An inexpensive interwar brick church designed by T. H. B. Scott in his characteristic round-arched style, extended in the 1950s by his son T. G. B. Scott.

The parish was erected in 1926 and the church built the same year, from designs by T. H. B. Scott. Aisles were added in 1959 from designs by T. G. B. Scott, to increase the seating capacity to 500; at the same time a Sacred Heart chapel was formed with a sculpted figure by Michael Clark ARBS and stained glass window by Theodora Kern.  Additional sacristy accommodation and a parish room were also provided. Major underpinning took place in the 1990s (builders R. E. Lay of Dunstable).

Description

The church is in a simple round-arched style.  The external walls are faced with multi-coloured stock brick laid in Flemish bond, and the roof is covered in plain tiles.  The building is not orientated: the east end lies to the south.  The plan comprises a nave under a pitched roof, wide aisles with parapets, a short apsidal sanctuary and a northeast chapel.  The (liturgical) west front to Hay Lane is a typical T. H. B. Scott composition with a gabled centre and slightly recessed sides, a central entrance with a round-headed window over, flanked by small stone reliefs of the dedicatory saints. To the left of the front is a single-storey addition with a pitched roof, to the right a secondary entrance porch with a hipped roof.  Behind these side additions are the aisles whose roofs are concealed behind plain brick parapets.  The south aisle is of three bays divided by pilasters with a pair of plain round-headed openings in each bay with metal-framed windows. The aisle has an eastern apse.  The north side of the church is enclosed by buildings. The short sanctuary has a single slit window on each side.

Internally the walls are of barefaced brick, with floor coverings of parquet and a shallow curved timber ceiling (uncharacteristic of Scott’s churches and possibly a later insertion). The aisles have flat ceilings.  The nave has a timber west gallery and three plain round brick arches on each side, with a wider round arch to the sanctuary. The aisle windows are mostly filled with colourful abstract stained glass by Theodora Kern.  The sanctuary has a frieze of painted figures at high level.  Reordering has brought the altar forward onto a platform in from of the sanctuary arch. The nave and aisle benches are uniform and may be partly original or all of the 1950s.

Heritage Details