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 | England |
| 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 a special building in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, England. You can find it on Market Street. This building is quite old and has an interesting history. It was first built as the Bradford-on-Avon Town Hall.
A famous architect named Thomas Fuller designed it. Today, it is a Grade II listed building. This means it's an important historical building that needs to be protected.
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Building History and Design
Long ago, there was an old market hall in this area. It had arches on the ground floor where people sold meat. Upstairs, there was a big room for meetings. But by the early 1800s, this old building was falling apart. It was taken down in 1826.
Later, in the mid-1800s, local leaders decided they needed a new town hall. They chose a spot where Market Street and Church Street meet. The new building was finished in 1854. Thomas Fuller designed it in a style called Elizabethan style, using Bath stone.
Cool Features of the Building
The building has a tall, four-part tower at the corner.
- The first part has a fancy arched doorway.
- The second part has a window with three sections.
- The third part has a clock face with a unique wavy shape around it.
- The top part is octagonal (eight-sided) with narrow windows and interesting stone carvings called grotesques.
On top of the tower, there's an onion-shaped dome with a ball and a weather vane.
The part of the building facing Church Street had a lawyer's office and a special window that sticks out, called an oriel window. The part facing Market Street was a police station. Inside, the main rooms were on the first floor. These included a council chamber, a place for learning called a mechanics institute, a library, and a reading room.
From Town Hall to Bank
As more people moved to Bradford-on-Avon, especially because of the wool industry, the town grew. In 1894, it became an "urban district," which meant it had its own local government. The new council used the town hall as their offices until 1911.
After that, the building was used as a cinema for a few years. Around 1915, a bank called Midland Bank bought the 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 Church
In 1955, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton bought the building from Midland Bank. The bank continued to rent space on the Church Street side. The building was then changed to become a church. It was named after Sir Thomas More, who was a famous lawyer.
The bank branch, which later became part of HSBC in 1992, stayed in the Church Street wing. The Market Street side was changed into shops in 1994. In September 2013, HSBC closed its branch in the Church Street wing as part of a plan to close many branches across the country. Since then, the building has continued to serve as the St Thomas More Roman Catholic Church.
