Holy Family

Introduction

Holy Family church in Bewdley was built as a non-conformist chapel in about 1778 and reopened as a Catholic church in 1953. The church is an assured Georgian building with two apsidal ends and an external stair to the gallery.

History

The Catholic community of Bewdley had no church of its own until the twentieth century, but was served by the priest from nearby Kidderminster. The chapel was built about 1778 to replace the timber-framed Presbyterian Meeting House of 1696.

The building was originally built as a Presbyterian place of worship, later taken over by a Unitarian congregation who worshipped there until 1894. In the early C19 a lower, gabled range was added at the northern corner of the building, later used as the vestry. From 1930 the building was used as a builder's store and workshop; its furnishings and panelling were stripped out, though the gallery was retained. The former chapel was listed at Grade II* on 22 April 1950, and scheduled as an Ancient Monument on 3 November 1951.

The restoration prior to its opening, overseen by the architect J T Lynch of Jennings, Homer and Lynch of Brierley Hill, included the replacement of the window surrounds with profiles matching the originals. A Catholic parish was established in Bewdley, and the refitted church was opened in 1953.

Restoration complete, the chapel was re-opened and dedicated to the Holy Family on the feast of Our Lady's Birthday, 8th September, in 1953. The church was de-scheduled on 17 October 1988. The church is served from the Parish of St Wulstan and Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Stourport-on-Severn.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is constructed from pinkish-red brick, with slate roofs and some stone dressings. The body of the church is a high single storey, with apsidal ends. The entrance, to the NE, is centrally placed, with a stone architrave to the doorway, with a C20 door of six raised and fielded panels. Above the entrance is a high apron extending across from the staircase wall, with a large sculpted Crucifixion.

The interior retains its curving first-floor gallery on classical columns. The porch opens under the curved NE gallery, which is carried on two half-height, timber Doric columns on high plinths. The body of the church has a continuous moulded cornice and the floor is parquet. At the SW end, a raised, shaped dias with fittings of circa 1953.

The panelled timber altar stands forward of the high, canopied timber reredos, designed to sit between the windows, its semi-circular arch mirroring their shape. Set high under the canopy is a terracotta roundel depicting the Holy Family, discovered in a garden adjoining the Church of St Ambrose in Kidderminster, and restored before its installation here by Hardmans of Birmingham. There is an interesting collection of graffiti initials of the C18 and C19 on the interior of the gallery front. Attached to the north side of the building is a glazed link and a circular meeting room, both added in 2013.