Church Of St Joseph

SUNDERLAND

NZ3857 PAXTON TERRACE 920-1/10/171 (North side) Church of St Joseph

II

Roman Catholic parish church. 1906-7. By the parish priest, Fr Rogers, with Thomas Axtell. Moulded concrete blocks made on site; Welsh slate roof with gable copings and terracotta ridge cresting. Romanesque basilica style. Aisled continuous nave and chancel with nave and aisle apses; W aisled porch. EXTERIOR: round-headed windows with sloping sills, 5 in panelled E apse and 3 in E aisle apses under half-conical roofs, paired in aisles and clerestory under dripstring in 7 panelled bays. W porch has similar windows, paired in aisle panels and single flanking central high round-headed door. Door surround of triple roll moulding under chamfered arch on pilasters with moulded imposts and drip string. Large rose window over door has moulded surround; statues on brackets in round-headed niches with dripmoulds flank door arch. Lombard friezes to all gables, which have copings on moulded kneelers. Pent aisle roofs; decorative ridge cresting with cross finials to nave and chancel. INTERIOR of painted blocks shows 7-bay arcade with painted round piers except for east pair, of dark red granite, with crocket capitals and chamfered round arches with dripstring. High chancel and W arches on cross walls, with W choir gallery. Big moulded corbels support king post roof with arch-braced collars. Sill string to clerestory. S chancel chapel has stained glass Annunciation by Atkinson Bros, Newcastle; aisle windows have round panels showing saints, set in tinted diagonal quarries; tinted glass in clerestory leaded lights. Alabaster octagonal font with shafts. Foundation stone in W porch dated 23 July 1906. An early example of the use of moulded concrete blocks, with additional historical interest of design by parish priest with advice from Axtell, an engineer, who supervised the construction. Blocks said to have been made by the men of the parish. (Corfe T and Milburn G: Buildings and Beliefs: Sunderland: 1984-: 31).

Listing NGR: NZ3805057106