Church Heritage Record 623243

Nave, north and south aisles, north east chapel, shallow transepts, vestry rooms to the east, church hall adjoining at the south west corner.

Nave 21ft (6.5m) by 45ft (14.5m) Chancel 21ft by 21ft

The adjoining church hall was constructed in 1933 and originally used as the main church. The present church building was designed by H. S. Goodhart-Rendel (1887-1959) an English architect of great originality.  Designs were completed prior to the Second World War, although building was consequently delayed until 1952. No significant changes in design were made, although building materials altered, as one would expect.

Externally the building is simple and uncluttered, the (liturgical) north façade fronts the road and the transept projects centrally with four tall semi-circular headed windows. To the (liturgical) north east, the chapel wall is divided by four windows of a similar style although these are particularly slender, appearing as little more than slits.

There are two entrances, neither creating a focus; one to the east has a small lobby and was intended for direct access to the side chapel for weekday services, the larger to the (liturgical) west has a simple curved arch. Adjacent to this entrance there are nine small rectangular windows in a row immediately below the roof.

Internally, two things are immediately striking: firstly the colour scheme, a dull and dirty battleship grey, and secondly the idiosyncratic layout of Goodhart-Rendel’s intersecting arches. The plan was designed to save money by using small spans in roof construction and lower walls; the result also allows a view of the altar from every seat in the body of the church.

The main north entrance leads into the space dedicated for the font. The nave extends west by some 20 feet and is well lit by four windows, three to the west and one to the north; all are tall with semi-circular heads and clear glass with square quarries. The flooring throughout the church is woodblock.

Looking towards the chancel, the nave arcading consists of three Romanesque arches followed by an abrupt vertical face from which large semicircular arches reach into the chancel.  These arches are interconnected with a further arch which starts in each aisle and intersects through the nave wall to create the semicircular chancel arch.  The roofs are supported by trusses carrying purlins and rafters, the undersides of which are lined with fibre board. A central brick arch roughly aligns with demi-arches from each aisle.

The east wall of the chancel contains the inset reredos of painted tiles. There are Diocletian windows set high in the north and south walls, subdivided by brick mullions into three lights. The south east corner of the chancel wall contains a sturdy brick piscina which projects slightly. The north wall has a patch of discoloured bricks suggesting damp problems.

The north aisle when viewed from the west is lit firstly by the small series of rectangular windows and then more dramatically by the transept windows; the transept is so shallow it is barely distinguishable from the aisle itself. Before the transept the aisle has a demi-arch joining the nave wall and beyond it, a dividing wall level with the chancel, which hides the Joseph chapel almost entirely from view. 

The Joseph chapel has a demi-arch (intersecting with the chancel wall and forming the origin of the chancel arch) as an entrance. Inside the chapel there are four windows in the north wall and one in the east. The latter contains the only stained glass in the church matching the style of all other windows, this single light finishes just inches from the roof and has a modern depiction of Joseph as carpenter in his workshop. There is a small aumbry in the wall behind the altar.

The south aisle has an entrance at the west end which leads to the church hall. The aisle and transept mirror the north in windows and arches until level with the chancel; here the chancel arch completes at approximately mid aisle to fully semi-circular, although from the west end of the aisle there is only the appearance of a partial arch.

Adjacent to this arch to the south is a sharply pointed narrow arch, revealing the organ pipes behind. The east end of the aisle leads to another entrance and the vestry rooms and toilet; the area between these rooms is lit by a skylight.