Church Of St Boniface

The Church of St Boniface is a Roman Catholic church built between 1906 and 1927, designed by Father Benedict Williamson, with contributions from J.H. Benet Foss. It is constructed of brick with stone dressings in a Venetian Romanesque style. The church comprises a nave with side aisles, and a square brick tower with stone banding around the belfry, located on the north-west corner. The building has a slate roof and a copper-covered spire. The west elevation, facing Mitcham Road, features a central, double-height gable containing a large recessed rose window. This window is framed by a segmental band of stone springing from stone lintels, supported by four short columns with abstract Egyptianised capitals. Below are two projecting features with stone, Byzantine-style hoods and single recessed windows. The ground floor is tripartite, with a central round-arched entrance divided by a column, all featuring the same abstract neo-Egyptian capitals. A carved stone figure of Christ sits above the middle column of the entrance.

The interior features two six-bay arcades with smooth, flat clerestory windows above. Plain round columns support a timber tie-beam roof in the nave. Lean-to aisles have timber ceilings. Mosaic panels, arranged as tryptichs, depict the Stations of the Cross along the aisle walls, with simple wooden panelling below. The apsidal chancel, at the east end, contains a curved, fitted stone altar with Egyptian-style capitals. A statue is housed within an architectural surround with a triangular hood on the south altar and a Madonna and Child within a surround with a semi-circular hood on the north altar. Original simple oak pews remain. An organ gallery is located at the west end.

Father Benedict Williamson, who trained as an architect before becoming a priest in 1906, employed Egyptian-style motifs in the design, a notable influence he championed in the 1920s. This church is considered the finest example of his later work.