English Martyrs' Church, Wallasey
English Martyrs' Church, Wallasey Location in Merseyside
53°25′27″N 3°03′48″W  /  53.4243°N 3.0634°W  / 53.4243; -3.0634
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 in St George's Road, Wallasey , Wirral , Merseyside , England. It is an active Roman Catholic church in the diocese of Shrewsbury . ^[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building . ^[2]

History [ edit ]

The church originated as the daughter church of Saints Peter and Paul, New Brighton, and a temporary iron church was opened in 1907. Between 1933 and 1941 ￡12,000 was raised towards the building of a permanent church. ^[3] Plans for the new church were designed by F. X. Velarde before the Second World War, ^{[2] [4]} but the foundation stone was not laid until 4 March 1952. ^[3] The church was opened on 31 August 1953. The main contractor for the building was Tyson's, and the construction of the church cost ￡50,000. ^[2]

Architecture [ edit ]

Exterior [ edit ]

English Martyrs is built in brown brick with decoration in cast stone , and with tiled roofs. Its architectural style is Neo-Romanesque . The church is orientated approximately north-south, ^[a] and consists of a nave and a sanctuary under a single roof. There are narrow flat-roofed aisles at the sides, a clerestory , and at the east end is a curved apse. There is a flat-roofed Lady Chapel at the east end of the south aisle. At the east end of the north aisle is a wing containing a choir gallery and the sacristy . At the southeast corner of the church is an attached campanile containing an entrance porch. On the southeast corner is another entrance porch and a baptistry . On the wall of the south aisle there are five blind arches, each containing the statue of an English Martyr . In the clerestory are round-headed windows arranged in the shape of two crosses, with two windows between them. The baptistry has a pyramidal roof with a cross. On the east and west sides of the baptistry are two-light round-headed windows, with a mullion formed by a cast-stone angel. The campanile has a cast-stone Pieta on its south side, and on its summit is an octagonal cast-stone lantern with a copper pyramidal roof surmounted by a cross. There are flying buttresses at the point of division of the nave and sanctuary. The Lady Chapel has a four-light round-headed window with a mullion in the form of an angel, and there are two tiers of similar windows in the sanctuary. On the north side of the church, there are three blind round-headed arches, and clerestory windows similar to those on the south side. The sacristy is gabled and in two storeys. At the west end of the church is a single-storey gabled porch. Above this is a large round window containing a cast-stone cross and a relief of Christ. The cast stone statues on the exterior of the church are by Philip Lindsey Clark . ^[2]

Interior [ edit ]

Inside the church the brick walls have been left bare. The seven- bay arcades with round arches are carried on reinforced concrete columns. The columns are decorated with pairs of silver-coloured spiral bands, and have capitals with silver crowns and crosses. The nave roof is wooden, it has a flat centre and angled sides, the latter being decorated with zig-zags and painted mainly in orange and cream. In the aisles are relief panels painted in silver with the Stations of the Cross . The aisle roofs are painted in orange with silver crosses. There is a large round-headed arch between the nave and the sanctuary. The high altar stands on an oval concrete base, and has a relief painting in silver of an angel offering a chalice . In the apse is a large pyramidal reredos with the heads of the Twelve Apostles and Christ in relief. In the Lady Chapel is an altar with a statue by Herbert Tyson Smith of the Virgin Mary with St John Fisher . The baptistry contains a stone font , also by Herbert Tyson Smith, on a marble base. The font has a pyramidal cover with a cross finial . The baptistry roof is painted in orange with a diamond pattern in blue and white. ^[2]

Appraisal [ edit ]

The church was designated as a listed building on 30 July 2003. It is listed at Grade II*, ^[2] which is the middle of the three grades, and includes "particularly important buildings of more than special interest". ^[5] In the reasons for listing, it is noted that Velarde's practice is "admired for its ecclesiastical designs, especially for Catholic churches", and that English Martyrs' is "one of his finest post-war churches". ^[2] In discussing this church, Pollard and Pevsner in the Buildings of England series state that Velarde "packed a powerful religious charge into his churches". ^[4]

See also [ edit ]

• Grade II* listed buildings in Merseyside
• Listed buildings in Wallasey

Notes and references [ edit ]

Notes

Citations

External links [ edit ]

• Taking Stock