Peter on the south-east corner of the South Transept and 16 stone carvings representing the history and concerns of Essex, Chelmsford, and the Church.
A Garden of Remembrance adjacent to the church opened on November 3rd, 1973, in a dedication service conducted by Rev. Peter Grimwood. Standing within the garden is a statue depicting
St. Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar, which was created by notable sculptor and artist
Peter Foster.
In 1989 the plain exterior glass was replaced with
stained glass designed and made by
Joseph Nuttgens. The North side windows from West to East tell the story of St Martin begining with the Cathedral of Tours then the River Loire and finally the Caves of Marmoutier and a Cross referring to St Martin's suffering. The South side windows East to West depict the Cross and Resurrection, colours and various designs to be found in the town centre and the flood barriers from the nearby river Thames. Finally a triangle an ancient representation of the Holy Trinity, the circle and rays depict an outburst of energy from God, which is love. His presence, open to all, flows as a river down through the Thames Barrier into the hustle and bustle of this modern town.
The magnificent stained glass window in the
Lady Chapel by Nuttgens depicts in symbols the Blessed Virgin Mary in heaven. Within the window can be seen the signs of the universe, clouds, sky, stars, the sun and the moon.
Educated by Dominicans and brought up within a milieu of idealistic Catholicism, Nuttgens left to study at the Central School of Art and the Royal College of Art, completing his studies in 1964. He then worked experimentally, firstly with expanded plastics and metal sheet, exhibiting at the Camden Arts Centre, London in 1970; then making ‘light’ sculptures, incorporating steel sheet and coloured glass, transmitting colour from hidden light sources, which were exhibited at the Cochrane Gallery, London, and with AIM, at the CBX, in Milton Keynes, throughout the seventies. During this period he also taught at schools and art colleges and, for nine years, taught prisoners in Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Encouraged by
Patrick Reyntiens, he returned to stained glass in 1978, becoming his assistant, working mainly on
John Piper’s windows. On the death of his father in 1982 he re-established this studio and, since then, has designed and made stained glass windows for cathedrals, churches and many other venues. Throughout this time he has maintained an output of painting (complimentary and vital to his commissioned work) and, in recent years, has set up a relief print shop within his studio, producing woodcuts and linocuts.
A freestanding
Bell Tower designed by Douglas Galloway RIBO and built in 1999 was opened by Her Majesty the Queen and dedicated by The Rt. Revd. John Perry The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford on Friday 12th March 1999. This special service marked the official opening of the Belltower and the first 50 years of Basildon new town.
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