A large church built in 1964 on a T-plan in a stripped down round-arched style. Unlike other designs from L.A.G. Prichard & Sons being built at the same time (e.g. St Jude, Wigan), the design is pedestrian.

A simple brick church was built on the site in 12929, to the designs of F. Pritchard, paralleling a growth in housing in the area. The old church has now become part of the school. A new and larger church was built in 1964 to provide for the growing number of worshippers. The architects were the Liverpool firm of L. A. G. Prichard and Sons, responsible for many new suburban churches in the middle decades of the twentieth century.

Description

The church has a cruciform plan with gable ends and a campanile to the northwest corner. Large in size, it is built of brick around a steel frame and has pitched roofs of grey pantiles. The gables and walls are edged with concrete slabs; the steel members are expressed in brick and topped with concrete blocks. The nave has four bays to each side before the crossing, three have round-headed windows which each feature a cross. The north, west and south facades have high and large round windows, with cross-shaped intersections. The west front entrance is framed with a curved protruding brick course. Set inside is concrete textured panel and below, a triple set of round-headed windows. Five mosaic panels are located above the main door, which is reached by three steps.

The interior is lofty and unobstructed. The ceiling is covered with narrow wooden panelling. The walls are plainly plastered and painted in pale yellow or white. The lower level of the church is covered with vertical wood panels around the south, west and north walls. There is a simple wooded gallery at the west end, enclosed with glass partitions beneath to form the narthex. The south bay contains the confessional and sacristy. The floor is grey-green linoleum. The glass is clear, except for that of the north chapel which has three panels of various shades of blue and the round windows, which  are  filled  with  contemporary  multicoloured  glass. The  east  wall  of the sanctuary is blind, the altar set on raised steps and within a recessed rectangular niche, which is painted orange. A grey marble communion rail and step crosses the width of the sanctuary and links the two side altars; to the left is a matching font. The sanctuary has some early-twentieth century furniture from the previous church.

Heritage Details