An elegant modern design on a traditional plan, lying at the heart of a post-war council housing estate. There is glass by Pierre Fourmaintreaux in the aisle windows. The bell tower and external silhouette of the church make a notable contribution to the character of the immediate area.

The church, designed to seat 450 people, was built to serve the Barnhill Estate, a post-war housing development by Hayes and Hillingdon Urban District Council. The foundation stone was laid on 26 March 1960 and the building was opened the following year. A plaque records that the founder was the Rev. Eamonn Scanlan.

Description

The church is oriented to the northeast so directions are liturgical.

St Raphael’s is built of buff brick which is exposed inside and out. It has a traditional aisled plan, the aisles being low and under flat roofs. The nave roof is copper-clad. A detached, tall, sheer bell-tower stands at the northeast: its top is formed of open, concrete members. The nave has a clerestory of five hexagonal windows: windows of the same shape are also placed in the east and west walls (all these windows have clear glass). Above the windows are triangular upward projections which enliven the external silhouette of the church. Externally the walling beneath each high-level window is clad with sheets of copper. In each bay of the aisles is a rectangular window of five lights; the thick slab-in-resin stained glass lends a distinctive character to the side elevations. At the west end there is a portico with a glazed central portion forming a porch.

Behind the porch is a gallery supported on concrete columns; the same form of columns appears between the nave and aisles and above the columns is a band of bare concrete. The roof of the nave is boarded and is cranked upwards to clear the clerestory windows, thus producing a serrated profile. The area beneath the clerestory windows has vertical wooden panelling. At the east end much use is made of marble and breccia in panels on the walls and for the altars. Apart from the areas surrounding the altars which are of marble, the church is floored with hardwood herringbone blocks.

Fixtures and fittings: 

• Brightly coloured dalle de verre glass in the aisle windows by Pierre Fourmaintreaux
• Sculpture of St Raphael by Hugh Powell, which projects from the outside west wall
• The seating consists of hardwood benches. 

Heritage Details