A modest church of the early 1950s, considerably enlarged and enhanced by Peter Langtry-Langton in 1979. There is a particularly fine sequence of dalle de verre windows by the Hardman Studios in the aisles.

From 1943 Mass was said by priests from St Anne’s Cathedral in the Lawnswood Arms, a 1930s roadhouse on the Otley Road. After that, the Adel Community Centre was used. Finally, a 3.5 acre site was acquired on Otley Old Road, and the foundation stone for a new church and hall laid by Bishop Heenan on 7 February 1953. The new building, designed by Stephen Simpson, was opened on November 4 1953. In 1979 the church was considerably enlarged and adapted by Peter Langtry-Langton, involving the addition of aisles and a full width entrance porch, as well as internal reordering. A new parish hall was built to the north in about 1982.

Description

The original Simpson design was very simple, consisting of an unaisled brick box with a concrete portal frame, plain tile roof and a raised gable at the west end. The present character belongs largely to Langtry-Langton’s work of 1979, which wraps around the original box. Arched open-fronted and gabled west porch, with raised centre gabled bay enclosing a large fibreglass roundel with a high-relief depiction of the Crucifixion, possibly by Rob Hickling of John Hardman Studios, Birmingham. Also by Hardman (and probably Hickling) are the almost continuous walls of dalle de verre glass in the aisles. These are the finest feature of the church, with depictions and symbolic representations of New Testament themes in rich red, blues and yellows. Also belonging to the Langtry-Langton reordering are the altar and ambo, in coursed blocks of Westmorland slate, and the plain pews.

Heritage Details