Summary
Roman Catholic priory church of 1881 by J S Hansom in Early English Gothic style, with sympathetic additions of 1955-7 by W C Mangan.
Reasons for Designation
The Roman Catholic church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Bognor Regis, of 1881 by J S Hansom with additions by W C Mangan in 1955-57, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: this is a good quality Early English-style Roman Catholic church with a lofty nave by Hansom and tactful later additions by Mangan; the impressive west front with its plate tracery rose window makes a strong contribution to the local townscape;
* Architects: the church is the work of two significant Catholic architects: the nave was designed by Joseph Stanislaus Hansom - the son and partner of his more famous father Joseph Hansom - and the large scale and bold handling of the Bognor church are typical of their work. The east end was completed in the 1950s to a different but complimentary design by W C Mangan, who was a prolific and successful Catholic architect in the mid-C20.
History
The Roman Catholic mission in Bognor Regis was founded in 1880, when the town was still relatively small and had a worshipping Catholic population of sixty. A large church was built by the Servite Order, with a priory adjoining on the south side. The Order is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders and was founded in 1233 in Italy. The architect of the new church was Joseph Stanislaus Hansom, who had previously collaborated with his father J A Hansom on the design of the Servite church of Our Lady of Dolours in Fulham, which was completed in 1876. Only five bays of the nave of the Bognor church were completed; the proposed transepts, Lady Chapel and sanctuary were not begun. An early photograph on the parish website shows that the internal walls of the building were originally richly decorated and the temporary east wall was covered with figurative painting. In 1939 W C Mangan of Preston was commissioned to complete the building, but the project was interrupted by the war and work did not begin until the mid-1950s. Mangan added one more bay to the nave, together with a long apsidal ended sanctuary, a north east Lady Chapel and a single storey flat-roofed ‘cloister’ range on the south side linking the church to the monastery building.
Details
Roman Catholic church of 1881 by Joseph Stanislaus Hansom in Early English style with sympathetic additions by Wilfrid Clarence Mangan, built in 1955-57.
Sources
Websites http://www.bognorcatholicparish.co.uk/oloshistory.php Other
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
End of official list entry
