Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady

Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady

This is a substantial reinforced concrete church, Grade II listed, with a modern design executed in the mid-twentieth century. The building is oriented liturgically east-west, though its actual orientation is northwest-southeast.

The structure is constructed primarily of reinforced concrete with brick infill in two tones—red brick to the plinth and pale pinkish-buff brick above—particularly to the gables and side aisles. Decorative finishes vary across the main western elevation. The main window mullions and entrance surrounds are of vibrated concrete. The roof is covered in Delta tiles, while the central flèche is topped in copper. The sanctuary itself is finished in Nabresina Roman marble, Westmorland slate, sapele wood and stainless steel. Floors throughout combine terrazzo, Granwood, woodblock and pink marble set in terrazzo.

The plan is cruciform with roughly equal arms, centred on a crossing sanctuary. Shallow narthex porches project from the north, south and west ends, with aisles running along the north and south transepts and the nave. The Lady Chapel (winter chapel) occupies the southeast corner, with sacristies to the northeast. A circular baptistery is located at the northwest corner, and a small chapel (formerly the Mothers' and Babies' Chapel) at the southwest. Confessionals flank the west entrance on one side, with a bookstall on the other.

Externally, the building rises to double height with pitched roofs forming gables at each end and flat-roofed aisles and chapels. The reinforced concrete frame is expressed through exposed corner and eaves beams. The rising ground slopes towards the west, where a wide flight of steps embraces the building's footprint and leads towards the side entrances. The principal west entrance features a triple doorway with dark timber doors sheltered beneath a repeating gull-wing canopy supported on very slender metal columns. The doors are flanked by obscure-glazed windows with small panes set between concrete mullions and transoms, and beyond these are panels of pale grey waffle infill. A rose window with dalle-de-verre (slab glass) glazing dominates the gable above, surmounted by a cross.

The baptistery projects as an attached semi-circular structure with vertical concrete fins between which dalle-de-verre glazing is set. This is balanced opposite by a projecting rectangular chapel with similar glazing and its own external entrance, allowing mothers and babies to enter and exit without disturbing the rest of the congregation. The transepts each feature full-height dalle-de-verre glazing at clerestory level, with rectangular windows to the gable ends whose tops are cranked beneath the eaves. Their entrances have double doors set within slightly-projecting concrete surrounds, flanked by plain-glazed windows with small panes between concrete mullions and transoms. The Lady Chapel appears as a rectangular projection with a horizontal dalle-de-verre window. The sacristy is built of red brick and contains a replacement uPVC window. The eastern gable end is blank. A sectional wooden building attached to the rear serves as the church hall.

A tall, slender central flèche rises above the crossing.

The forecourt is defined by deep, low red-brick gate piers with metal gates, flanked by plain metal railings across the front of the plot.

The interior is entered through glazed narthices on three sides. The concrete frame is expressed in the vaulted ceiling, which carries painted decoration. All interior woodwork is finished in warm teak, with walls of white-painted plaster. Single-storey aisles are separated from the full-height central spaces by arcades of slender astylar elliptical columns. The space is centrally planned, with the nave, transepts and choir all oriented towards the sanctuary at the crossing, which rises through three steps to form the setting for the high altar.

The sanctuary is the focus of the interior. The mensa (altar top) consists of 4-inch-thick Nabresina Roman marble, as do the communion rail and pulpit plinths. Dark green Westmorland slate columns support the mensa and communion rail. Floors and steps are of terrazzo, with the pulpit and ambo designed as integral elements of the sanctuary structure. The high altar is crowned by a tester suspended on cables over pulleys, allowing it to be lowered for seasonal changes of covering. The baptistery, circular in plan and one step below the nave level, formerly contained a circular font in Ancaster stone with a bronze base bearing an Alpha and Omega motif; this font is now positioned in the otherwise-empty choir. The Mothers' and Babies' Chapel, accessed by a separate external entrance, features a louvred screen providing privacy whilst allowing views towards the altar. The Boys' Sacristy connects the choir via double doors to the Priests' Sacristy and an adjacent room, which in turn connects to a temporary building that was used for Mass before the church's construction. Simple teak pews remain in place throughout.

The interior is dominated by an extensive scheme of dalle-de-verre coloured glass which forms the entire clerestory walling except for the eastern end. In the nave and transepts, the glass is fixed between tall mullions set at a double angle to create the effect of light shining towards the high altar. The designs are primarily abstract, representing the Incarnation with increasingly ordered forms towards the east end. The colour palette is wide, consisting mainly of golds, blues and reds. The north and south transepts contain the only figurative panels: the Virgin Mary with the inscription ECCE ANCILLA DOMINI appears in one, and the Angel Gabriel in the other, together depicting the Annunciation.

Rather than a conventional eastern window, a glass mosaic by Steven Sykes—who executed mosaic work at Basil Spence's Coventry Cathedral—occupies this position. It comprises a Chi-Rho symbol above an Alpha and Omega motif. Dalle-de-verre glass continues throughout the ancillary spaces at ground floor level. The Lady Chapel, separated from the south transept by glazed timber screens, is top-lit by a central roof-light. Its wall is finished in reeded concrete below a window depicting the attributes of the Virgin in vibrant colours. The Mothers' and Babies' Chapel contains a floor-to-ceiling window showing the instruments of the Passion. The baptistery glass is predominantly blue and green with appropriate liturgical imagery.