The Ukrainian Catholic Church of Holy Trinity and Our Lady of Pochaiv (formerly St John's Methodist Church)

Ukrainian Catholic Church of Holy Trinity and Our Lady of Pochaiv

This church, formerly known as St John's Wesleyan Chapel, was built in 1878–1879 to a design by Christopher Obee Ellison of Liverpool in the Gothic style. The building is constructed of coursed rock-faced sandstone with sandstone ashlar dressings and slate roof coverings.

The church is rectangular in plan with the chancel at the north-west end (liturgical east) and the main entrance at the south-east end (liturgical west). A vestry projects from the north side and a porch from the east side. The building sits in a plot bounded by Park View Road to the south-east, Birr Road to the north-east and Wilmer Road to the south-west, with a basement at the north-west end.

The south-east front features a central gabled doorway approached by four stone steps with a moulded pointed arch, hoodmould with foliate stops and marble shafts with foliate capitals. The doorway is flanked by two two-light pointed-arch windows with hoodmoulds and foliate stops. Above is a large seven-light pointed-arch window with 13th-century geometric tracery, hoodmould with foliate stops and diaper lower panels. To the left stands a tall spirelet with a shallow set-back buttress. To the right is a tower with shallow set-back buttresses and a three-light pointed-arch window at aisle level, a two-light pointed-arch geometric window at gallery level and two circular windows above, all with stopped hoodmoulds. The belfry contains a louvered three-light pointed-arch geometric window with stone shafts, foliate capitals and a stopped hoodmould. The parapet is pinnacled with small flying buttresses and a tall spire with lucarnes. A side entrance on the left has a moulded pointed-arch doorway approached by a modern access ramp with a lean-to slate roof. The porch at the right end features a set-back buttress, two circular windows with linked stopped hoodmoulds and a three-light square-headed window with diaper lower panels and slate roof. A flying buttress rises from the porch to the tower.

The north-east side shows the nave in four bays, each with two lancet windows at aisle level and one three-light four-centred segmental-arch geometric window at gallery level, divided by buttresses. A slightly projecting two-bay gabled transept has kneelers and copings, two pairs of lancet windows at aisle level and two three-light pointed-arch geometric windows at gallery level, with a smaller unglazed three-light opening to the gable. A projecting porch on the left has a central doorway approached by four stone steps with a moulded pointed arch and geometric details, above which is a circular geometric window with stopped hoodmould. The foundation stone, partially weathered, is inscribed: TO THE GLORY OF GOD / THIS / STONE WAS LAID / BY / HENRY MITCHELL ESQ JP / AUGUST [unreadable] / S.O. ELLISON [unreadable]. A flying buttress rises from the right-hand buttress to the tower. The porch return walls have two circular windows with linked stopped hoodmoulds. The projecting gabled vestry at the right has kneelers, copings and a slate roof, with a doorway to the left approached by a single broad step with pointed arch and a square-headed four-light mullioned and transomed window to the right. Above is a circular geometric window and a slit window to the gable. The left return of the vestry has a three-light mullioned window. Behind the vestry is a smaller tower with tall slate roof, an arcade of cusped windows and a four-light mullioned and transomed window.

The south-west side of the nave and transept mirrors the north-east side in design. At the left end are the blank walls of the organ chamber, slightly set back from the transept. At the right end is a projecting polygonal staircase tower with tall slated roof and a single-light window at aisle level and a two-light pointed-arch window at gallery level.

The north-west end has a large five-light pointed-arch geometric window, below which is a semi-sunken square-headed window with relieving arch surrounded by iron railings. The vestry, slightly set back at the left, has a two-light mullioned window at ground-floor level and a small kneelered gable. To the right, the blank wall of the organ chamber is set back. A flight of stone steps with iron railings and gate leads to the basement.

The south-east entrance leads into an entrance lobby with a timber and etched glass screen with doors, opening into a vestibule also with a timber and etched glass screen with doors. Gallery stairs, with closed strings, handrails, turned balusters and newel posts, lie to the north and south of the vestibule. The north-west wall of the vestibule features a full-height painting of the Crucifixion.

The nave has a hammerbeam roof on moulded stone corbels. Two central aisles run the length of the nave with sixteen rows of numbered pews. Commemorative stained-glass windows at aisle level date from around 1900. Confessionals have been inserted into each transept and two marble altars have been added to either side of the chancel arch. The gallery runs around three sides of the nave, supported on iron columns with foliate capitals and having a panelled front with geometric designs and painted red and gold details. At gallery level there are three sets of pews to the east and west, four sets to the south and six additional sets over the vestibule. The windows at this level contain original decorative leaded glazing, as do the transept windows.

The moulded pointed chancel arch has marble shafts, foliate capitals and a foliate stopped hoodmould. Cyrillic script painted below the hoodmould reads: HOLY TRINITY OUR GOD GLORY TO YOU. The east window, also with a foliate stopped hoodmould, contains stained glass dating to around 1900 depicting Christ in Majesty and Transfiguration subjects with the Last Supper in predella sections. A decorated metal-framed iconostasis with painted panels separates the nave from the chancel. A pair of central (Royal) doors provides access to the sanctuary, which has a marble altar beneath a tall, slender, decorated metal-framed baldacchino. Behind the altar is a timber screen of pointed arches and niches incorporating religious paintings, separating the sanctuary from the preparation area. The chancel roof is panelled and vaulted. To the left is an organ bay with arched openings into the nave and chancel; the organ is now partially boxed in.

A doorway to the right of the chancel arch at both aisle and gallery level leads into a suite of rooms within the vestry. The hallway is partially tiled with a closed string staircase, handrail, turned balusters and newel posts. The aisle level office contains timber benches and coat hooks.