Roman Catholic Church Of The Sacred Heart

The Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart was built between 1872 and 1874 by Henry Clutton and was enlarged and externally remodeled from 1896 to 1898 by A J Pilkington. The interior largely retains Clutton's design, featuring three-bay arcades supported by Early French double-columns with shaft-rings and simplified capitals. The crossing arches are similar, with clustered columns resting on foliage corbels. The north aisle includes transverse half-arches that act as buttresses, while the south aisle has gables set at right angles. The nave roof is boarded and features large kingposts.

The east end, designed by Pilkington, includes a short chancel with a panelled marble east wall that serves as a backdrop for a reredos by P P Pugin, which is topped with three spirelets over statues and eight smaller niches. The altar rail, possibly designed by Clutton, has an unusual Renaissance style with openwork brass foliage and white marble portrait medallions of Jesuit saints, arranged in a shallow bow. The north chapel features a tieceron vault and a Spanish Gothic altar dedicated to the Assumption, created in 1921-1922. The south chapel has a wooden vault and another canopied reveal.

Externally, the tower, designed by Clutton, is made of buff brick and stone, featuring straight-headed transomed and traceried belfry windows, a cornice with globules, and a pyramid spire made of banded slate. The rest of the church, designed by Pilkington, is constructed from rock-faced Portland stone, except for Clutton's aisle gables, which display Perpendicular tracery. The chancel has a windowless gable with canopied niches, set on a high basement, which is part of the Catholic Institute.

The Presbytery and the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart form a group.