Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart and St Margaret Mary

A Roman Catholic church dating from 1922 to 1934, designed by George Bernard Cox of Harrison Cox Architects of Birmingham. Interior decoration was undertaken by R L Boulton of Cheltenham, J Linthout of Bruges, and Ludwig Oppenheimer and Co. of Manchester.

The church is constructed from brindle brick laid in Flemish bond with stone dressings, beneath a clay pantile roof. The interior incorporates a wealth of decorative materials, including marbles, mosaic, coloured glass and stone, particularly concentrated at the eastern end.

The building is oriented north-east to south-west and follows a cruciform plan, comprising a nave and chancel, north and south transepts, a north-western tower and north and south aisles. The chancel terminates in an apse, as does the Lady Chapel located at the east end of the north aisle. The vestry and sacristy project eastward from the east end of the south aisle.

The exterior displays Italian Romanesque styling. A five-stage campanile occupies the south-west corner, featuring tripartite blind arcading and dentilled string courses, with open arcades in the bell chamber. A notable statue of Christ blessing by Gibbs and Canning of Tamworth tops the tower. The high nave contains a clerestory of four bays with blind arcading housing small round-arched windows with perpendicular tracery based on round arches, set beneath banded dressings of stone and brick. Low aisles have bays articulated by brick pilasters with stone caps and small rectangular windows shielded by stone traceried screens in the upper wall. The eastern ends of the chancel and Lady Chapel feature semi-domes. The north transept is gabled and contains a tripartite window set in stone dressings with a banded arch above. A lean-to narthex at the west end houses the main entrance, which has a gabled doorway with a mosaic of the crucified Christ in the tympanum and carved stone armorial above. The west window is tripartite, comprising three round-headed lancets with alternating brick and stone dressings.

The interior is Byzantine in inspiration, with monolithic marble piers bearing crisply carved cushion capitals that form five-bay round-arched arcades. A continuous barrel vault roof springs from carved stone corbels, with a dentil string course running above the arcade, interrupted by high crossing arches and the chancel arch. The structure is constructed in brick with stone dressings. The floor comprises parquet work beneath the pews, with terrazzo set in a guilloche pattern running through the centre of the nave and aisles.

The sanctuary is dominated by a rainbow-coloured half-dome clad with mosaic tiles in fish-scale patterns. Below this, all surfaces are finished in marble and decorated with mosaic panels featuring gold grounds and depictions of saints. A large and fine mosaic panel serves as the altarpiece, showing the risen Christ appearing to the 17th-century visionary Sister Margaret Mary. The marble altar is richly decorated and positioned atop a flight of marble steps descending from a marble and brass altar rail with uprights echoing the fish-scale pattern in the half-dome. This fish-scale theme continues throughout the church's glazing and doors.

The Lady Chapel at the east end of the north aisle contains a similarly half-domed sanctuary with a deep blue mosaic ceiling featuring a circular lantern at its apex and inlaid marble below. Its marble altar is topped with a good alabaster statue of the Virgin and set on a marble platform raised upon a marble balustrade.

A second chapel dedicated to Joseph is located at the east end of the south aisle near the vestry entrance. It contains a well-carved alabaster altarpiece depicting the marriage of Mary and Joseph and the Holy Family. An intricate inlaid marble pulpit is positioned within the church. The aisles feature arch-topped mosaic panels with figures on gold grounds depicting the Stations of the Cross. Additional mosaic panels showing episodes from the life of Christ are placed throughout the church above entrances and doors leading to confessionals and the vestry, including a Virgin and Child above the west door. The baptistery at the west end contains a plain hexagonal font set on a terrazzo floor echoing the nave and aisle decoration.

The church forecourt is bounded to the north-east and south-west by gates, piers and railings constructed in brick and stone matching the church, with good quality carving to the caps.