Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph

Summary

The Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph, Wembley, is a post-war church in a loosely neo-Georgian style with Romanesque influences, built 1955-57 to designs by Reynolds and Scott. The church is dominated by a broad tower and features a Byzantine-influenced triple-domed interior with pendentives similar to those favoured by Sir John Soane.

The presbytery and hall, located to the east of the church, are not of special interest and excluded from the listing.

Reasons for Designation

The Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph, Wembley, of 1955-7, by Reynolds and Scott is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: a prominent and muscular composition assured in its well-handled massing and simple detailing, and representative of the post-war work of Reynolds and Scott which fuses influences from Romanesque and Byzantine revival, classicism, and the stripped-back style of Giles Gilbert Scott;
* Interior: the interior is distinguished by the use of pendentive saucer domes, rhythmically aligned over a conventional longitudinal plan to harmonious and striking effect, and other distinctive features such as the Byzantine revival finishes and Romanesque-influenced aisle columns with simplified cushion capitals.

History

The Diocese of Westminster originally purchased 17 acres of land in 1899, with the intention of using it as a Catholic cemetery. Wembley Catholics worshipped in Harlesden until a convent chapel from Harley Place (near Baker Street), was dismantled and re-erected in 1901 on part of the site, which was then known as Wembley Green. This small red-brick building was originally used as a cemetery chapel, serving the small cemetery located at the end of Waverley Avenue, in which bodies had been re-interred following the construction of Broad Street Station and subsequent demolition of St Mary Moorfields. After the plan for a large-scale Catholic cemetery was abandoned the chapel became a parish church of St. Joseph’s, and in 1911 the Diocese sold much of the remaining site for housing development. By the 1950s, the original church was too small to accommodate the burgeoning congregation. It was replaced by the present church, which was built between 1955 and 1957, with capacity to accommodate 680 people. The design was undertaken by Manchester firm Reynolds and Scott, one of the most prolific post-war church practices. The opening ceremony took place in December 1957. There were considerable debts in place, arising from provision of the church building, as well as the organ, two schools, social and youth centres, and other facilities, and subsequently the church was not consecrated until 1976, with Cardinal Basil Hume presiding at the ceremony. The side chapel, however, was consecrated soon after opening in 1959. The cemetery, in which around 200 people are interred, is now closed, with no evidence of gravestones visible. There is one tablet erected in 1968 to the only double bass virtuoso and classical composer Domenico Dragonetti (1763-1846), who was based in Brent.

The liturgical reforms which followed the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), were reflected in rearrangements of the interior. Since construction, the south (liturgical east) end has been reordered and a plain modern stone altar occupies the front of the sanctuary. In 2001 stained glass windows representing the Alpha and Omega were inserted into the apse, which had previously been blind.

Details

The Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph, Wembley, is a post-war church in a loosely neo-Georgian style with Romanesque influences, built 1955-57 to designs by Reynolds and Scott. The presbytery and hall, located to the east of the church, are not of special interest and excluded from the listing.

MATERIALS: the walls are faced with brown brick beneath a slate roof. Dressings to the principal north elevation are in reconstituted stone.

PLAN: the church is aligned on a north-south axis and not liturgically orientated. The plan comprises a tower at the principal north elevation with a narthex below. There is a wide central nave, flanked by processional aisles, off of which projects a baptistery, a large side chapel, confessionals and sacristies. There are short transepts and a rectangular sanctuary with semi-circular apse.

EXTERIOR: the exterior composition is dominated by the broad north tower which spans almost the full width of the building, and is redolent of the work of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. In style it is neo-Georgian, clasped by slightly projecting corner piers which frame a soaring full-height flush panel in reconstituted stone, containing a double-height semi-circular headed window with classical detailing, over a rectangular portal with a stepped architrave and a tall keystone, which has original timber panelled doors. The belfry is articulated by an arcade of round-headed arches, and topped by a hipped roof. There are tall windows to the east and west return walls beneath which are single-storey parapetted porches, lit by pairs of round-headed windows and accessed at the east and west respectively. All remaining windows are detailed with projected tiled impost and keyblock detailing, and brick voussoirs. The nave has side elevations of three wide bays, the first and third of which advance and have hipped roofs. The central bays feature three large round-arched windows over the low-level flat-roofed aisles. To the south is a semi-circular apse.

INTERIOR: the interior is spacious and light, and represents a striking exercise in geometry and the use of round arches. It is influenced by the Byzantine-revival, and the nave is covered by three large pendentive saucer domes of the type favoured by Sir John Soane. This creates a series of wide arches, which are arranged in succession, leading the eye to the sanctuary at the south end. The passage aisles are largely screened from the nave and accessed from the central bays via a low triple arcade of Romanesque-style stone columns; the central sections have flat ceilings. At the north and south ends are tall round-arched openings to the gallery over the narthex and the sanctuary respectively; the sanctuary has a second arch located over the former position of the high altar, now containing the tabernacle. The first and third bays of the nave have similar openings to the side chapels and short transepts. A sunken former baptistery (now St Anthony’s shrine) is accessed off the first bay of the east aisle, and has a mosaic floor with wave motif. Off the centre of the east aisle is a rectangular side chapel. The sanctuary has a segmental ceiling with twin round arches under triple windows on each side. The apse is lit by stained glass windows. The sanctuary has been reordered with a simple modern stone altar set to the front of it. Walls are generally plastered and painted over a brick plinth, floors are linoleum tile, with a chequered pattern to the aisle. The sanctuary floor is a combination of travertine tiles and good mosaic work. The fittings and furnishings include stained glass windows which are restricted to the large side chapel, by M Sieciechowicz (1960s), Opus (1998) and Mark Williams (2005).

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: London 3 North West, (1991)
The Victoria History of the County of Middlesex: Volume IV, (1971)
Proctor, R, Building the Modern Church: Roman Catholic Church Architecture in Britain, 1955 to 1975, (2014)

Websites
Eberhard, R, Church Stained Glass Windows, accessed 22nd October 2015 from http://www.stainedglassrecords.org/Ch.asp?ChId=17653

Other
Architectural History Practice; Westminster Taking Stock report; 2012

End of official list entry

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