Building » Wolverhampton (Fordhouses) – St Anthony of Padua

Wolverhampton (Fordhouses) – St Anthony of Padua

Bee Lane, Fordhouses, Wolverhampton WV10

A modern brick church with a broad, fan-shaped plan on post-Vatican II lines.

The first church was built on Stafford Road and in use by 1938. In 1976 a new site, a former playing field, was acquired adjacent to the existing one and the present church and presbytery were built at a cost of £145,000, from designs by Brian A. Rush & Associates of Birmingham, a firm which was active in the archdiocese in the 1970s. The church was consecrated in October 1988.

The church is built of red local brick and has a striking profile, terminating at the east end in a spire which sits beyond the long wall of the sanctuary. The roofs are of artificial slate and there are also large areas that are felted. It is built on a pentagonal, fan-shaped plan. There is a glazed area over the sanctuary which floods it with light. On the two adjacent walls lighting is provided by rectangular windows. At the west end of the church there is a large space at the entrance which houses a repository; behind this is a sacristy-cum-meeting room.

The body of the church is an impressive space with roofs sloping up to the top-lit sanctuary. The walls are covered in textured plaster apart from the bare brown brick of the wall at the sanctuary end. The ceilings are covered by what appear to be white acoustic tiles. The sanctuary houses a ceramic figure of Christ by R. Monk, art specialist at the local school, who also designed the Stations.

Heritage Details

Architect: Brian A. Rush & Associates

Original Date: 1976

Conservation Area: No

Listed Grade: Not Listed