Roman Catholic Church of St Thomas More

MATERIALS: a reinforced concrete frame with stained glass to the auditorium, and red brick chapel, sacristy, confessionals and baptistery to the side and rear.

PLAN: a hexagonal plan with a raised sanctuary flanked by a projecting sacristy, baptistery, and Lady's chapel, and surrounded by a fan-shaped auditorium.

EXTERIOR: the exterior is characterised by the thick concrete frame to the auditorium, which forms buttresses to the corners, and encloses two chunky water spouts to the front. The buttresses meet at the higher, rear, end of a shallow stepped concrete roof, where they rise into a tall concrete steeple. The walls consist of full-height abstract stained glass set between vertical concrete fins. To the front, concrete steps lead to a large projecting entrance set in a concrete box frame with original lettering reading 'Church of St Thomas More'. The entrance is covered by a freestanding canopy: a thick and heavy concrete chamfered slab, resting on two centrally positioned rectangular shaped concrete piers. To the side and rear of the church the lower red brick confessionals, baptistery sacristy and chapel project outwards, with the baptistery marked by a tall semi-circular inner wall which encloses the font inside.

INTERIOR: the interior is dominated by the fan-shaped, stepped roof and the abstract coloured glass panels to the walls by John Chrestien, in vibrant blue, turquoise and orange. His coloured glass panels at clerestory level, above the rectangular and stepped piers separating the auditorium from the baptistery and chapel, depict various Christian symbols. The auditorium has timber benched seating and frontals throughout, incorporating a small organ to the east side. Whilst the ribs of the ceiling rise upwards in the direction of the raised sanctuary and altar, the auditorium floor gently slopes down to it, creating a strong visual focus for worshippers. The marble sanctuary and altar is enclosed by timber altar rails, and screened from behind by a wall of horizontal concrete panels, painted blue, set at an angle. Hanging from the ribs to the ceiling above is a timber crucifix, lit by the opening in the roof, situated under the spire. Under the crucifix, the Reserved Sacrament is set into a curved alcove in the angle of the wall. The Baptistery has a drum-shaped font in polished aggregate with a marble cone-shaped lid, standing in the centre of a circular chapel lit from above, with a decorative sunken marble floor. On a plinth in the tall curved brick wall stands a carved wood sculpture of Christ, by an unknown artist. The plain rectangular Lady Chapel has a carved wood sculpture of St Mary, probably by the same artist (who probably also carved the bust of St Thomas More on the wall outside the chapel), and is again lit from above. To the rear of the chapel is a large glass window, also by Chrestien, with an abstract design of three circles, symbolising the Holy Trinity, in black and white with a blue background.