Roman Catholic Church of St Luke

Roman Catholic Church of St Luke

This Roman Catholic Church of St Luke at Pinner was built in 1957–58 to designs by F X Velarde. It was the earliest of four churches in the Diocese of Westminster designed by Velarde, executed in a neo-Romanesque version of the continental modern style.

The exterior is constructed of pale brown brick laid in English garden wall bond, with copper roof coverings. The building is not orientated according to liturgical convention—the liturgical east end lies to the west, though this description follows standard liturgical orientation. The plan comprises a nave and sanctuary beneath a continuous pitched roof, flanked by twin west towers and low flat-roofed aisles with chapels and sacristies.

A broad flight of steps leads to the striking west front, characterised by simple geometrical massing. A cubical brick porch projects forward, containing a round-headed doorway with plain jambs and a simple brick arch. The original doors are of varnished wood with applied geometric beads and panels. Behind the porch, the nave and aisle west walls are blind, with the nave rising sheer and windowless to a pierced brick parapet set between two rectangular corner towers. The towers feature paired round-headed arches at the bell stages and pyramidal roofs topped by individually detailed cross-shaped metal finials. Centred on the wall below the parapet is a large Portland stone sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary sitting for St Luke portrayed as an artist, carved by David John in 1957. The side elevations show aisles lit by continuous multi-paned concrete-framed windows with alternately square and arched panes filled with opaque coloured glass. By contrast, the upper portions of the nave walls are completely plain, with only small square openings. The chancel is lit by vertical glazed panels of similar design, while the east wall is blind.

The interior features a full-height narthex with a former baptistery, now known as St Luke's Chapel, on the south side and a Lady Chapel on the north side, both top-lit. The narthex opens into the nave under a wide unmoulded brick arch. The nave walls are of painted brick with a flat timber ceiling of gold-painted square panels, painted in alternating shades of blue and worked with an alternating pattern of squares and diamonds. The six-bay nave has arcades of unmoulded round arches with incised decorative capitals in stripped-back Romanesque style, carried on concrete columns faced with gold mosaic. The floor is of composition inlaid with stars. The nave retains its original open-backed bench seating. The sanctuary occupies two bays. On the south side, tall double arches open to the Holy Family side chapel below and the organ gallery above. The whole north side features a full-height window matching those in the aisles. The panelled ceiling of the nave continues over the sanctuary and down the east end wall, forming the background to an integral gilded cross supporting a sculpture in makore wood of Christ Crucified by David John, flanked by angels.

The sanctuary floor-covering is blue linoleum, dating from the Post-Vatican II reordering, which saw the removal of the high altar and communion rails (now relocated to the west end). The new furnishings are in keeping with the church's style.

Notable interior elements include a fine original tabernacle by David John in black and gold, decorated with symbols of the Cross and the Fish. A sculptural group of the Holy Family by David John, carved in Honduras mahogany, is located to the south side of the sanctuary. A statue of Madonna and Child by David John, carved from Gris Mouchette limestone, stands in the Lady Chapel. Holy water stoups of Italian limestone with plated steel fishes set into their bases are positioned at the entrance. St Luke's Chapel at the south-west contains stained glass windows by Frank Humphreys from the original 1915 church, alongside a recently commissioned window from 2014 by Caroline Benyon depicting St Luke and his symbol, the Ox. All windows are placed in light boxes. The original baptismal font, relocated from the Lady Chapel at the north-west, comprises a solid oak bowl with a brass cover on a metal base.