Church of St Francis: Charminster Road Bournemouth

Designed in the Italian Romanesque style the church stands prominently on a hill, which accentuates the campanile. It is plainly rendered inside and out, and has several architectural features associated with S. Francis: including carvings of squirrels and birds. John Betjeman referred to S. Francis in his 1949 essay on Bournemouth and in his illustrated book English Churches (1964) in which he said that S. Francis "looks like the church of some Anglo-Catholic mission in South Africa." Worship at S. Francis is in accordance with the request of the founder and benefactor, Helen Reckitt (of Reckitt and Colman), that the full catholic faith should be taught.