Roman Catholic Church Of St Thomas Of Canterbury

The Roman Catholic Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, built in 1845, is a Grade II listed building located in Fairford. The church is constructed from coursed limestone with freestone dressings and features a Welsh slate roof with stone coped gable ends and gableted kneelers. It has a single-cell plan, with the sanctuary separated from the nave by a chancel arch, a porch at the liturgical west end, and a vestry on the liturgical north side that connects the church to the presbytery. Designed in the Victorian Early English style, the exterior includes lancet windows on the north and south sides, with buttresses featuring set-offs between them. The east end has a triple lancet window with a small quatrefoil light above and a stone cross at the apex of the gable. A small stone bellcote sits over the west gable, which has two lancets and a small quatrefoil window above, along with a gabled stone porch that has a double-chamfered 2-centred arch. The vestry contains a 2-light shouldered arch window.

Inside, the church has plastered walls and an open braced collar-truss roof, with a tall 2-centred double-chamfered chancel arch. Notable features include a carved stone altar, statue niches flanking the east window, a wrought-iron Communion rail, and intact seating. The Rood has been removed from the chancel arch to the west wall, and there is an octagonal font. The stained glass is mostly from the 20th century. This church is a largely complete example of a small early Victorian Roman Catholic church, attached to a presbytery.