Building » Bradford – St Matthew

Bradford – St Matthew

Saffron Drive, Allerton, Bradford 15

A single-storey church of system-built construction clad in pebbledashed or boarded panels, under a shallow-pitched concrete tiled roof.

Allerton, a hill village on the west edge of Bradford expanded in the post-war years when a large residential estate was built by the Council, partly to re-house people displaced by inner-city slum clearance. Mass was first said in the school hall in 1957; the parish was created in 1959 with Fr Hadfield the first parish priest. In 1966, the parish purchased a former Baptist church on the main road in Allerton; built in 1872, it was adapted from designs by Hadfield Cawkwell Davison. This building closed in 1980 when the parish moved to the present building.

Description

The single-storey church is of system-built construction clad in pebble-dashed or boarded panels, under a shallow-pitched concrete tiled roof. The plain windows are timber-framed with frosted glass. The liturgical east is at the north end of the building, with a gabled porch on the south gable. The latter was added in 2005, together with new concrete steps. Internally, the church is divided into two spaces; the sanctuary area is on a raised platform and can be separated from the rest of the space by a folding partition, for use as a small chapel. The main space has loose seating enabling it to be used for community events; there is a bar, kitchen and lavatories adjacent to the entrance lobby. Simply designed liturgical fittings all date from c.1980. A single-storey flat-roofed corridor connects the church to the presbytery on the east side.

Heritage Details

Architect: Not established

Original Date: 1980

Conservation Area: No

Listed Grade: Not Listed