The Roman Catholic Church Of Christ The King

This Roman Catholic church with attached presbytery and hall was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and constructed posthumously by his office in 1961-62, following his death during its design phase. The presbytery and hall were added in 1963 by his son Richard Gilbert Scott. The complex displays a simplified Gothic style with Italianate influences.

The buildings are constructed from sandy-coloured brick laid in English bond with stone and concrete dressings. Windows to the presbytery and hall have galvanised metal frames. The complex is aligned north-south on sloping ground rising towards The Hoe, arranged in a linear plan that takes advantage of the topography. The church follows a traditional plan with a tall nave flanked by narrow aisles, entered through a low flat-roofed narthex, with a baptistery and sanctuary flanked by a Lady Chapel and sacristy. The nave and sanctuary share a single roof, with a campanile at the north-east corner. The presbytery sits upslope from the church with the hall beyond.

Exterior

The nave and sanctuary are covered by a continuous pitched roof of Roman clay tiles with overhanging eaves. The north front (liturgical west end) has a low narthex with paired double doors featuring diamond-shaped panels set within a square-headed moulded surround flanked by moulded pilasters with moulded caps rising slightly above the head. Above the doorway is a panel with relief carving of the Lamb of God. The west window has a pointed head and deep reveal, with mullions in the form of fins rising slightly above the transom. The lights have cusped heads with leaded panes of tinted glass.

The tower at the north-east corner has a saddle-backed roof. A continuous stone band marks the belfry stage, which has unglazed north and south openings replicating the nave window design. The west and east walls feature unglazed five-light openings under square heads at eaves level. At ground level is a square-headed three-light mullioned window, with matching windows in the east wall of the narthex. The aisle windows are set within deep reveals with pointed heads and fin-like mullions.

The sanctuary is narrower than the nave with paired five-light windows having cusped heads under square heads, set high in the east and west walls. The liturgical east end is windowless with tile hanging added in the early 21st century. Against the west side of the sanctuary stands the single-storey flat-roofed sacristy with two windows having chamfered mullions on its east elevation, and an entrance with a two-light window on the north return. The Lady Chapel west of the sanctuary is also single-storey and projects beyond the nave. It has a lean-to roof and square-headed mullioned windows.

The presbytery and hall added in 1963 are also of brick with metal-framed windows having basket-headed concrete lintels, though one presbytery window has been replaced in uPVC. The presbytery is L-shaped, comprising a two-storey cross wing with a north range connecting to the church. The east elevation of this single-storey range has full-height windows with metal glazing bars and a five-bay loggia supported on brick piers with an entrance at the far left. On the sloping ground, the presbytery cross wing and single-storey hall beyond share a continuous roof. The hall's east side is lit by tall windows with marginal glazing, with part-glazed entrance doors to the right featuring vertical metal fins echoing the nave window fins. The hall's west elevation has narrow horizontal windows set high in the walls.

Interior

A deep organ gallery occupies the liturgical west end of the nave, accessed by a staircase beyond the west end of the south aisle. The baptistery occupies the ground floor of the tower. A vertical platform lift installed in 2007 in the entrance foyer does not impinge on the historic fabric.

The nave has four bays with pointed-arched openings to the aisle bays. The arcade mouldings die away into lozenge-shaped piers without capitals. There is no clerestorey, and the narrow aisles rise almost as high as the nave, functioning as walkways under lateral vaults behind the high arcades. Beyond the pointed chancel arch lies the narrower sanctuary, lit from tall side windows concealed from the congregation. It is of simple design, ending in a blank wall carrying a large crucifix with an overhanging canopy above the High Altar. The original altar remains against this background in the sanctuary, which is raised on three steps, but another altar has been erected in a forward position.

Both nave and sanctuary roofs have exposed timber beams with boarded soffits painted blue and grey with red, gold and black embellishments of medieval origin via the Arts and Crafts tradition. This decorative scheme, together with plain plastered walls and cream-coloured stone piers and chancel arch, highlights the quality of Arts and Crafts style fittings including the octagonal font, chandeliers, oak pews, reredos to the Lady Chapel, carved timber altar rail, marble-fronted altar and door furniture, all of which form a coherent ensemble.

The presbytery interior has a fairly compact plan but its fittings are largely unremarkable and of lesser interest. The principal entrance to the church hall opens onto a full-height lobby with exposed brick walls and an open-well, open-tread staircase leading through to the presbytery. The hall roof is supported on pre-cast concrete structural piers, with these and the lower wall sections clad in timber.

Historical Context

The Church of Christ the King was built on a site at the southern end of Armada Way, which formed the focus of Patrick Abercrombie's 'Plan for Plymouth', an ambitious scheme for reconstructing the city following devastating Second World War bombing. The church occupies an area initially zoned for hotel development within the Plan, but lack of developer interest led to this key Armada Way site being given to the Roman Catholic Church. It was originally intended as an auxiliary church for all Plymouth's Roman Catholic parishes.

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) established himself as one of Britain's most accomplished and sophisticated ecclesiastical architects, designing for both Anglican and Roman Catholic parishes. His most famous commission, Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, was a massive undertaking occupying him throughout his life. Scott also designed many secular buildings including Battersea and Bankside Power Stations in London and the K6 telephone box in 1935. He continued designing churches in the post-war years which, though superficially conservative, reveal continuing interest in internal structural expression.

The Roman Catholic Church of Christ the King was Scott's last work. He was working on the design when admitted to hospital for cancer treatment in 1960. The building was paid for by an anonymous donor on condition that the design be simple yet eye-catching. Scott modified his original design to appease the client, making the building more conservative and Gothic in character, more characteristic of his own approach to church design.

The foundation stone was laid on 17 September 1961 by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Plymouth, the Right Reverend Monsigneur Cyril Restieaux. The building, costing some £60,000, was consecrated on 19 September 1962 and could accommodate about 250 worshippers. The attached presbytery and hall were designed by Scott's son Richard and constructed in 1963. In 1988 the church became the Catholic Chaplaincy for University of Plymouth students. The church and its attendant hall and presbytery have remained almost entirely unaltered since completion.

The designation recognises this as an accomplished and well-handled design where every element shows consistency of approach and every detail is carefully considered and crafted. It is a spare composition that is simple and light yet very strong, whose lack of ornament gives it strong cohesion. It demonstrates a high level of intactness with retention of original fittings, impressing as a coherent whole, simple in conception both inside and out. Though perhaps conservative for its time, it summarises Scott's entire career as a church architect. The presbytery and hall, designed from similar materials in a complementary style, enhance the special interest of this group as a harmonious ensemble.