A simple prefabricated building, originally built in the 1950s as a hut for the cadet force of the adjacent Catholic school and converted to a place of worship in 1979. The dedication honours Catholic victims of the Nazi concentration camps. 

The church stands just outside the grounds of St Thomas More Catholic Secondary School.  The school opened in 1954 and soon after this a hut was built for the use of the school cadet force. When the cadet force was disbanded, the hut was converted into a Mass centre, served from St Nicholas of Tolentino. It opened in 1979 and in 1982 was dedicated to St Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who died in Auschwitz and who had been canonised that year. The dedication was later amended to include Bl. Edith Stein, who was beatified in 1987 (and canonised in 1998), and fellow Holocaust martyrs. The building was refurbished in about 2000 (ex.inf. Fr McKay). At the time of writing, it is understood that closure of the church is proposed.

The church is a simple prefabricated hut, rectangular on plan with a shallow-pitched roof. The external walls are rendered and the roof is covered with concrete tiles. The main entrance is in the west end fronting the street. The side walls have rectangular openings, with modern timber sash windows. The interior has not been inspected. It is understood to contain a stained glass window depicting St Maximilian by the Nailsworth artist Graham Dowding (1997).

Heritage Details