Sacred Heart and St. Catherine of Alexandria

Introduction

The church was designed by F Barry Peacock and commissioned by Walter Loveridge Hodgkinson, opening by November 1921. The building is in an early-Christian style with Byzantine, Roman and Lombardic elements.

History

The foundation stone was laid in 1919 and the church opened in November 1921. The first Mass was said in a property known as Witton Villa on Worcester Road on 19 March 1909. The church was dedicated to the Sacred Heart and to Saint Catherine of Alexandria as a memorial to Catherine, late wife of Mr Hodgkinson. The first Mass was celebrated on 24 November 1921, the anniversary of the death of Catherine Hodgkinson who died on 24 November 1906.

The south aisle chapel was added in 1938 and the north aisle chapel was completed in 1963, with mosaics by Hardman Studios. The sanctuary was reordered in 1970 with the altar moved forward and the tabernacle taking its place against the east wall. The mosaics were designed by Gabriel Pippet and executed by Maurice and Thomas Josey and Fred Oates. Pippet also designed and carved the capitals of the nave arcades and fittings such as statuary and relief panels on the altar, font and lectern, as well as the Stations of the Cross.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is of brown brick laid in Flemish bond with stone dressings and a pantile roof. The western end has a central doorway with a stone tympanum showing Christ enthroned, flanked by St Catherine with her wheel and St Richard. A side door has a tympanum showing the Annunciation, carved by Pippet in 1954. The nave arcades have monolithic limestone columns with double cushion capitals of Byzantine type.

The walls are lined with panels of blue and green marble below the dado, including verde antico. The mosaics depict the Life of the Virgin on the north side of the nave and the Life of St Richard Wyche on the south. Above the sanctuary apse is the Resurrection. On the west wall, above the choir gallery, a large mosaic shows the Nine Choirs of Angels in flight.

The Chapel of Our Lady, to the north-east, has mosaics showing St Francis of Assisi and St Theodore and the Coronation of the Virgin above the altar. The Chapel of St Catherine shows scenes from her life and the groin vaults of both these chapels are also decorated with mosaic. The church is basilican in plan, with a nave and side aisles of eight bays, a choir gallery above a narthex at the west end, and an apse at the east. A baptistery with an apsidal end projects from the north wall of the narthex.

The church has a south-western tower. Above the central doorway is a central rose window, and at the top of the walling is a Lombardic frieze.

The organ, by Walkers of Ruislip, erected in 1949, is the gift of Percy Edgar Thomas in memory of his wife Florence Elizabeth, who died in 1946. The organ is electric action and an extension organ, containing 4 unit ranks plus a Bourdon, with 26 stops built from different sections of these, and houses only 316 pipes.

Gabriel Pippet designed and carried out all the stone sculpture on the outside and inside the church and also carved fourteen Stations of the Cross in oak. Over the single entrance door is a relief depicting the Annunciation with Archangel Gabriel and Mary, with the Holy Spirit above in the form of a dove, and a little bird in the lower right hand corner that is a 'pipit'. One capital has the winged symbols of the four evangelists and the initial letter of each of their names. Statues of Our Lady with the baby Jesus and of Saint Joseph stand each side of the steps up to the Sanctuary.

On the Sanctuary stand the pulpit and the baptismal font, both delicately carved with figures, birds and symbols. The altar frontage, with two angels facing towards each other, was first sketched out by Gabriel. Gabriel sketched the designs for the Stations of the Cross, including the tenth Station, 'Jesus is stripped of his garments'.

Parish life

The parish SVP group helps the disadvantaged, sick and lonely in Droitwich and surrounding areas, irrespective of religion. The parish supports an Ashray project in India helping slum dwellers to an education and better life. Individual parishioners help with meal rotas at St Paul's Hostel, support Maggs day centre for the homeless in Worcester and help with refugee care in Birmingham. A small group of parishioners set up a monthly service in Autumn 2015 offering a substantial hot meal to anyone in need, served in the Church Hall.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish arranges Holy Communion at home for the housebound or ill, delivered by Special Ministers of the Eucharist or clergy, through the Parish Priest or office.

Notable people and events

Gabriel Pippet spent time in Ravenna and Rome and was impressed by mosaic decoration, and the mosaicist Maurice Josey had been employed on mosaics in Westminster Cathedral before coming to Droitwich. The roundel of Saint Paul was the first mosaic in the church to be completed because it had been set to test the skills of the mosaicist, Maurice Josey. The face of the executioner in the Saint Catherine Chapel is a portrait by Gabriel Pippet of Father Andre Syres, S.C.J. who preached the sermon on the opening of this chapel in November 1922.

Gabriel Pippet was born and died in Solihull, and he died in 1962 aged 82 years, and is buried next to the church with his wife Alice, who died just two days before him. Other members of the Hodgkinson family and many other benefactors contributed to the cost of the altars, pulpit, font, organ, mosaics, sculptures, vestments and sacred vessels.

Visiting

The church is open each day during daylight hours. A guidebook with detailed information on the mosaics is available in the church. The front car park is reserved for disabled access and parking, and a large car park at the rear is accessed via College Green.