Catholic Church of the Blessed Sacrament

The Catholic Church of the Blessed Sacrament is a Grade II listed building designed in a striking modern style characterized by sharp angular forms, which John Newman described as ‘mildly Expressionist’. The church is oriented north-south, with the liturgical east end facing north. It features a concrete frame structure with rendered infill, likely made of brick or blockwork, and has a very steeply pitched tiled main roof. The aisle has a low saw-tooth metal sheet roof. The layout includes a nave with a west porch that was originally open but is now enclosed, a south aisle, and a narrower sanctuary.

The west front is supported by buttressing at the corners and features a fully glazed gable above the full-width porch or narthex. This porch has a flat roof with a central gablet, and the angles of the gablet are reflected in the pattern of the glazing above, echoing the steep angles of the roof. The enclosed porch has glazing that mirrors the south gable. Continuing from the porch is the baptistry to the south, marked by a 9-light window with pointed heads. The north wall of the nave has four hexagonal windows set high, while the south aisle features similar larger windows that form a continuous band. The side walls of the sanctuary each have three rows of small windows arranged in a grid pattern beneath an eaves line that rises towards the east end, with a blind east wall.

Behind the glazed entrance screen is the full-width porch or narthex. The baptistry to the southeast is separated from the main body of the church by open metal screens with hexagonal framing and concrete piers. Inside, there is a stone font with an angular stem that reflects the building's overall angular style. The nave is dominated by 6-bay lattice work roof trusses, with plain plastered and painted walls. Original timber benches are found in the south aisle, where the arcade is formed by shallow triangular arches between the supports for the roof trusses. The sanctuary features a plain triangular arch and a lozenge-patterned ceiling that rises towards the east end, with upper and central rows of small window apertures on both side walls. The original high altar and a later forward altar are present, along with communion rails that have had the central section removed, and sedilia with a triangular head on the east side.