Roman Catholic Church of English Martyrs

Roman Catholic Church of English Martyrs

Roman Catholic church built between 1952 and 1953 to plans drawn up before the Second World War. Designed by Francis Xavier Velarde, with relief sculptures by Philip Lindsey Clark, a font and Lady Altar statue by Herbert Tyson Smith. The building is constructed of brown brick with cast stone decoration and plain tile roofs.

The church is aligned approximately north-south, though liturgical compass points are used in describing it. The plan comprises a nave and sanctuary under a single roof with narrow side aisles and a shallow, curved chancel apse. A Lady Chapel occupies the east end of the south aisle, while a sacristy with a choir gallery above sits in a wing at the east end of the north aisle. A square campanile is attached at the south-east corner with an entrance porch, and a square baptistery with entrance porch is attached at the south-west. A small porch opens from the west end of the nave.

Externally, the church is built of brown brick laid in English garden wall bond (5:1) without cornice or parapet. On the liturgical south elevation, the ground-floor level has a flat-roofed aisle with five blind round-headed arches, each containing a cast stone relief figure of an English Martyr. The nave features round-headed clerestorey windows in a pattern of four windows arranged in a cruciform, separated by two single windows (4:2:4:2:4). At the left-hand end of the aisle, a flat-roofed entrance porch leads to the square baptistery, which has a pyramidal tiled roof topped by a metal cross. The porch's east elevation contains a blind round-headed arch framing a doorway with timber double doors and a pointed-head cast stone tympanum. The baptistery's east and west elevations each have two-light round-headed windows with cast stone relief mullions of angels, as do the west side of the entrance porch and the west ends of both aisles. At the right-hand end of the aisle, a similarly-detailed flat-roofed entrance porch links to the tall square campanile. The campanile carries a cast stone relief pieta on its liturgical south elevation and is topped with an octagonal cast stone lantern bearing a copper pyramidal roof and metal cross. The division between nave and sanctuary is marked by a single flying buttress. At ground-floor level stands the flat-roofed Lady Chapel, which has a four-light round-headed window with cast stone relief mullions of angels. The sanctuary behind has two heights of similar four-light windows. The slightly recessed curved apse has three small square windows on its side elevation. All windows feature metal frames; the round-headed lights contain large diamond and triangular-pattern glazing. The east elevation of the curved apse is blind.

On the liturgical north elevation, a flat-roofed aisle at ground-floor level has three blind round-headed arches. The clerestorey fenestration follows the pattern of the south elevation. At the left-hand end, a projecting two-storey gabled sacristy and choir gallery wing features pairs of round-headed windows, with a single-storey flat-roof block beyond containing confessionals and subsidiary rooms. The curved apse has three small square windows on its north side elevation. The liturgical west end of the nave has a single-storey gabled porch at ground-floor level, with a round-headed doorway containing timber double doors in the south elevation and a two-light round-headed window with relief mullion in the west gable wall. Above is a large circular window with cast stone cross glazing and a large relief figure of Christ. All external relief sculptures are by Philip Lindsey Clark.

The interior walls are of unadorned brown brick. The floor is largely carpeted, though where visible at the east end of the nave, the sanctuary, and the Lady Chapel, it consists of large terrazzo squares with thin copper edge banding and inset cross motifs. The nave has seven-bay arcades with circular reinforced concrete columns and round-headed arches. The columns are decorated with paired silver spiral bands, and the capitals have incised silver crown and cross motifs. The clerestorey windows are punched into the sheer brickwork above. The wooden nave roof has a flat centre with striped sunken panels and angled sides with bold zig-zagging, painted predominantly orange and cream. The side aisles display square relief panels of the Stations of the Cross with figures painted silver. The flat aisle roofs are painted orange with circular roof-lights and silver metal cross decorations.

A mighty round-headed arch separates the nave from the sanctuary, echoed by a smaller round-headed arch to the curved apse. The sanctuary is raised by shallow steps, with its roof continuing the nave roof. The forward-placed high altar has a wide oval concrete base with a silver-painted relief carving of an angel offering a chalice. Standing within the apse arch is a large flat-pyramidal reredos of concrete or cast stone recalling the Last Supper, with relief heads of the twelve disciples rising to Christ at the summit. The figures are painted silver, and a silver metal rood is attached to the wall behind. The Lady Chapel has an altar bearing a statue by Herbert Tyson Smith depicting Our Lady with St John Fisher holding his axe of martyrdom and a bouquet of roses, representing the English Martyrs. To the left of the sanctuary is the upper choir gallery, which has a round-arched opening with a bronze grille. The ceiling is painted with a diamond pattern of orange and blue on a cream background.

The baptistery contains a fine stone font by Herbert Tyson Smith, standing on a polished marble base. A square stone block with a gold-painted relief carving of angels chasing devils is set diagonally on a battered circular stem decorated with two inscribed wavy lines painted gold. The font cover is pyramidal with a fish-scale pattern and a cross finial. The baptistery roof is painted orange with thin silver and blue ribs. The adjacent flat entrance porch roof is painted with a diamond pattern of blue and white on an orange background, mirrored on the east entrance porch roof.

The presbytery and link block on the liturgical north side of the church are excluded from the listing.