Church, hall and presbytery are combined in this punchy design from the mid-1960s by Burles, Newton & Partners.  The interior with its abstract glass is an attractive space.

The mission was founded from Our Lady of Willesden and a church built in 1926. This church was replaced in 1957 by a building in Woodheyes Road, which was itself replaced 1967 by the present church, which was built by Fr Murphy on a new site and was designed to seat 400. The church was built from designs by John Newton of Burles, Newton & Partners (contractors Messrs Marshall-Andrew Co. Ltd) and was opened by Cardinal Heenan on 4 February 1968. The site was restricted, with roads on both sides, and a difference in level between them. The new building was a split-level design, with a hall beneath the church accessed from the west side while access to the church was from the higher level east side.

Description

The church is a concrete framed building, impressive in scale and designed in a modern style, with a hall at lower level and a presbytery built across the north end.  The building is not orientated; the liturgical east end lies to the south. The plan comprises a (liturgical) west narthex with a southwest baptistery and a northwest tower above the main entrance, an aisleless nave and a short sanctuary. The basement hall is faced with purple bricks, the church and presbytery with red brick laid in stretcher bond. The roof is not visible. The tower is rectangular on plan with sheer brick walls; the north and south faces are slightly recessed and have full-width rectangular bell-stage openings. In the base of the north face of the tower is the main entrance, with concrete canopy over and reached up steps from the road. East of the tower, the walls of the tall nave have five full-height openings rising to a plain concrete parapet. The north side is similar but with a concrete mullioned flat-roofed baptistery instead of the tower. The short sanctuary has one tall mullioned three-light window on each side and a blind bowed east wall with a lower windowless flat-roofed sacristy.

Internally the walls are plastered and all the windows are filled with stained glass in abstract patterns (designer not established).  The flat Parana pine ceiling has close-set fin-like timber beams. At the west end is a cantilevered concrete organ gallery with a large organ, which was removed from the Royal Academy of Music; it has a case in classical style. The black marble fittings of the sanctuary were made by W. Bull and Son.

Heritage Details