St Thomas More Roman Catholic Church, Bradford-on-Avon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Thomas More Roman Catholic Church |
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St Thomas More Roman Catholic Church, Bradford-on-Avon
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 St Thomas More Roman Catholic Church
Location in Wiltshire
St Thomas More Roman Catholic Church
Location in England
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| 51°20′52″N 2°15′05″W / 51.34785°N 2.25145°W | |
| Location | Market Street, Bradford-on-Avon |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| History | |
| Founded | 1955 |
| Dedication | St Thomas More |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade II listed building |
| Architect(s) | Thomas Fuller |
| Style | Elizabethan style |
| Completed | 1854 |
| Administration | |
| Deanery | St Oliver Plunkett |
| Metropolis | Archdiocese of Birmingham |
| Diocese | Diocese of Clifton |
| Province | Ecclesiastical province of Birmingham |
The St Thomas More Roman Catholic Church is located in Market Street, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, England. This building is special because it's a Grade II listed building. This means it's an important historic place that needs to be protected.
It was designed by an architect named Thomas Fuller. What's interesting is that this building wasn't always a church! It first opened as the Bradford-on-Avon Town Hall.
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Building the Town Hall
Before this building, there was an older market hall in the town. It had arches on the ground floor for meat markets and a big room upstairs for meetings. But by the early 1800s, it was falling apart and had to be taken down in 1826.
Later, in the mid-1800s, the town decided to build a new town hall. They chose a spot where Market Street and Church Street meet. The new building was designed by Thomas Fuller, who later moved to Canada and became a very important architect there.
The town hall was finished in 1854. It was built in the Elizabethan style, which was popular in England a long time ago. It used a type of stone called Bath stone.
What the Building Looked Like
The building had a tall, four-part tower at the corner. The bottom part had a fancy arched doorway. The next part had a window with three sections. Above that was a clock face with a wavy frame. The very top part was eight-sided with narrow windows and funny stone carvings called grotesques. On top of the tower was an onion-shaped dome with a ball and a weather vane.
The part of the building on Church Street had a lawyer's office and a special window that sticks out, called an oriel window. The part on Market Street had the local police station. Inside, on the first floor, were important rooms like the council chamber, a library, and a reading room.
From Town Hall to Bank
Over time, Bradford-on-Avon grew a lot, especially because of the wool industry. In 1894, the area became an "urban district," which meant it had its own local government. The new council used the town hall as their main office until 1911.
After that, the building was used as a cinema for a few years. Then, around 1915, a bank called Midland Bank bought the old town hall. Midland Bank turned the Church Street side into a bank branch. They also rented out the old council chamber to the local Catholic Church.
Becoming a Catholic Church
In 1955, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton bought the building from Midland Bank. The bank still kept its branch in the Church Street part and paid rent. The rest of the building was then changed into a church. It was named after Sir Thomas More, who was a famous lawyer.
The bank branch stayed there even after Midland Bank was bought by HSBC in 1992. The Market Street side of the building was changed into shops in 1994. Finally, in September 2013, HSBC closed its branch in the Church Street part of the building. This was part of a plan to close many bank branches across the country.
Images for kids
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Stained glass windows in the building
