A plain church building to an interwar design by W.C. Mangan. The building has an Italianate character, typical of Mangan, but is essentially a single large worship space. The most original feature of the interior is the use of large console brackets supporting the wide ceiling.

The first Catholic church at Carshalton in modern times was a former Methodist chapel which had subsequently been used by the Salvation Army before being acquired by the Diocese of Southwark in 1914. Carshalton was served from Sutton until 1931, when Fr Jenner was appointed as the first resident priest. The foundation stone of a new church was laid in 1932. Built from designs by the prolific Catholic architect W. C. Mangan, the new church opened in 1933. In 1964 the old hall which had been used originally as the chapel was demolished and the church was extended. In 1976 the interior was reordered. A new parish hall was built on the south side of the church in 2003.

Description

The church is recognisably a design by Mangan, with an Italianate main facade to what in essentially a simple rectangular box. The walls are faced with red brick laid in Flemish bond, with ornamental bands of brick on edge. The pitched overall roof is covered in tiles. The west end has a segmental pedimented centrepiece incorporating gold mosaic with Crucifixion and inscription, within a tall round-headed brick arch incorporating a round window in the head. The north nave wall has six narrow lancet windows with larger rectangular openings above with small-paned metal windows. The south side was presumably the same but is now obscured by the later hall building. The short sanctuary has round windows at high level in the side wall.

The interior is a single undivided  space with a west gallery, parquet floor, plain plastered walls above a timber panelled dado and giant console brackets at the wall-head carrying the flat sides of the ceiling which has a shallow arched profile along the main axis of the building. The window openings are plain and all the windows are clear-glazed. Beneath the west gallery is an enclosed lobby with a former baptistery on the north side enclosed by iron railings. At the east end of the nave, canted side walls link to the short sanctuary, which has a blind east wall with an elaborate Baroque plaster reredos, presumably designed by Mangan, with crucifix. The benches have Italianate ends and are also presumably original fittings.

Amended by AHP 01.02.2021

Heritage Details