A polygonal design-and-build structure of the 1970s, replacing a substantial Passionist church and monastery of the 1850s. The church is the burial place and shrine of Bl. Dominic Barberi, the Ven. Ignatius Spencer and the Ven. Elizabeth Prout.

The parish has its origins in 1849 and was administered until 2004 by Passionist priests from a monastery founded in the early 1850s, which originally stood next to the church. Both church and monastery were paid for by John Smith, a successful railway contractor. The church is the burial place and shrine to three notable figures from the Catholic ‘Second Spring’: Blessed Dominic Barberi (1792-1849), who established the Passionist congregation in England and was instrumental in the conversion of J. H. Newman; the Venerable George (Ignatius) Spencer (1799-1864), Passionist priest and the convert son of the second Earl Spencer and the Venerable Elizabeth Prout (1820-64), founder of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion.

The old church was demolished due to mining subsidence and replaced by the present building in 1973. The monastery has also been demolished and much of its site was sold to defray the cost of building a new parish centre.

Description

Octagonal church and linked octagonal shrine chapel, both faced in brown brick laid in stretcher bond and with tile coverings to the conical roofs. The main church building has a rectangular porch on one side; most of the other sides have five modern rectangular window openings. The attached shrine of the Blessed Dominic Barberi CP is smaller than the church but has a taller roof of steeper pitch.

Internally the church has large glue-laminated timber trusses supporting the roof, with wall surfaces of bare brick and rough stone. The shrine also has exposed timber roof trusses but the walls are lined with marble and the windows filled with modern stained glass.

Entry amended by AHP 06.09.2021

Heritage Details