One of a number of economically-built churches put up in suburban districts in the early 1960s to serve growing populations. It abandons the traditional longitudinal plan in favour of a hexagonal one.

The parish of St Thomas More was founded from St Joseph’s in the early 1960s, to meet the needs of Catholics in this expanding area of suburban Middlesbrough.

Description

The church is oriented south so all directions given are liturgical.

A hexagonal church, to all appearances of the design-and-build type in which Lanner Ltd of Wakefield specialised. The church is built of brick with large timber windows under a concrete tile roof. The plan is hexagonal with a projecting western narthex and a projecting eastern sanctuary. There is a southeastern vestry and link to the presbytery. The dominant external feature is the large triangular windows which stretch up to create prominent gables on each of the faces of the hexagon (the east face, however, is blind). The windows have a grid-like infill which contains clear and green panes of patterned glass (the west gable also has light yellow panels).

The interior is a large, uninterrupted hexagon formed by laminated trusses rising to a central small red-glazed hexagon, and also spanning the side walls to create the gables. There are small projecting shrines at the northeast (Our Lady) and southeast (Catholic Martyrs).

Amended by AHP 14.01.2021

Heritage Details