Church of St Anne, Wrexham

Introduction

On Low Sunday 1962 the church in Queen's Park was officially opened and dedicated to Saint Anne.

History

The Queen's Park estate grew after the Second World War, and by the early 1950s over 900 Catholics were estimated to live there. Records of August 1953 show a church was being considered, and December 1957 records refer to a church, convent, school and presbytery. The final plan included only the church and hall. Much of the £30.000 needed to build the church came from Ireland.

The Bishop of Menevia blessed the church, Solemn High Mass was sung, and a sermon was preached. The original altar is green Connemara marble, donated by the Irish Garda. Mr. Spendel made the kneelers.

Parish life

Before Saint Anne's was built, Mass was celebrated in Kingsley Circle Community Centre, with four hymns played on an old piano. Sunday School was run in the afternoon by a priest and a group of teenagers. Bingo was held every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday in the Community Centre and Saint Mary's Hall to raise money for the Church.

Visiting

The church was designed in the late 1950s and built in the early 60s, with a progressive octagonal plan and light and airy interior. The church is octagonal in plan, providing an unobstructed view of the altar from any position. The church is built of red sand-faced bricks with stone dressings, metal windows containing leaded glazing, and is surmounted by a copper dome. Glass doors with finely engraved emblems of the sacraments in octagonal frames lead into the church from the narthex.

The wooden benches are original, as is the grey-flecked granolithic paving to the floor and the statues of the Sacred Heart, Our Lady and St Anthony. In 1979 changes were made to the sanctuary by Bowen Dann Davies, including timber panelling, moving the altar forward, new freestanding altar rails, an ambo, repositioned font, a cantilevered credence table and stained glass windows. In the late 1990s further minor reordering was carried out, including additional stained glass and step-free access into the church. The architects Patrick and M. White of London WC2 submitted plans in January 1958 for church, convent and presbytery, although the convent was later omitted.

The contractor was J. W. Bostock of Wrexham, and the church was opened on Low Sunday 1962. The blank arched openings, originally brick, were infilled with coloured slate slips in an irregular pattern with mosaic inserts.