Roman Catholic Church of St Mary (The Hidden Gem)

Roman Catholic Church of St Mary (The Hidden Gem)

A Roman Catholic church built between 1844 and 1848 by the architects Weightman and Hadfield in the Rhenish Romanesque style. The church is constructed of red brick with sandstone dressings and a slate roof.

The church is orientated north-south with the main entrance on Mulberry Street to the south and the sanctuary facing north. It follows a basilican plan with a unified seven-bay space comprising a nave and sanctuary with aisles, side chapels at the east end of each aisle, and a square tower positioned at the west end of the south aisle. Clerestory windows light the interior above the aisle arcades, and a large octagonal lantern rises over the nave to provide light to this urban setting. At the west end, a gallery with entrance lobby beneath is accessed from below, while an oratory on the south side within the south aisle can be reached either by a staircase in the church tower or by a doorway from the presbytery attached to the cardinal east side. The staircase also provides access to a large meeting room inserted above the south aisle. The sacristy, internal access to the presbytery, and confessionals open off the south side of the south aisle.

The exterior is built of red brick in Flemish bond with banded stone and brick heads to all round-headed windows and arches. The west front elevation has a stone plinth and stone Lombard friezes at the eaves of the north aisle and nave, and round the top of the second stage of the tower. The nave features a projecting stone doorcase with four steps, moulded impost band and eaves cornice. A large round-headed doorway has engaged columns with foliate capitals and enriched voussoirs, with an inset sculptural tympanum bearing a triangular pediment containing a Latin inscription surmounted by two kneeling angels holding a roundel with the Lamb of God. Timber double doors are fitted with highly decorative ironwork strap hinges. Above the lean-to doorcase roof are three tall round-headed lancets, with a wheel window with banded frame in the gable. The left aisle has two round-headed windows with central column shafts and a simple rose window with banded frame above. The square tower to the right has three stages: the first stage contains two tall round-headed arches with very small lancets; the second stage has a stone niche with lobed head and engaged side columns, with a foliate corbel supporting a shaped moulded sill on which stands a statue of Mary holding the Baby Jesus; the belfry stage features coupled round-headed blank arches, each containing two round-headed windows with central column shafts and cast-iron diamond lattice grills. Above the moulded cornice is a steeply pitched helm roof with three stepped round-headed lancets to each gable.

The interior beyond the main west entrance contains a small timber and glazed lobby with a mosaic floor inscribed with "Ave Maria" and a panelled ceiling. The lobby screen walls have timber frames with doors on each side; lower panels are set with diagonal planks with bands of glazed panels above featuring decorative leaded and stained glass patterns. The main interior has plastered walls with very tall arcades of round arches and columns raised on high square bases with carved stone Byzantine or Romanesque capitals and shafts painted to resemble marble. The side chapels are each separated from the sanctuary by a stone screen with round arches and marble columns set into the easternmost arcade arch. Beneath the clerestory windows on each side is a moulded cornice and frieze with Latin inscription, continued across the east wall of the sanctuary. The high roof has shallow queen-post trusses with king-struts set on corbels and a panelled ceiling. At the centre is a large octagonal domed lantern with leaded and stained-glass patterned lights. Throughout the interior, windows feature similar leaded and stained-glass patterned lights, except for a window in the south side chapel which contains stained glass of the Virgin, probably dating to the 1860s and attributed to Hardman. The sanctuary contains an elaborate stone and marble reredos with an integral high altar, topped with high-quality statuary of the Sacred Heart and Saints surmounted by angels. The side chapels have similarly elaborate reredoses: the north side chapel reredos has a Pieta centrepiece and is lit by two roof lights; the south side chapel reredos features a Madonna and Child in a tall central tabernacle with flanking scenes of the Birth of Christ and Christ in the Temple, also lit by two roof lights. The west gallery has a timber panelled front. Within the south aisle is an elaborate round font with relief-carved Biblical scenes, raised on marble columns and positioned close to the side chapel. Round-headed doorways at either end open into the presbytery and sacristy, with three square-headed confessional doorways between them. At the west end of the south aisle is a first-floor level timber oratory with canted sides and lattice-work timber framing beneath a continuous row of vertical rectangular windows with arched heads featuring leaded and painted glass, topped by a brattished cornice. The staircase in the church tower is closed off with a decorative ironwork screen incorporating a door. The oratory contains a small but elaborate stone and marble reredos with an integral altar featuring relief-carved scenes and a tabernacle with painted door, accompanied by a statue tabernacle flanked by carved angels.