St Catherine of Alexandria

Introduction

St Catherine of Alexandria in West Drayton is a Grade II listed building, first listed on 12-May-2016. The church was built in 1868 in a Gothic Revival style corresponding to C14 motifs, to designs by Willson and Nicholl.

History

The Parish of West Drayton was established in 1867. Mass was first celebrated in a stable to the rear of a public house called The King's Head. The foundation stone was laid by Archbishop (later Cardinal) Manning on Michaelmas Day 1868. Stonemasonry was carried out by McCullough.

The church was consecrated in 1893. The high altar was completed in 1886 and included decorated panelling by Joseph Bouvier. A series of improvements was instituted in 1985, beginning with restoration of the organ. The baptistery was demolished to make way for a new entrance at the north side of the tower.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of buff stock brick in a Gothic style, drawing on motifs from the early C14, with slate roofs. The church consists of a five-bay aisled nave, two-bay sanctuary flanked by side chapels, and a north-west tower which doubles as a porch. The tower was raised in the 1980s and finished with a concrete coping, replacing the previous pitched roof. The interior has a nave arcade with octagonal piers and double-chamfered arches.

The division between nave and sanctuary is marked by thin wallshafts carrying a small-scale hammerbeam truss. The nave has a pair of tie-beams, and scissor-bracing to the common rafters. The ceiling over the Lady Chapel has a traceried plaster ceiling. The reredos is the most prominent item, comprised of a central canopy above the tabernacle, figures of the Evangelists, numerous angels and a wealth of tracery work, over a base of various marbles.

The screen to the Sacred Heart chapel depicts Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane; that to the Lady Chapel depicts The Annunciation. The High altar is carved with a scene of Christ rising from the Tomb, flanked by painted and gilded figures of St Catherine and St Michael. The font, relocated in the Lady Chapel, was designed by S J Nicholl. Eight stained glass windows, generally by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake, are of various dates between 1884-1916. The stained glass windows are by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake, and include memorial windows to members of the de Burgh family.