An economical design of the late 1950s but nonetheless of striking external form.

The church was built in 1958 on part of the Malpas Court estate, as part of the post-war northward expansion of Newport. Before it was built, Mass had been said at the Territorial Army Centre on Malpas Road and at Malpas Court. The building was originally intended as a dual-purpose church and hall dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour but in the event it was used for worship only, and dedicated (from 1963) to St Anne. The architects were F. R. Bates & Son, who also worked nearby at Llantarnam Abbey. They also designed the presbytery, added in about 1966. An entrance porch and parish hall were added later, the hall in 1981. In 1994 new stained glass windows designed by Caroline Mackenzie and made by Jim Budd were installed.

The church now forms part of the large All Saints parish, served from St Mary’s, Newport. The presbytery is used as a holiday retreat for seminarians.

Description

The church has a steel A-frame, the lower part of the frame continuing down externally as buttresses which (along with the external walls) are clad in painted brick. The high-peak pitched roof is clad in concrete tiles. There is a projecting sacristy to the north, a later flat-roofed porch or narthex at the front of the building and a parish hall to the rear. The windows are triangular dormers on the south side and placed under low eaves on the north side; the end walls are windowless. The interior is a single volume with the steel framing exposed. Natural light comes mainly from the dormers on the south side, while the windows on the north side of the aisle now have stained glass of 1994 by Caroline Mackenzie, semi-abstract designs mainly in blue. There are no other furnishings of particular note.

Heritage Details