St Oswald's is an unpretentious brick building in the New Bilton area of Rugby. It is easily missed, lacking either tower or spire, and the most visible side elevation on Lawford Road is rather domestic-looking. Nonetheless I have a real fondness for this church.
The original church was built in 1864 and consisted of the present north aisle, which culminates in the distinctive rose window at the east end. The architect was the renowned George Edmund Street, yet this was very much a humble building on a tight budget and does not relate to his better known works. However the church soon required enlargement and another big name architect, George Frederick Bodley, was brought in to add the present, much larger nave and chancel to the south, relegating Street's church to a side aisle. The option of balancing this with a new south aisle was kept open with an arcade and columns embedded into the very temporary-looking south nave wall.
The interior is light and airy, architecturally plain but enlivened by some attractive furnishings and some good stained glass. Worship has clearly leant towards the High Church Anglican, so much so that one could easily assume this to be a Catholic church judging by it's fittings.
My main interest in visiting this church however was the stained glass, which though only found in three of the windows makes a visit here highly rewarding. The earliest piece is the rose window at the east end of the present north aisle (former nave and chancel) with it's seven oculi depicting the Lamb of God surrounded by six half figures of angels, apparently designed by the then vicar of nearby Bilton in 1864 (whether he made it himself or which studio might have done this remains a mystery).
The main east window of the church is by Powell's of Whitefriars c1920 and is a fine example of their work, five lights centred on a Crucifixion and Christ in Glory surrounded by saints, angels and swirling foliage against a blue ground.
The finest piece here however is the stunning late Morris & Co glass in the north aisle, very much in the tradition of Burne Jones but actually the work of his successor as the studio's chief designer, John Henry Dearle, from 1922. The Madonna & Child are shown seated centrally with kneeling adoring angels either side, set against a field of lilies.
The furnishings include a chancel screen designed by Bodley in 1900 crowned by a coloured Crucifixion group, but far more impressive is a second cavalry group at the west end, this time in unpainted wood and on a far larger scale; this was the Crucifixion that formerly crowned the chancel 'rood' screen at George Gilbert Scott's majestic Holy Trinity Church, Rugby, a stunning building I remember well, tragically demolished in 1983. The screen it once crowned is now at the west end of All Saints, Leamington Spa, where the former church's organ can also be found.
St Oswald's more recently was threatened with closure but opted instead for unification with the nearby parish of St Matthew's, a thriving Evangelical congregation closer to the town centre. Following their decision to close their church building in 2011 St Oswald's has become the main focus of worship, and rebranded St Matthew & St Oswald's Church (some use the more text friendly 'm2o'!).
The church is normally kept locked, but I have found them to be a very welcoming parish on both my visits, following a morning mass and on Heritage Weekend open days.
For more detail and images see this church's entry on the Warwickshire Churches website below:-
warwickshirechurches.weebly.com/rugby---st-oswald.html 