Sacred Heart and St. Margaret Mary

Introduction

Sacred Heart and Saint Margaret Mary in Birmingham is a Grade II listed church, first listed on 02-Feb-2009. The church dates from 1922-1934 and was designed by George Bernard Cox of Harrison Cox Architects of Birmingham. The church has an exuberant, round-arched Italianate design of good quality, dating from the 1920s.

History

The current building, designed by G B Cox of the Birmingham firm of Harrison and Cox, was completed and opened in 1922, and formally consecrated in 1933. The west tower, also built to the design of Cox, was added in 1934.

The parish runs a Social Group for the over 50s. The parish has a West Indian Chaplaincy. The parish provides Disability Support.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is constructed from brindle brick, laid in Flemish bond with stone dressings, under a clay pantile roof. The interior is Byzantine in inspiration, with monolithic, marble piers with crisply carved cushion capitals forming the five-bay, round-arched arcades. The sanctuary is dominated by the rainbow coloured half-dome, set with mosaic tiles in fish scale patterns. The Lady Chapel has a deep blue mosaic ceiling, with circular lantern at its apex, and inlaid marble below.

The baptistery has a plain hexagonal font set on a terrazzo floor which echoes the decoration in the nave and aisles. The plan is cruciform, comprising a nave and chancel, north and south transepts, a north-western tower, and north and south aisles. The style is Italian Romanesque, with a five-stage campanile at the south-west corner. The main entrance has a gabled doorway with a mosaic of the crucified Christ in the tympanum and a carved stone armorial above.

The church has an intricate, inlaid marble pulpit. The aisles have arch-topped mosaic panels with figures on gold grounds depicting the Stations of the Cross. The church forecourt is bounded by gates, piers and railings, with brick and stone piers matching the church and good quality carving to the caps.