Survey Data
Reg No
13902214
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social
Previous Name
Saint Mary's Catholic Church
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1845 - 1850
Coordinates
311518, 281524
Date Recorded
24/05/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding double-height single-cell Roman Catholic Church, dated 1846, with six-bay nave side elevations, single-bay three-stage entrance tower to east and single-bay single-storey vestry to west. Pitched slate roof with clay ridge tiles, rendered coping to gables and cast-iron rainwater goods on overhanging eaves. Roof to tower not visible behind parapet. Unpainted rendered, ruled-and-lined walls, with diagonal stepped buttresses at corners of nave and tower, and rendered dressing including string courses to each stage, advanced corner piers to top stage and battlemented parapet. Tall four-centred window openings to nave with cut stone sills, rendered block-and-start surrounds and keystones, one original painted Y-tracery small-pane timber window to north of nave, the remainder have later Victorian fixed-pane leaded stained glass windows. Fixed pane circular window to second-stage with diamond shaped rendered surround. Paired lancet openings to top stage of tower with rendered hood mouldings and louvered metal panel fittings with engrailed edging. Pointed segmental door openings to north and south of tower, with rendered block-and-start surrounds and keystones and tongue-and-groove timber panelled double doors. Interior to tower houses timber staircase leading to beautifully curved timber panelled gallery to first floor. Slender clustered shafts, with leafy stylised capitals support pointed keel-like vaults over a broad nave and narrow aisles, with carved timber pews below. The transverse ribs and rectangular panelling of the plaster vaults are painted blue and white. A timber pinnacled reredos sits against the altar wall. Set back from road in bitmac and grass churchyard.
Appraisal
A well-composed modest-scale church, whose simple exterior appearance is in vast contrast to its highly sophisticated and beautifully preserved early Victorian interior. Its magnificently designed ceiling together with the late Victorian High Gothic altar and stained glass windows enhance the design quality of the composition. The church forms an appealing landmark in the locality and integrates well with the built heritage of the surrounding area.