A small, economically-built brick church dating from the 1950s, with a short 1960s extension with spirelet. The building is not of special architectural or historical interest.

The church was opened by Bishop Beck on 9 February 1952, having been built on a site acquired in 1939 by Canon Jackman (then parish priest at Watford). Originally dedicated to St Theresa of the Child Jesus, this plain, economical structure was a chapel of ease to Rickmansworth. Croxley Green became an independent parish in 1958, when the dedication was changed to St Bede. In 1959 plans were drawn up by T. J. Denny of Watford for additions to the church, in the form of a sacristy, presbytery and meeting room; work was completed in 1963 at a cost of £21,000. The work included a new entrance porch-cum-baptistery with a copper-covered spire over, while a small Lady Chapel was also created on the north side. The sanctuary was reordered by George Mathers in 1969 and again by Austin Winkley in the early 1990s (information from Chris Fanning).

Description

The church is a rectangle faced with red brick under a tiled roof. It has a frame of concrete trusses which lean in internally and are then cranked further to form the slope of the roof. The fenestration is of simple round-arched lights, arranged in triplets along the nave. The western extension of 1963 is clearly distinguishable from the rest. A reused panel of (poorly drawn) Victorian stained glass from Shrodell Hospital has been reset in a window on the north of the sanctuary. The western chapel has a carved and painted panel by Siegfried Pietzsch. Fittings from the 1990s reordering include carvings and altar furnishings by David John.

Heritage Details