Catholic Church of Our Lady of Lourdes

Church in simple modernist vernacular style. It comprises a series of flat-roofed blocks, with steep mono-pitch rearing up over the sanctuary, and a smaller angular mono-pitched lantern over the baptistery. Main body of church is almost square in plan with slightly narrower sanctuary. Entrance on west side (the liturgical south), in porch between square advanced baptistery block and the long sacristy range, which runs east-west. Walls of white painted roughcast render on plinth of grey engineering bricks, except for the sanctuary which is set on a plinth of coursed rubble granite. Timber windows with slate sills, timber glazed doors. Flat roofs with felt covers, monopitch roofs of slate and copper. Simple, thin painted steel cross on liturgical W wall of church.

Simple yet dramatic church interior, combining low pine tongue-and-groove boarded ceilings with double-height space top-lighting the sanctuary. Access is from porch leading into small narthex with former baptistry in W corner and sacristy to the E . The narthex forms a standing area above the main worship space (to which it forms almost an aisle), . lit by 5 deep-set skylights – the pine balustrade is a later addition. Steps (and an added ramp) lead down to worship area, with liturgical N wall angled towards the sanctuary, and low ceiling. Double-height sanctuary raised up 1 step and altar raised up 3 further steps, all strikingly top lit from the clerestory window in the liturgical E face of the monopitched roof, and 2 high-set windows in the wall below it. Altar set towards the front of the sanctuary, of massive slabs of Penrhyn slate. Brass cylindrical tabernacle on rear wall with a slate above carrying a timber and metal crucifix, and above this a sculptured fish emblem with Chi-Rho symbol. Painted ceramic Stations of the Cross. Quarry tiled floors throughout, some areas carpeted.