The Sacred Heart, Battersea (West)

Introduction

The Sacred Heart, Battersea (West), in Battersea, was built in 1892 by F. A. Walters for the Salesians in Italian Romanesque style, based on the Salesian church in Turin. This church is a major landmark in the Battersea Square Conservation Area, distinguished by its four-stage tower and octagonal spire.

History

Sacred Heart Battersea was first built in 1875 as a temporary corrugated iron chapel, with Fr Patrick McKenna as first priest until 1883. In 1887 Bishop Butt put the Salesians in charge of the Trott Street mission, and a small iron church sufficed pending the building of a permanent church. The foundation stone for the church of the Sacred Heart was laid on 3 August 1892, and the church was opened on 14 October 1893.

The solemn consecration took place on 14 October 1893 by Cardinal Cagliero SDB. There was a further reordering in the 1980s, when the sanctuary was extended to allow the 1970 altar to be brought further forward, and the 1970 communion rails were removed.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of red brick with some limited use of stone for the dressings and a slate roof, with the western spire clad in copper. The church consists of a four-stage western tower with spire; nave with north and south aisles and western transepts; and apsidal sanctuary with eastern transepts containing side chapels. The nave and aisles are of four bays, with the arcading supported on chamfered square piers with half-column responds and sinuous waterleaf capitals. The nave roof has a quadripartite vault springing from triple wall shafts.

The chancel floor is of marble tiles; seven steps lead up to the altar and another seven up to the tabernacle in the apse. The Stations of the Cross are framed plaster tableaux in high relief, and are said to have come from the Salesian house in Turin. The only stained glass is in the apse; the windows generally contain Cathedral glass of various pastel tints. The flank elevations feature broad pilaster bands dividing the bays, one round-arched window per bay, brick corbelled eaves, and large circular windows in the end walls of the eastern transepts.

Inside, the western bay holds a narthex with an organ gallery above, and a former baptistery occupies the northern transept. The nave has a woodblock floor and is separated from the chancel by a wide central arch with tall and narrow side arches. The sanctuary is groin vaulted, with painted decoration in the vault and in rectangular panels below the windows. The north and south chapels of Our Lady and St Joseph are in the eastern transepts, have transverse barrel vaults, and contain altars of 1970.

A fine Crucifixion triptych in the north sacristy is possibly another piece by Fayers. The seating consists of plain pine pews.

Music and liturgy

The spacious groin-vaulted interior contains a number of furnishings of note, including wall paintings by the artist-priest George Fayers. Fayers's paintings include the Agnus Dei adored by angels over the chancel arch, the Annunciation over the door to the north sacristy, and the death of St Joseph over the door to the south sacristy. The aisles have lean-to roofs, divided into square compartments with stencil decoration. The west elevation is designed almost on axis with Trott Street and is a dominant feature in the townscape. The list entry describes the church as 1872 by F A Walters, Romanesque style, red brick, with a west tower with octagonal broached spire and barrel vaulted ceiling.

Parish life

The parish runs a First Holy Communion Programme for baptised Catholic children preparing for Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. During Lent each year, the parish community gathers for a Reconciliation Service with several priests available for individual confession.

Adults wishing to celebrate Confirmation are invited to join the RCIA programme. The parish serves a diverse multicultural Catholic community covering a small geographical area from Clapham Junction station north to the Thames, west to Plough Road and east to Culvert Road. Two Catholic schools are in the parish: Sacred Heart Primary School, Este Road, and Saint John Bosco College, Parkham Street. Three religious communities are in the parish: the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Salesian Sisters and The Society of Saint Paul.

Battersea is the British Province's first purpose-built 'oratory' for young people, with a church, school, playground, and Salesian community offering hospitality. The Don Bosco Centre, within the community house, has day facilities that can be booked for groups of young people and their leaders.

The parish administrator serves soup and bread every Wednesday to the local community. The parish has a prayer request service where the parish team and community pray for intentions.