Catholic Church of Christ the King

The Catholic Church of Christ the King is a modernist church built in response to the landscape and climate of North Wales, characteristic of the style particularly associated with the firm of BDDP. The design incorporates flexibility to accommodate fluctuating congregation sizes, with a main space that includes a hall which can extend the nave, and doors on the south side allowing worshippers to participate in services from outside.

The church’s rectangular plan is stepped out into three main blocks from east to west. The easternmost block is narrow and features a mono-pitch roof with horizontal timber panelling above a ribbon window to the sacristy. The projecting westernmost corner of the roof rests on a brick pillar rising from a low garden wall, connected at its far end to a small mono-pitch shed constructed of matching materials. The roof is pitched and finished with interlocking concrete tiles, honey-coloured brick, and large-panel timber framed windows and doors. Long, low roofs reach chest height towards the east on the north side, with a clerestory thrust above the main eaves line to provide light over the sanctuary. Eaves project to shelter the entrance and windows.

A free-standing timber lattice tower rises high above the church, topped with a cross, and appears to be inspired by the concrete spire of Clifton Cathedral in Bristol. The tower’s three posts of varying height have bevelled tops that slope inwards.

Inside, the walls are finished with exposed pale brown brick and the ceiling and longitudinal beams are clad in timber boarding. The interior is well lit by light from the long elevations and the clerestory, and has an informal, domestic character enhanced by the ability to connect the hall with the nave.

The main entrance leads into a small narthex containing a slate holy water stoup. The nave is carpeted and includes a wide tiled side aisle with timber-panelled storage bays for removable seating, set into the lower slope of the roof. Aisle windows are tall and narrow, glazed panels at ground level, visible on either side where the east wall steps out. The sanctuary is not spatially delineated but forms a tiled platform raised above the nave by a single step. The font and altar both sit on this platform, with brick bases and polished Welsh slate tops. A simple steel post lectern is also present. Stations of the Cross are set high on a longitudinal beam that marks the division between the nave and the aisle on the south side.

Two timber posts and curtain rails divide the hall from the nave when required. A planned partition wall within the confessional was never constructed, but it has two entrances—one from the rear of the hall and another from a passage. The passage leads to the sacristy, a kitchen with a servery hatch to the hall, a boiler room, and WCs.