Roman Catholic Church Of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel

The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a church built between 1954 and 1959, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. It is constructed of brown brick with cream stone dressings, and has steeply pitched tiled roofs to the aisles and confessionals. The church has a rectangular plan and is in a simplified Gothic style.

The tall, narrow nave features pronounced diagonal roofs to the north and south, with the north roof having three large half-dormers. A three-light west window sits between two tall buttresses, above which is a bellcote. The clerestory has paired, three-light square-headed windows with cusped heads. An entrance is located to the south-west.

Inside, broad, transverse pointed arches act as internal buttresses, with passage aisles featuring square-headed openings and pointed blind tympana. The roof pitch is visible above the passage aisles, and above the transverse arches is a clerestory leading to a flat ceiling with timber beams highlighted in white against a red background. A western gallery is supported by short, circular columns. The lower part of the walls is faced with red sandstone, while the upper part is plastered. The short sanctuary contains an altar now positioned forward, and a tall, three-panel reredos painted in red and blue with gilded tracery and inset figures. An octagonal font is located to the north of the altar. A timber pulpit with a red sandstone base is attached to the north side of the chancel arch. Pendant light fittings are made of timber and contain brass bell-shaped bulb holders.

The unusually high clerestory, positioned above the transverse arches, is a notable feature, and the church represents a fine example of Sir Giles Scott’s later work.