The Interior

Upon entering the Church visitors are struck by the size of its interior.  Measuring 38.1 m long by 20 m wide, with the peak of the main roof reaching 19.8 m, the Church as it was constructed is 9.1 m shorter in length than the original design—a detail rumoured to have greatly disappointed the then Lord Meath. 

Upon completion in 1863 the Church was unadorned. Described in the Church records as “tiling throughout … of the plainest kind,” decorations were added in accordance with the architect’s original plans, but over a period of many years.

In the Northwest corner rests a massive stone font in the Norman style. Above towers the roof, supported by an arcade with alternately circular and clustered columns resting on carved corbels. A double roof truss marks the junction of nave and chancel.

Looking up the central aisle towards the altar, an arcade of pointed arches containing glass mosaics represent the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Made by craftsmen from the Salviatas Glass Works of Venice, with a design adapted from Rafaela’s well-known painting, this mosaic was one of the first adornments to the interior of Christ Church. A tablet below records that it was erected in memory of Edward Lysaght Griffin, a British peer and resident of Violet Hill, Bray who died in 1884. 

Three marble mosaic panels flank the centre altar, also made by Venetian craftsmen. On the right are the three Messianic prophets: St John the Baptist, Isaiah and Daniel. On the left are the three Apostles, who witnessed the Transfiguration: St John the Evangelist, St Peter and St James. Funded by gifts in memoriam and appeals for subscription, these marble panels were completed between 1891 and 1895 at a cost of £37.10s per panel. Connemara marble was applied to the wall above and below the altarpiece later in 1895 to complete the decoration.

On either side of the panels are memorial tablets to two former Rectors of the Parish: Archdeacon James G. Scott and Canon George Digby Scott (author of The Stones of Bray) a father and son ministry, which lasted from 1862 to 1943.

The stone arcade work above the altarpiece continues along the north and south walls of the chancel. To the south are three seats for clergy, one credence shelf and one bay—left vacant for ease of administration to communicants.

Overhead on either side of the chancel arch are figures of angels, carved from stone in 1902 by London artist, James Forsyth, which stand on corbels and clustered columns with richly decorated canopies, which are the work of Messrs Harrison and Son of Dublin.