Roman Catholic Church of St Wilfrid and attached former school room

Roman Catholic Church of St Wilfrid and Attached Former School Room

This building was originally constructed as a Presbyterian Church with an attached school room in 1898-99 to designs by architect W L Newcombe, and is now in use as a Catholic Church. It is built in the Gothic style.

The structure is built of rock-faced local stone with ashlar dressings and covered with blue slate roofs. The church is oriented north to south (following liturgical orientation) and occupies a corner site. It comprises an aisled nave with a tower at its south-west corner, which contains the main entrance at ground level. Attached to the east of the church is a rectangular former school room, constructed at right angles.

Exterior of the Church

The western end of the nave, which fronts the main street, features a steeply pitched roof with decorative ridge tiles and finial. A central five-light tracery window with solid spandrels set within an arch dominates this elevation, appearing as though it were plate tracery. To its left is the west end of the north aisle with a single pointed-arch window surrounded by ashlar. To the right stands a tall tower with a pointed-arch entrance at ground level, a blind second stage, and a gabled upper stage containing three small louvered lancet openings above a frieze of three glazed quatrefoils. A short slated spire emerges from the gabled upper stage. A stone band between the first and second stages of the tower extends across the west end of the church, forming a continuous hood mould.

The south aisle has three square-headed timber cross windows with leaded glass and trefoil heads, united by a continuous ashlar sill band. Above the aisle, the south nave clerestory features a continuous band of twelve timber trefoil-headed leaded windows arranged in groups of four. Those on the east side retain their original leaded glass, while those on the west side have replacement glass with mock lead strip applied. The north aisle, built against adjoining property, has no aisle windows, though the clerestory is visible. The steep east end, partially concealed, has wooden bargeboards and three louvered openings to the apex, with a chimney stack to the right.

Exterior of the Former School Room

The school room, attached at right angles to the east wall of the church, has a steeply pitched slated roof. The ashlar sill band that runs along the church continues around the side and rear elevations of the school room. The gable end facing Sycamore Street has a central segmental-headed entrance with double-boarded doors and a plain fanlight above, flanked by a square-headed window. At the apex are a pair of ashlar bands and triple louvered openings similar to those of the church's east end. The rear wall has four similar square-headed windows, identical to those of the south aisle. The upper parts of all windows retain their original leaded glass, while the lower parts are replacement sheet glass with mock lead strips.

Interior of the Church

The church retains its Nonconformist character and comprises a large aisled nave with painted plaster walls, a boarded dado and a wood block floor. The east window is a rose window with quatrefoil tracery and a hood mould with bar stops. The round-arched nave arcades are of timber with pierced quatrefoils to the spandrels, supporting a false tribune above comprising a pair of round arches to each bay with a pierced quatrefoil. Above this rises a timber clerestory comprising four trefoil-headed lights per bay. Windows on the north side retain their original leaded quarries, while those on the south side have been re-glazed with wired glass and applied leading. An original vestibule to the main entrance in the south-east corner has a boarded ceiling divided by diagonal moulded ribs. The nave roof is flat-boarded and divided into panels separated by moulded ribs, with diagonal and curved braces springing from the wall posts in each bay. Iron tie rods span the nave from the moulded corbels of the wall posts. The aisles have lean-to roofs with exposed rafters and boarding.

Several original fittings remain, including ornate door furniture. Three banks of deal benches with circulation in the aisles retain numbered ends and metal umbrella stands and holds fixed with ornate hinges. Several rows have been lost where modern partitions have been inserted at the front of the aisles to enclose spaces now used as a sacristy and store. The original timber pulpit throne remains, featuring a canted front and stairs to either side with open gothic work panels and ornate newel posts. Alterations to accommodate Catholic worship include the installation of a plain forward altar and lectern, plaster statues and simple Stations of the Cross.

Interior of the Former School Room

Timber doors in the east wall of the church provide access to the former school room. One door retains original stained and leaded glass, while the other has replacement sheet glass with mock leading. The school room retains its original large open space, though a small modern kitchen has been inserted in the north-east corner where the original stage was located. The original vestry and service stair remain attached to the north, although the original door to the vestry has been removed and replaced with a pair of modern openings. The vestry space has been divided and converted to a toilet and scullery. Original features include the timber entrance porch with glazed trefoil-headed upper parts fitted with leaded glass, a boarded dado, and the timber roof structure.