Church of the Holy Family, Blackbird Leys

Church of the Holy Family, Blackbird Leys

Church, built 1964–1965, designed by Colin Shewring with a timber hyperbolic paraboloid roof designed by Hugh Tottenham. The interiors of the hall, kitchen and offices added in 1983 are not included in the listing.

The church has a reinforced concrete post and beam frame with cavity walls of pale grey brick and concrete block internally. The doubly curved surface of the hyperbolic paraboloid roof is formed of four layers of 22mm pine boards, cross laid and bonded with nails and glue, with a layer of cork above, originally covered with aluminium but later replaced with roofing felt. The original louvered windows in timber frames have been replaced with aluminium-framed windows.

The plan is broadly heart-shaped with a projecting quadrilateral sacristy on the eastern side, a small square campanile and sacrament house projecting from the south wall, and a rectangular narthex and toilets to the north-west. The curved plan reflects the oval street layout of the Blackbird Leys estate. A 1980s extension containing a hall, offices and kitchen extends north-eastwards from the narthex. The original main entrance is approached via a walled forecourt into the narthex from Blackbird Leys Road; a secondary entrance leads directly into the church from the east off Cuddesdon Way. The current main entrance is via the hall block.

Externally, the curved pale grey brick walling, laid in stretcher bond, slopes up to rounded peaks at the east and west ends. Long strips of square-paned windows are set below the concrete ring beam; these are later aluminium replacements following the pattern of the original louvered windows. Historic photographs suggest the walling below the windows and the campanile were originally rendered and painted white. The curve is broken on the Blackbird Leys Road frontage by the low square narthex and campanile. The narthex has a felted flat roof, timber folding doors and wooden fascia. The west elevation retains the original louvered windows. The paved forecourt is surrounded by grey brick walls in English bond, descending in height away from the building, with a low screen wall of blue engineering brick. The campanile rises slightly above the dipping roofline. At the corner of Blackbird Leys Road and Cuddesdon Way, the covered secondary entrance projects from the curved walls with a flat roof, timber fascia and three concrete steps with blue engineering brick risers. The single-storey projecting sacristy to the north has a flat roof with skylights and a pair of tall narrow windows. On the north side, the valley of the main roof discharges into a waterspout consisting of a concrete trough on a concrete projection, connected by downpipe to a circular basin made of two soldier courses of engineering bricks.

The interior has concrete rendered walls and a concrete floor with hardwood strip divisions sloping gently from west to east to a slightly raised oval Sanctuary containing the altar and pulpit. The raised area has black tiling edged with engineering brick and is bordered at the rear by two low curved walls of grey brick with hardwood sills. The angular pulpit and circular altar are of Clipsham limestone, designed by the architect, with the altar standing on a base of cobbles.

Beyond the Sanctuary, in a tight curve of the walling, is the choir, bordered by low brick walls and fronted by three architect-designed hardwood bucket-seats on a curved concrete plinth. The choir has bench seating with individual seat backs attached to the rear wall (three removed), set on a raised dais with a fixed hardwood slab table in front.

Congregation seating consists of pews in two blocks to the south and east of the sanctuary, arranged either side of the baptistery. These retain the original cork tile flooring with hardwood edging. The baptistery is inset into the sloping floor with two steps to the rear down to a grey brick paved area, defined by low grey brick walling. The font is of Clipsham limestone with a later Greek inscription on an offset brick plinth, fed from a grey marble waterspout of similar design to the exterior example. The font stands on a base of cobbles with an angled hardwood bench on brick piers. Both interior entrances have plate-glass doors with large square wooden handles.

The timber roof slopes to its lowest point over the Sanctuary. At the time of site visit in April 2019, the roof was suffering considerable rot caused by water ingress, mainly above the Sanctuary. The choir is lit by four round skylights.

The sacristy is utilitarian with plain painted brick walls. The narthex has light grey brick walling to the curved wall of the main church and darker grey brickwork elsewhere. The floor is glazed clay tiles with a curved concrete apron inside the main doors. The ceiling is of the same timber as in the main church.