Our Lady Of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church And Presbytery

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church is a red brick church in the Gothic style, built in 1876–8 to designs by James O'Byrne of Liverpool. The attached presbytery was added in 1880–1, also by O'Byrne. Both buildings are constructed mainly of red brick with red sandstone dressings, with brown brick used to the rear sections, and slate roofs throughout.

Plan and Structure

The church comprises a nave with side aisles under separate roofs. At the south-east end (the ritual west end) facing High Park Street is a narthex. The presbytery, with a double-depth plan, is attached to the south-west side. A two-storey range at the rear south-west corner is attached to the church at right angles, containing the sacristy, work sacristy and organ gallery.

Church Exterior

The narthex is a single-storey lean-to structure at the south-east end with three entrance doorways, each accessed by a single step. The central doorway is wider with double doors and surmounted by a gable with a cross finial. All doors have quoined stone surrounds with curved jambs and arched heads. Above the centre door is a five-light window with arched heads; three-light windows in the same style sit above each side door. The doors themselves are plank and batten with highly decorative strap hinges. To the far right of the narthex is a taller gabled baptistry with a tall three-light window featuring geometric tracery to the front, breaking into the gable with a continuous hoodmould above and a cross finial surmounting the gable. The right return has a plainer tall two-light window.

The tall nave rises above and behind the narthex, with cross finials and kneelers to each gable end. The clerestory incorporates paired lancet windows on each side. Set into the south-east gable end are two very tall arched stained glass windows and a rose window, all with geometrical tracery and continuous hoodmoulds, lighting the nave. These are flanked by angle buttresses rising from the narthex and side aisles.

The low side aisles have lean-to roofs on each flanking side (the roofs have been replaced, but the original slates retained). The right side is lit by small single-light windows. The north-west end of the nave is in brown brick with full-height buttresses and a very large arched stained glass window to the centre with geometric tracery and red brick surround.

A two-storey brown brick range with red brick dressings is attached to the south-west side at right angles. This incorporates the north-west end of the south-west side aisle and includes a stained glass traceried rose window. To the right is a triple-light lancet window with diamond leading and stained glass border lighting the organ and choir gallery. A similar traceried rose window is set at the end of the north-east side aisle.

Presbytery Exterior

The presbytery is three storeys plus basement, with ridge and end stacks. All elevations have one-over-one sash windows with sandstone sills and lintels. The front (south-east) elevation faces High Park Street, set back from the narthex, with cast-iron railings featuring alternate fleur-de-lys finials and low red brick piers in front. The two-bay façade has paired windows to the ground and first floors of the left bay, triple-light windows to the same floors of the right bay, and paired windows set within second-floor dormers to both bays. The first and second-floor windows have stone dividing mullions, with relieving arches above the ground and first-floor windows.

The left (south-west) elevation has two gable ends with wall stacks projecting from the first floor. The arched main entrance lies to the left side of the right gable with a recessed door (probably replaced) and a three-light arched fanlight above. Sash windows sit above and to the left of the entrance, with a small dormer to the roof. Two smaller sash windows to the second floor of the left gable end flank the wall stack. A small yard area to the rear (north-west side) separates the presbytery from the rear sacristy range. An enclosed corridor lit by two sash windows along the north-east side connects both buildings. The yard elevations contain a mixture of sash and casement windows, all with angled stone sills and red brick jambs. An enlarged replaced window is located to the ground floor left of the presbytery.

Church Interior

The narthex has a patterned tiled floor incorporating a mosaic shield and Latin inscription 'DECOR CARMELI ET SARON' (the Excellency of Carmel and Sharon, from Isaiah Chapter 35), with a patterned mosaic border to the granite dado. An eight-light window with cusped upper lights and diamond leaded stained glass is set into the north-west wall. Painted lettering on the wall above reads 'This Church was Consecrated by Bishop Halsall on September 5th 1951'. Flanking doors with arched upper lights containing etched glass lead into the main body of the church. A doorway to the right side of the narthex has been converted into a window. The baptistry is no longer in use and the marble font has been moved to the front left of the sanctuary.

The tall broad nave has arcaded side aisles incorporating polished grey granite columns with carved stone bases and stiff-leaf capitals by Hanleys of Chester. A decorative corbelled niche at the south-east end above the narthex window contains a painted statue. Painted angel statuettes of various designs sit above the arcade springings on corbels; these originally formed part of the altar reredos. Pendant lights hang throughout. The church has modern pews and a continuous ribbed-vaulted ceiling covering both nave and sanctuary.

The sanctuary is set upon a raised stone platform with elaborate carved alabaster and marble altar rails and decorative metal gates incorporating the letters 'IHS'. Timber steps behind lead up to an oak altar platform with a parquet floor. The alabaster altar has three octofoils to the front separated by cusped lancets, all containing painted and gold leaf imagery. The altar has been moved forward from its original position and extended slightly to the rear, and the elaborate marble sanctuary piece and reredos incorporating painted and gold leaf imagery has been moved back against the rear wall (both repositioned in 1978). A large traceried stained glass north-west window dating from the 1880s sits above.

Further marble and alabaster altars and reredoses are located in small chapels at the north-west ends of each side aisle. Oil paintings of the Stations of the Cross by May Greville Cooksey of Southport (1928) hang in both side aisles. A series of confessionals along the north-east side aisle are set behind partly glazed panelled doors. The choir and organ gallery to the west corner is set within the adjacent sacristy range, accessed by a stone dog-leg stair. It has a panelled timber front incorporating pierced quatrefoil motifs, choir pews, and an organ by Gray & Davison of London installed in 1880.

A door below and to the left of the organ gallery, with an adjacent large decorative timber niche containing a statue of St Bernard with flanking imagery panels, leads into the sacristy and work sacristy with panelled cupboards. A cupboard-lined corridor along the outside south-west wall of the church leads into the presbytery.

Presbytery Interior

The presbytery retains original panelled doors throughout, deep carved skirtings, roll-moulded cornices, and reeded door surrounds with raised top corners. Some original timber and marble fireplaces survive to the ground and first floors, though others have been replaced or removed. Two painted cast-iron fireplaces are located on the second floor.

The entrance vestibule has an Art Nouveau-style patterned mosaic tiled dado, along with a mosaic floor incorporating fleur-de-lys motifs and a patterned tiled border. The stair hall contains a varnished pitch-pine open-well stair with chamfered and carved newel posts, pendants, and turned balusters. A timber basement stair beneath the main stair leads to basement rooms with stone flag floors, plank and batten doors, and stone pantry shelving.

History

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church was constructed in 1876–8 to designs by James O'Byrne of Liverpool, with the attached presbytery added in 1880–1. It is believed that the name of the church was selected in part due to the elevated position of the site and its suggested representation of Mount Carmel. The church was opened on 21 July 1878 by Bishop O'Reilly.

Originally to the rear of the church was the detached Our Lady of Mount Carmel School associated with the church. However, following a fire in the 1970s the school building was demolished (apart from a section of basement wall) and the school moved to a new site. In 2001 the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel incorporated the nearby parish of St Finbar after the church of the same name closed.

Significance

The church and presbytery are designated for their quality as a well-detailed and imposing composition of a mid to late 19th-century Roman Catholic church and attached presbytery in the Gothic style. They were designed by the notable architect James O'Byrne, a pupil of J.A. and C.F. Hansom, and the church survives as one of his best works. Both buildings are little altered and retain much of their original historic character and features. The well-proportioned and expansive church interior contains high-quality fittings, including marble altars and reredoses, and paintings of the Stations of the Cross by May Greville Cooksey (1928). They have group value with the adjacent grade II listed retaining walls and tower of Toxteth Reservoir (1855) and Toxteth Public Offices (1865).