Roman Catholic Church of St Mary of the Angels

Roman Catholic Church of St Mary of the Angels

St Mary of the Angels is a Roman Catholic church in Romanesque style, built between 1930 and 1937 by the architect William Douglas Caröe (1857–1938) for the Templewood community at Brownshill. Stained glass windows were added around 1938 by the renowned artist Douglas Strachan (1875–1950).

The building is constructed from local limestone ashlar and rubble brought to course, with a roof of Cotswold stone slate and a shingled timber bellcote. The interior features a continuous concrete barrel vault ceiling and limed oak fittings.

The church is planned as a simple rectangle with an apsidal sanctuary at the east end. A vestry with confessional is attached to the north, with a porch set in the angle between the vestry and church.

The west end has a central entrance door with a round-arched top and wrought iron strap hinges. Above it sits a rectangular stained glass light, all contained within a truncated round arch in relief with moulded ashlar quoins. The south elevation contains five bays, each with narrow rectangular stained glass lights topped with round arches, and an entrance door towards the east end. The north side is similar but with its entrance at the west, the vestry and porch positioned towards the east. The east end displays a full gable that partially oversails at the south-east corner. The apsidal end is expressed externally only on the left side; a stepped motif running from the gable at eaves level resolves the relationship between the full gable and the canted wall below. To the right, adjoining the porch, the wall remains flush, with the internal apse resolved through a deeply recessed window that emerges flush to the exterior. Keys have been left at the north-eastern corners of both the church and vestry to allow for the future addition of a presbytery, which was not built.

The interior is deliberately simple. A timber gallery spans the west end, enlivened by diamond-patterned carving on the front panels and supported on square-section columns with moulded plinths, moulded cushion capitals and pads. The nave retains its original parquet and terracotta tiled flooring and simple elm chair pews arranged in continuous rows of four sets each. The east end contains an apsidal sanctuary separated from the nave by a large and impressive Norman arch spanning the full width of the church and decorated with bold, archaeologically correct Romanesque chevron designs set on cushion capitals. The sanctuary holds its original stone altar table with simple columnar legs beneath cushion capitals, and three stained glass windows by Douglas Strachan commemorating the founders of Templewood and a major benefactor. The apron beneath the central window is decorated with a gold mosaic panel. The doors to the confessional and vestry are set beneath a decorative hood mould with a niche between them. Throughout the church, doors feature elaborate Arts and Crafts style wrought iron strap hinges, studs and latches of Caröe's own innovative design. Decorative stoups for holy water stand beside each entrance door.

The religious community at Brownshill was founded in 1927 by Miss Bertha Kessler and Miss Katherine Hudson, who purchased a house initially called Tanglewood as their base. Having served as nurses during the First World War and witnessed mental trauma, they devoted themselves to the spiritual healing of patients suffering from mental illness. Both were later received into the Catholic Church. Their settlement became known as Templewood, and by 1934 the pattern of treatment was established: Miss Kessler and Miss Hudson lived as a family with their female patients, running the household simply with days organised according to religious discipline and punctuated by regular prayer. The Bishop of Clifton, Bishop Lee, suggested they build a chapel at Brownshill to support their work. Miss Kessler and Miss Hudson appointed Caröe, then architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, to design their new church and each gave £1,000 for the purpose. The church opened in 1937. During the following year, stained glass windows were inserted in the chancel, designed by Douglas Strachan, celebrating the founders and a major donor. The community was created a Tertiary Chapter of the Dominican Order in 1951; Miss Hudson became Prioress, known as Mother Catherine, and Miss Kessler was styled Mother Margaret; the auxiliaries became novices. An order of nuns has been resident at Brownshill ever since. Mother Catherine and Mother Margaret died within weeks of each other in 1963 and are buried in the churchyard at St Mary of the Angels, as is Father Darley. Their graves and those of other chaplains and Sisters are marked by simple wooden crosses. The church remained in use for daily worship by the resident Orders until 2006.