A new church of distinctive design, paying regard to environmental sustainability and Cornish identity. 

In 1884 French Franciscans opened a novitiate at Saltash, dedicating their new church to Our Lady of the Angels. In 1896 the Franciscans left and sold the property to the bishop. When that building became unsafe in 1940 after war damage, the parish moved to the chapel at the Good Shepherd convent, built in 1935 from designs by Wilfred Mangan and dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. When the Sisters left in 1959 they sold the site to the diocese. In 2004 these buildings and adjoining land were sold for redevelopment, and the congregation worshipped for a while in a nearby Anglican church. Construction of the new church, designed by Jim Caley of the Plymouth firm of Lacey Hickey and Caley and built by Midas Construction, began in the summer of 2006. The project cost was £450,000, offset in part by sale of adjoining land as part of a new housing development. The first service was held on Palm Sunday in 2007, and the church was consecrated by Bishop Budd on 4 May 2007. The new church has reverted to the old dedication to Our Lady of the Angels.

Description

A new church seating 130, with attached sacristy, hall, kitchen, meeting rooms and parish office. A distinctive design, with a curved metal roof defining the central ‘nave’ of the worship space. The external masonry walls have a white rendered finish apart from the projecting central fins at front and back, which are clad in red cedar shingles. The central roof sweeps up at the entrance narthex, a light and welcoming area with glazed walls (incorporating etched prayer texts in English and Cornish) and again over the sanctuary. The other roofs are flat, originally intended to have a sedum finish.

The interior worship space is a single, light and spacious volume, with white plastered walls, lit indirectly from the narthex and by top lighting over the sanctuary. Upholstered chairs for the congregation are arranged in a shallow curve, facing towards the central sanctuary. The altar, ambo, font, and tabernacle pedestal are of textured Cornish granite, supplied by Williams and Triggs of Newton Abbot. The wall mounted crucifix was brought from the old church.

Entry amended by AHP 23.01.2021

Heritage Details