Our Lady Of Victories Rc Church, St Mary, 34-36 Forebank Road, Dundee

Our Lady of Victories Roman Catholic Church, located at 34-36 Forebank Road, Dundee, was originally built in 1850-1 by George Mathewson. Later additions were made in 1900 by Thomas M Cappon, with William G Lamond as draughtsman, consisting of twin towers and a narthex. Further alterations occurred in 1926 by Reginald Fairlie.

The church is a large example of Byzantine-Romanesque architecture constructed from rubble stone with ashlar detailing. The east gable is dominated by twin Art Nouveau campanili (bell towers) built in 1900, featuring coursed rubble with an ashlar base and lanterns. Each tower has a square section with rounded angles, with five-light round-headed windows at the base and smaller bipartites above. A recessed upper stage sits between cylindrical angle shafts. The lantern features a hood-moulded cornice, single-light round-headed openings with convex mouldings, and bells in the north campanile. The cornice continues with an inverted arched parapet between cylindrical, cross-finialled pinnacles, enclosing a smaller square tower with louvred arched openings and a broad, eaved, copper-clad pagoda roof topped with a cross finial. A small hemispherical baptistry is situated at the base of the north tower.

The towers are linked by a low, arched doorway with curved moulding, a hood mould, a niche, and an elaborate wrought-iron gate, and are finished with a curvilinear parapet. The original east gable, dating from 1850, is recessed between the towers and features a large round-headed window with simple loop and circle tracery, and a cross finial.

To the south of the church are halls (formerly a school), dating circa 1860, with extensions by Ireland and McLaren in 1875 and by Robert Keith in 1883. Peter Inglis remodelled these halls in 1995. The advanced gabled hall features a single and two-light arched windows on the ground floor and a triple-light arched windows above. A gable oculus and stack are also present. The south elevation displays triple-light, lattice-paned windows and a five-bay, single-storey section from 1875, with a door and pairs of arched windows. The sides and rear of the hall are more modern. A Romanesque, chevron-moulded gateway, formerly the main school entrance, is located to the south.

A rubble-built boundary wall has ashlar copes, with a roll-moulded segmental arched gate linked by an over-arch to the hall. Modern railings have been added.

The side elevations feature six three-light, stepped, round-headed lancets with primitive moulding. Gabled transepts have a simple rose window on the side and a three-light window to the west. Lower side chapels, designed by Reginald Fairlie in 1926, were added to the re-entrant angles, with a flat roof to the north and a pitched roof to the south, connecting with the presbytery. The west sanctuary gable features a five-light, stepped, round-headed window and a geometric rose window, with crude detailing, in a recessed centre. A cross finial tops this gable. Slate roofs are present, along with modern ventilators.

Inside, the church has a high, barrel-vaulted nave and chancel with an arched arcade on clustered piers with bell capital shafts. Flat ceilings run along the aisles. An arcaded altar rail features marble shafts. The church contains a carved and gilded altar and a gabled, arcaded reredos. Modern glazing in the north and south chancel windows borrows light from the side chapels. The interior has recently been redecorated, with angles and stars over the reredos having been painted over. Simple curved detailing by Lamond is visible at the base of the campanile.