English Martyrs' Church, Wallasey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids English Martyrs' Church, Wallasey |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| OS grid reference | SJ 294 925 |
| Location | St George's Road, Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 30 June 2003 |
| Architect(s) | F. X. Velarde |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Neo-Romanesque |
| Groundbreaking | 1952 |
| Completed | 1953 |
| Construction cost | £50,000 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Brick; decoration in cast stone; tiled roofs |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Shrewsbury |
English Martyrs' Church is a Roman Catholic church located on St George's Road in Wallasey, Merseyside, England. It is an active church within the diocese of Shrewsbury. This church is considered a very important historical building. It is listed as a Grade II* building on the National Heritage List for England.
Contents
History of the Church
The church began as a smaller part of Saints Peter and Paul church in New Brighton. A temporary church, made of iron, opened in 1907.
Between 1933 and 1941, people raised £12,000 to build a new, permanent church. The famous architect F. X. Velarde designed the plans for the new church before World War II. However, the first stone was not laid until March 4, 1952. The church officially opened on August 31, 1953. Tyson's was the main company that built the church. The entire construction cost £50,000.
Church Design and Features
Outside the Church
English Martyrs' Church is built with brown bricks. It has decorations made from cast stone and roofs covered with tiles. The church is designed in a style called Neo-Romanesque, which looks like old Roman buildings.
The church faces roughly north-south. It has a main hall, called a nave, and a special area for the altar, called a sanctuary. Both are under one roof. There are narrow, flat-roofed side sections, known as aisles. High up, there is a row of windows called a clerestory. At the east end, there is a curved section called an apse.
A flat-roofed Lady chapel is at the east end of the south aisle. This chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. At the east end of the north aisle, there is a section with a choir gallery and a sacristy. A sacristy is a room where priests prepare for services.
At the southeast corner of the church, there is a campanile, which is a bell tower. It has an entrance porch. Another entrance porch and a baptistry are at the southeast corner. A baptistry is where baptisms take place.
On the south aisle wall, there are five decorative arches. Each arch holds a statue of an English Martyr. In the clerestory, round-headed windows form two crosses. The baptistry has a pyramid-shaped roof with a cross on top. Its east and west sides have two-light windows. These windows have a central support, called a mullion, shaped like a cast-stone angel.
The campanile has a cast-stone Pietà on its south side. A Pietà is a sculpture showing Mary holding the body of Jesus. At the top of the campanile is an octagonal stone lantern. It has a copper pyramid roof with a cross. Flying buttresses support the church where the nave and sanctuary meet.
The Lady Chapel has a four-light, round-headed window. Its mullion is shaped like an angel. The sanctuary has two rows of similar windows. On the north side of the church, there are three decorative arches. The clerestory windows here are like those on the south side. The sacristy has a gabled roof and two floors.
At the west end of the church, there is a single-story gabled porch. Above this porch is a large round window. It contains a cast-stone cross and a relief sculpture of Christ. The stone statues on the outside of the church were created by Philip Lindsey Clark.
Inside the Church
Inside, the brick walls are left bare. The church has seven bay arcades with round arches. These arches are supported by reinforced concrete columns. The columns are decorated with silver spiral bands. Their tops, called capitals, have silver crowns and crosses.
The nave roof is made of wood. It has a flat center and angled sides. These angled sides are decorated with zig-zags and painted mostly in orange and cream. In the aisles, there are silver relief panels. These panels show the Stations of the Cross, which tell the story of Jesus's crucifixion. The aisle roofs are painted orange with silver crosses.
A large round-headed arch separates the nave from the sanctuary. The main altar stands on an oval concrete base. It has a silver relief painting of an angel offering a chalice. In the apse, there is a large pyramid-shaped reredos. A reredos is a screen behind an altar. This one has relief sculptures of the heads of the Twelve Apostles and Christ.
In the Lady Chapel, there is an altar with a statue. This statue, by Herbert Tyson Smith, shows the Virgin Mary with St John Fisher. The baptistry holds a stone baptismal font. This font, also by Herbert Tyson Smith, sits on a marble base. The font has a pyramid-shaped cover with a cross on top. The baptistry roof is painted orange with a blue and white diamond pattern.
Why This Church Is Special
English Martyrs' Church was officially recognized as a listed building on July 30, 2003. It is listed at Grade II*. This means it is a "particularly important building of more than special interest." It is the middle of three grades for listed buildings.
One reason for its special status is that architect F. X. Velarde was known for his church designs, especially for Catholic churches. English Martyrs' is considered "one of his finest post-war churches." Experts Pollard and Pevsner, in their Buildings of England series, said that Velarde "packed a powerful religious charge into his churches."
See also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Merseyside
- Listed buildings in Wallasey
