Our Lady of the Assumption

Introduction

Our Lady of the Assumption in Swynnerton, within the Archdiocese of Birmingham, was built in 1868-9 to the design of architect Gilbert Blount, a pupil of Pugin, in late C13 Gothic style. The chapel is one of the few remaining private chapels in the British Isles and is open as a parish Mass Centre.

History

The chapel was commissioned by Maria Teresa (née Gandolfi), widow of Francis Fitzherbert, and her son Basil Fitzherbert. The builder was George H. Gouch and the cost of building the chapel was £8,000. The stone for the chapel was quarried locally. The foundation stone was laid by William Bernard Ulathorne, Archbishop of Birmingham, in 1868, and the chapel was named 'Our Lady of the Assumption'.

Architecture and furnishings

The chapel has a cruciform ground plan, with the nave and sanctuary forming the upright arm and the tribune and sacristies the horizontal arm. The gradine portrays the four evangelists with their symbols: Matthew (man), Mark (lion), Luke (ox), and John (eagle). The reredos behind the gradine contains statues of Our Lady, St Augustine of Canterbury, St Theresa of Avila, St Hilda of Northumbria, St Basil of Caesarea, and St Joseph. The window behind the high altar depicts scenes from the life of Our Lady, including her crowning as Queen of Heaven and the Assumption.

To the right of the sanctuary, a window represents the charity of Emily Fitzherbert, depicting visitations to the sick and the death of a small child; a brass plaque beneath records that it was installed by her son Basil. To the right of the high altar, a side altar was erected by Basil to commemorate the death of his mother Maria Teresa, with a frontispiece representing Christ as the Good Shepherd. To the left of the high altar is the 'Tribune', a small chapel reserved exclusively for the Fitzherbert family. A brass plaque on the left wall of the nave was transferred from the private chapel that served as a Mass Centre during the years of Catholic persecution, situated in the house of the Fitzherberts until this building was dedicated.

The chapel is built of stone with a tile roof, and has a nave with gallery, south arcade, chancel with public chapel on west side, and bellcote. The frontispiece of the main altar depicts the adoration of the Lamb as described in the Book of the Apocalypse, Chapter 5 verses 6-14. The Papal head sculptured on the top right-hand pillar of the nave represents Pius IX, and on the next pillar is the head of Ulathorne, the then Archbishop of Birmingham.