One of many churches in a similar vein by the Prichard practice, Holy Angels is essentially a tall concrete-framed box, given a striking character by the tall clerestorey windows.

Kirkby is essentially a post-world war II suburb, conceived by Liverpool Corporation in the 1930s but not laid out until the late 1940s. The parish was created and the church built in 1955-6.

Description

The church stands well back from the street behind a large asphalted car park. It is a very simple structure, essentially a single concrete-framed volume of seven equal bays, with lean-to side aisles and a continuous pitched main roof covered in pantiles. The end walls are of red brick laid in stretcher bond, as are the aisle walls.  The tall clerestorey walls above are faced with render. At the west end is a single-storey flat-roofed narthex the width of the church, with a wide central entrance under a pitched roof and flanked by three narrow windows on each side. Above the narthex the main west gable has five stepped lancet windows. The side walls are similar, with blind brick walls to the aisle of the nave. Above the aisles is a tall clerestorey with three tall round-headed windows in each of the seven bays.

Internally, the trusses of the concrete frame are exposed. The internal walls are plastered and painted, the windows clear-glazed. The roof slopes are boarded above the concrete purlins. At the west end is a glazed enclosure across the full width of the building. The east wall is blind, with a crucifix above the altar in a framed reredos enclosure. The fittings of the sanctuary appear to date from the 1970s. The nave benches are presumably original.

Heritage Details