Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Therese of Lisieux

Introduction

The church was designed by the Catholic architect George Drysdale in the Lombard style.

History

Mass was being said to Belgian refugees in Saltley from 1914, but the parish developed after Monsignor John Power became priest in 1930. The foundation stone arrived in Saltley on 7 October 1931, the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary. On 4 April 1932 Archbishop Williams of Birmingham blessed the foundation stone, which had been acquired from the church of the Annunciation in Nazareth with permission including from the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini. The crossing tower, bearing a carillon of twenty-three bells by Gillett and Johnston of Croydon and given by members of the Power family, was completed by the end of 1932.

The bells were consecrated by Archbishop Williams on 2 January 1933, the birthday of St Therese. In December 1940, a bomb damaged the south transept and west front, including mosaic roundels by Elphege Pippett, and a landmine ruined the north transept in 1941. In 1943 the Portland stone statues of St Peter and St Paul by Fr Vincent O.C.R, monk of Mount St Bernard Abbey, were returned to the south transept. In August 1944, the bells were reinstated and the north transept window restored, followed in 1945 by that in the south transept; the west windows were restored in 1946.

A new organ, a replica of the original, was installed, and by Easter 1947 the repairs were complete. At the outset of the building works, all of the internal marble for the church, including the columns to the baldacchino, pulpit and altar rails, was ordered from Pieta Santa, Carrara, Italy. Mgr Power travelled to Rome and through the British Embassy obtained an interview with Benito Mussolini, who promised to intervene, and the marble was transported from Livorno in February 1933, arriving in Saltley a month or so later.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of red brick with reconstituted stone or plaster dressings, with Westmorland slate roofs. The cruciform/basilican plan is roughly orientated on its ritual compass points, with the sanctuary at the north-east end. The gabled west elevation is flanked by lean-to north and south aisles, with a west entrance of three arched openings and a stone statue of St Thérèse under a timber canopy. Rising over the central crossing is a broad square tower with arched openings for the twenty-three bell carillon and surmounted by a shallow pyramidal roof.

The stained glass windows were all designed and made by Hardman and Co. The interior includes Italian marble work, mosaic roundels by Elphege Pippet and an extensive scheme of stained glass by Hardman and Co. The nave has a three-bay arcade of plain round arches on square piers clad in coloured marble, and above are five pairs of clerestory stained glass windows depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary. A mosaic dado runs around the perimeter wall incorporating fleur de lys and roundels with arms of the pope, bishops, the archbishop who consecrated the church, old Catholic families of Saltley, and modern benefactors.

Above the dado are mosaic consecration crosses of the twelve apostles, designed by Elphege Pippet. The Stations of the Cross are of hand-carved oak frames with French terracotta plaques. The baptistry is at the west end of the north aisle, complete with wrought iron gates, marble font with domed marble cover and stained glass window of the Baptism of Christ. There is a replica of Michelangelo's Pieta at the west end of the south aisle, set within an arched recess with a marble altar beneath.

Each transept has two side altars set within round-arched recesses with marble altars and altar rails: Sacred Heart and St Therese to the north and Our Lady of the Rosary and St Anne to the south. The foundation stone, from the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, is set into the wall of the Lady Chapel and protected by an iron grille. The sanctuary apse is lined with mosaic and at its centre is a baldacchino carried on marble Corinthian columns, with the semi-dome inlaid with blue and gold mosaic. The tabernacle is placed on a marble altar depicting the Agnus Dei resting on the Book of Revelation sealed with the seven seals.

Music and liturgy

The church's organ gallery, located above the narthex, features a projecting timber front painted with the armorial shields of cardinals and two plaques commemorating the International Eucharistic Congress.

Visiting

The narthex has a mosaic dado and two large marble holy water stoups. The chancel is separated from the nave by an arcaded, white marble altar rail with iron gates, and to either side of the chancel is a marble pulpit with blind arcading. There are carved oak chancel benches to either side of the set-forward marble altar. To the east of the south transept is a separate chapel with a wrought iron screen at its east end.

The south transept has a Portland stone statue of St Peter and St Paul set within a niche to each buttress. The roof above the nave is formed of open timber trusses of Early-Christian character. The Annunciation window in the sanctuary is a later addition.