Church Of St Philip Neri (Rc)

Roman Catholic church built 1914-20, designed by P S Gilby. Located on Catharine Street in Liverpool.

The building is constructed of narrow red-brown brickwork with ashlar dressings and enrichments, featuring metal sheet coverings to the main and secondary domes. It follows a linear east-west plan with an entrance and narthex to the east. The narthex is flanked by a side chapel to the north and a baptistry to the south. The nave features a galleried east end with shallow side aisles to north and south, and is set beneath a dome at its west end, approaching the apse. A vestry extends behind the apse.

The style is Neo-Byzantine. The east front to Catharine Street displays twin entrance doorways set within a wide banded semi-circular arched opening of two orders with attached columns. The doorways are flat-headed with attenuated voussoirs forming part of the tympanum, which contains relief sculpture of The Virgin and Child. A hood mould with head finials surmounts the doorways. A moulded ashlar coping to the parapet includes enriched ashlar corner panels and a central tripartite panel above the arch keystone. A wide central pier between the doorways bears shallow relief carving of Christ. Flanking the entrance are flat-roofed single-storey side chapels with semi-circular headed single and two-light windows above.

Set back behind the narthex, the east gable wall of the nave has a shallow pediment to the central part of the parapet. Brick walling with masonry banding includes a wide dentilled band at cill level of a Diocletian window to the upper part of the gable, set within a banded arch. Below is relief sculpture depicting The Last Supper.

The north elevation to Blackburne Place features six tall aisle windows set beneath stilted semi-circular arches, with plain shallow buttresses to the ends and centre. The window to bay five is shorter, with a double doorway below. A shallow parapet with ashlar coping and carved panels to pilaster heads runs along this elevation. Set back above is the tall nave side wall, with semi-circular clerestory windows to the three eastern bays set on a dentilled band and separated by wide pilasters. The western bays form the base to the dome and are raised further, with banded dome-headed pilasters to the corners and a wide central semi-circular arched window set upon a dentilled cill band. The set back west end bay has a circular light to its lower part and a semi-circular light above. A semi-circular apse is visible, with a lower flat-roofed vestry range behind. The west gable features a semi-circular hood mould above the apse roof, supporting an ashlar cross set below the gable pediment.

The interior narthex contains mosaic decoration to the ceiling and inner tympanum. The north side chapel, dedicated to St Gerald Majella, features a marble altar and reredos with mosaic decoration to the walls, and a war memorial on the south wall. The south chapel forms the baptistry with a font and less lavish decoration. The nave has a barrel vaulted ceiling and six-bay arcades with semi-circular arches rising from square columns with mostly plain capitals. Above the arcades, the walls are decorated with mosaic representations of biblical scenes and portraits of saints. The east end contains an organ gallery supported on timber columns with a curved frontage. The dome is of unplastered masonry with eight circular lights. A tall semi-circular arch opens to the sanctuary, with side altars to the flanking walls set before arched recesses containing mosaic portraits. An arcaded marble altar rail with decorative metal gates includes an integral pulpit to the south side. The apse is decorated throughout with mosaics, except for a plain backdrop to the crucifix above the High Altar.

This is a distinguished early 20th century Neo-Byzantine composition displaying scholarly appreciation of Byzantine architectural detail, incorporating finely wrought exterior sculpture and sumptuous mosaic enrichment throughout.