Fazl Mosque

Fazl Mosque, built 1925-1926 to the designs of TH Mawson and Sons (JH Mawson as lead architect) for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

MATERIALS: steel-framed concrete structure with brick infill panels, finished in painted stucco.

PLAN: rectangular plan consisting of a single prayer hall with an inserted entrance vestibule on the north-west side and a mehrab niche in the centre of the opposing wall, oriented south-east towards Mecca. The mosque was built a few degrees off from the correct direction of the Qibla. Consequently, the prayer direction within the building has been reoriented (as expressed by the prayer lines in the hall which are not orthogonal with the mosque plan).

EXTERIOR: stucco rendered hall divided into equal-sized bays by five pairs of steel-framed concrete piers. A green dome with a gold finial set on a buttressed rectangular base occupies the two bays above the entrance to the north-west. The main prayer hall is 5.4 metres in height and the apex of the dome stands at 10 metres. The corners of the hall are marked by small cupola minarets with green ogee domes and gold finials (slightly altered from their original form). The elevations are restrained in their detailing, the only applied decoration being the stucco arcading above the windows of the hall and dome base, which create a crenelated effect. Tall, narrow windows with round arches to each elevation light the hall, whilst five shortened arched windows are positioned on the four sides of the square dome base; all windows are uPVC replacements.

The frontal elevation to the north-west has a large central door surround with an arched inset adorned with a painted Quranic inscription (72:19) with an English translation. Either side of the central doors are carved stone tablets (later additions) in English (left) and Urdu (right) which record the message delivered by the second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya, Mirza Bashir-Ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, to mark the 19 October 1924 foundation laying ceremony. The rear elevation has a pair of windows flanking the protruding mehrab niche, which features the original pair of stone tablets carved with the same inscription as the plaques to the entrance (the top tablet in English with Urdu below). The side elevations both have four narrow windows with rounded arches evenly distributed between the concrete piers. A lean-to uPVC structure has been built against the east side of the south-west wall (formally excluded from the listing) and an additional door to the hall has been inserted here.

INTERIOR: plain rendered walls painted white throughout, with the mehrab niche in the centre of the back wall picked out in turquoise. Concrete piers support structural concrete cross beams, with simple stepped detailing where they meet. A moulded cornice runs beneath the windows under the dome. On the north-west side of the hall a modern uPVC vestibule has been inserted.