St Agatha's, Landport

Infobox Historic building


caption= St Agatha’s from Cascades Car Park
name= St Agatha’s
location_town= Portsmouth
location_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 [“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 ] today it stands proudly alone, the “Cathedral of the car parks” [ [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/659066 Geograph image] ] in the city’sshopping district. A magnificent building [ [http://www.hago.org.uk/venue/st-agatha/index.html Architectural Description] ] it replaced a much simpler mission church [”Portsea Island Churches” Lubbock,R :Portsmouth City Council, 1969] . 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 [ “The life of Father Dolling” Osborne, C.E: Nottingham, Arnold, 1903] . The inside was equally sumptuous ["The buildings of Hampshire & The Isle of Wight"Pevsner,N/Lloyd,D.W: Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1967 ISBN 0-300-09606-2] but the intensity of the ritual lead to a row with the Bishop of Winchester [”Ten years in a Portsmouth slum” Dolling, R.W.R: London, Brown Langham, 1903] . 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 [ [http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/churches/st_agathas/pillar.htm War memorial] ] 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 [ [http://www.shipoffools.com/Mystery/1999/035Mystery.html 1994-Traditional Anglican Communion] ] to that originally provided by Dolling. It is also used for concerts [ [http://www.hago.org.uk/2005/07/index.html Recent concerts] ] but faces an uncertain future as its locale is developed as part of the “Northern Quarter” initiative [ [http://www.portsmouthsociety.org.uk/nl2005/nlsep05doc01.htm Northern Quarter Regeneration] ] .