A modern church of the early 1970s, with the emphasis on the main top-lit worship space and a minimum of external display.

The first church, a small building of corrugated iron in Eastwood Rise, was built in 1928.  A second and larger church was erected on the present site in 1955 and the old church was also re-erected here to serve as a sacristy. The churches were served at first from Leigh-on-Sea (1928-31) and then from Rayleigh (1931-55) and then again from Leigh (1955-68) until Eastwood  was made  a separate  parish in 1968. The presbytery was built in 1967. The present church was opened in 1973, from designs by the Dublin architect Noel F. Heavey. A large attached parish hall was opened in 2008.

Description

The church is rectangular on plan, with a full-width flat-roofed entrance area opening into the main centrally-planned worship space and a small flat-roofed section at the rear containing the sacristies. The blind external cladding is of brown brick. The main space has a pitched roof sloping down from west to east with a large glazed west gable and a dormer at the east end over the altar. The roof is covered with metal sheeting.

Internally, the entrance area has a fully-glazed front behind the front wall with glazed partitions dividing the space from small rooms on either side and from the church. The main church space is square and has walls of barefaced brown brick, with flat- roofed aisles on the north, west and south sides enclosing the central area which has a tall pyramidal boarded ceiling. The sanctuary is slightly raised on a dais and is top- lit from a large dormer window. The principal fittings appear to be contemporary with the church.

Heritage Details