A post-war dual-purpose suburban church and hall of utilitarian design.

Arbourthorne was once a small rural settlement. The development of local authority housing estates from 1935 greatly expanded the Catholic population in the area. From 1944 a Mass centre was served from St Wilfrid’s (closed, now St Wilfrid’s Centre) until an independent parish was erected in 1953. The present church-hall and presbytery were built at this time.

Description

For the purposes of this report liturgical orientation will be used.

A dual-purpose church and hall built to the designs of Oxley & Bussey in 1953, with several small-scale extensions added to the south since. It is brick-built, with a pitched roof covered in concrete tiles. The plan is rectangular with a flat-roofed narthex to the west. There are five vertical windows to the north and south side, lighting the nave, with a square concrete panel with circular detailing below. The gable ends to the west and east have no window openings. The interior has not been inspected. Evinson notes that the Stations of the Cross are of some interest; coloured prints set on wooden panels. He also recorded that otherwise there are no furnishings of note.

Heritage Details