Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady

Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady

This church is constructed of dressed Penryn granite, with the east elevation and south aisle built from random blocks of Castle granite.

The plan is oriented approximately west to east and comprises a nave with chancel to the east end, and the organ with organ gallery at the west end. A south aisle contains a Lady Chapel and sacristy to the east end. The crypt is now used for storage, and the church hall beneath the south aisle was formerly a school classroom.

The west end features a central recessed four-centred arched entrance approached by steps, with low relief carved quatrefoils and mouchettes in the spandrels. Above the entrance is a niche with crocketed canopy containing a statue of Our Lady by sculptor James Scott, above which is a rose window. At the apex of the gable is a belfry with diagonal buttresses with crocketed finials and a stone cross. The central and outer bays of the west elevation are framed by offset buttresses; those to the outer bays have crocketed finials. The outer bays feature paired lancet windows with Y-tracery under hoodmoulds. The clerestorey of the north and south elevations has seven pairs of lancet windows under hoodmoulds. The north elevation displays plaster infilled arcading to the unbuilt north aisle with bays separated by buttresses. The south aisle is constructed of Castle granite, rendered on the west elevation, with bays separated by buttresses and Y-tracery windows in granite apart from two at the east end which are timber. The windows of the crypt are visible to the south elevation. The east elevation is dominated by a large stained glass window of four lights divided by a central transom with Y-tracery above. To either side are blocked rectangular openings beneath which are niches: the left contains a statue of St Peter and the right a statue of St Michael (circa 1937).

Internally, the walls are plastered and have recently been repainted in polychrome fashion (2013). Beneath the cill of the east window, the chancel walls are faced in terrazzo, and there is dado panelling to the north arcade to which the original pews were fixed, now removed. The nave and chancel have a hammerbeam and scissor-braced timber roof supported on corbels with angel heads beneath; pendants hang from the hammerbeams. The roof to the south aisle is of lean-to rafters. To the north and south are tall perpendicular arcades with moulded four-centred arches with clustered columns and capitals. Colonettes and hoodmoulds frame the east and clerestorey windows.

The high altar, designed by J A Hansom in 1868, is made from polished granite with inlaid decoration in serpentine. The organ by George Tucker, installed in 1883, is raised on a gallery approached by a flight of stairs on the south side with Gothic timber balusters and timber handrail. The gallery is faced with panels incorporating quatrefoils. The south aisle contains two stained glass windows from 1869, probably by Hardman, and three stained glass windows by Goddard and Gibbs from 1993. The east window from 2011 is by Pugin, Hardman & Powell of Birmingham and includes depictions of eighteen saints, Christ the King, and three angels.

Attached to the north side of the church is an early 20th-century link corridor connecting to the presbytery, which was built in 1869 and extended in the early 20th century. To the north-east of the church is the former school, built in 1893. The link corridor, presbytery, and former school are excluded from the listing.