St. Michael and All Angels Church

Richard O’Mahony worked with F.X. Velarde throughout the post war period. It was he, alongside Janet Gnosspelius and Velarde’s son, Julian, who slowly brought the practice round to a more modern sensibility, aided by liturgical developments [1]. O’Mahony eventually inherited the practice in 1966 and Julian Velarde resigned [2]. This church was built between 1964 and 1965 to O’Mahony’s designs with input from the first parish priest, Father Gerard Corcoran. The parish was created in 1952 to serve the growing housing estate of Woodchurch that was developed according to plans by Herbert Rowse and later Borough Architect, T.A. Brittain [3]. Terminating the vista of Home Farm Road, a boulevard very much indebted to Garden Suburb ideas, the striking pyramidal roof of the lantern above the sanctuary is at odds with its more conventional setting but aligned to the strong axial planning. The T shaped organisation of the congregation responds to the theological ideas of the Liturgical Movement as endorsed by the Second Vatican Council. The interior is simply finished with plain white walls, quarry tiles and Finnish timber. Externally, the ribbed concrete walls support the steel framed, aluminium lined roof, separated by a band of clerestory glazing that gives the roof a floating appearance. In 1967 Richard O’Mahony was awarded a Gold medal for this building by the North West Region of the RIBA, the church, as a client, was in receipt of a Bronze medal.

[1] Proctor, R. (2014) Building the Modern Church: Roman catholic Architecture in Britain, 1955-1975 (Abingdon: Routledge) p.32.

[2] RIBA Journal, Vol. 73, 1966, p.68

[3] https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1416926