A red brick church of 1960 of traditional plan, with a plain exterior and a pleasing simple, light interior.

Holy Family School was opened on 4 September 1929, and the parish erected on 6 September 1933, the area having previously been part of St Augustine’s parish. Mass was celebrated in the hall, which now forms the Social Centre (opened October 1969). The presbytery was built in 1936. By the late 1950s the need for a new church was being felt and plans were drawn up in 1958 to replace the existing hall/chapel in the school. The driving force to raise the necessary funds was the then parish priest, Fr Gerard White, whose efforts were rewarded when the new building opened on 21 July 1960. The new church, seating 375, was described in the Northern Catholic Calendaras of ‘pleasing simplicity’ and having ‘graceful dignified lines’; ‘everything essential is there but nothing more’.

Description

The church is built of red brick under a tiled roof. It consists of a moderately plain, long, unaisled nave, undivided from the sanctuary. The west front has an imposing tall feature framing the west window (of three unequal lights) and the main entrance door. On the north side is a projecting shrine to Our Lady. Sacristies are attached to the southeast. The walls are punctuated by rectangular, metal-framed windows which are arranged mainly in pairs in the nave. At the west end is a narthex/porch which has a gallery internally.

The interior has plastered walls. It is covered by a ceiling with a shallow, segmental arched central section. Around the sanctuary is light-coloured wooden dado panelling. On the north side is a round arch to the shrine of Our Lady. Of the fittings, the Stations of the Cross and statues of Our Lady and St Joseph were made by an Italian carver (Flynn, 1983) and have some distinction.

Heritage Details