Taking Stock

Bermondsey Dockhead has claims to be the oldest mission in the Archdiocese, having been established in 1773 in a chapel which was destroyed in the Gordon riots of 1780. A later church was destroyed in wartime bombing and replaced by the present church by H S Goodhart- Rendel. In the words of the list entry, this is  ‘an impressive building and a fine example of Goodhart-Rendel's work, showing his use of polychrome  brickwork,  inspired  by  High  Victorian  churches  and  his powerful use of concrete to achieve a manipulation of sculptural form and spatial and exciting arrangement’.  The plan form and some of the detailing shows a clear influence of Bentley’s Westminster Cathedral. The church is little altered and contains a number of original and later furnishings of note.

A small church of the 1860s in the High Gothic style, unmistakeably the work of E. W. Pugin, with a contemporary parish school attached (now the parish hall). The interior with its long arcades and steeply-pitched roof is an impressive space.  The roof was renewed in the 1980s after a fire and the interior has been rearranged, but some of the original furnishings survive.

A utilitarian portal framed design of the 1960s.

A modest and functional church of the 1970s, not of special architectural or historic interest.

A late Gothic Revival church by Joseph Goldie, third generation of a dynasty of Catholic architects. The design is unambitious for its time, but is nevertheless of good solid quality. The chief furnishing of note is the altar and reredos, a fine elaborate Gothic design in Caen stone probably by E W Pugin, brought here from Hales Place, Canterbury. The church occupies a prominent location in East Dulwich and lies within the Dulwich Village Conservation Area.

A modest church of the 1960s.   The exterior with its three large north windows is not without architectural interest.   The interior is simpler and more functional in character.

A post-war design replacing an early 20th  century church of which had been remodelled in early Christian style by Fr Benedict Williamson. The present church is of some interest for its liturgical plan, being T-shaped with diagonal chapels in the angles between the nave and transepts. However, the architectural design is dull and conventional and was compromised from the start by post-war building restrictions. The conversion of the nave to a parish hall and other internal alterations has further reduced the modest qualities of the interior, although there are some furnishings of note.

A tall, mainstream church of the later Gothic Revival by Henry John Hansom, son of the better-known church architect J.A. Hansom. It was built in 1880 to serve a mainly Irish Catholic population, which had moved into the East Greenwich area in the years after the Great Famine. The church has a lofty interior with some furnishings of note. Its high roof is a significant landmark in the East Greenwich conservation area and the church is locally listed.

A modest brick church of 1953-54 by Goodhart-Rendel’s partner F. G. Broadbent, who probably also extended the church westwards in 1963. The church has been reordered and retains few furnishings of note. Set into the boundary wall to the rear are 15 roundels by Faith Winter, forming a Rosary Way, which won the silver medal of the Society of British Sculptors.

Built as a church hall in 1952 and of little architectural note, although the 1962 sanctuary by Maguire & Murray is interesting as a minor work of this progressive firm of church designers. The adjoining presbytery is of early 18th-century date or earlier, and is listed grade II.

A late Gothic Revival church of 1911-12 by Canon A. J. C. Scoles and Geoffrey Raymond for the Priory of the Canons Regular of the Lateran. The church was extended 1935-36. It is notable for its elegant nave arcading, of hall-church character, and for its stained-glass windows by Harry Clarke Studios, Dublin. The west facade has some townscape value.

A church of 1936 by James O’Hanlon Hughes, with a plain and rather monumental exterior. The original double-height sanctuary has been converted to a parish hall.

A large brick church of 1962-63 built for a parish served by the Capuchins. Stylistically it is conservative for its date, but the stripped Classical   styling   of   the   tall   entrance   arches   and   the   landmark campanile are powerful features in the street scene.

A   very   modest   church   in   a   converted   late   Georgian   agricultural building.

A large modern church of the early 1960s, dating from the time of the Second  Vatican  Council,  but  conventional  in  its  design  and construction. The church is notable for several stained glass windows by Murphy Devitt of Dublin. The tower is a local landmark.

Part of a complex of buildings of different date. The church was built in the 1860s as a Quaker schoolroom, with the adjoining mid-18th  century house used as the school house. After the school closed the school room was  a  cinema  for  about  25  years  until the  site  was  acquired  by  the Carmelites in 1936. The church is a simple space, but with some interesting fittings, some salvaged and some commissioned from individual artists, including Edward Ardizzone.  The 1950s shrine of St Jude   is   also   handsomely   fitted   up.   The   complex   lies   within   the Faversham Conservation Area.

A modest suburban church of the early 1930s, but designed in a robust and personal version of the Gothic style which shows some originality.

A striking and inventive church by Leonard Stokes, one of the most original Catholic architects of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Despite ruthless simplification in a 1970s re-ordering, the interior has retained something of its original character. The attached presbytery is contemporary   and   also   by   Stokes,   and   both   make   a   positive contribution to the local conservation area.

A simple Italianate church, one of a number built in the Diocese in the early years of the 20th  century under the patronage of Miss Frances Ellis. The church has been significantly altered, with additions in Romanesque style of the 1930s by W.C. Mangan, and with further extensions and reordering in the 1980s by Williams & Winkley. The curious marriage of Italianate and Romanesque features in the main front of the church makes a distinctive contribution to a residential street.

A plain mission-style Gothic Revival church of 1896, with some later extensions. It retains most of its original furnishings and has some recent stained glass of note. The church forms part of a larger group with the presbytery, the first church-cum-school building, and a later school building.