St Mary's Catholic Church - Shifnal, Shropshire - Roman Catholic Churches on Waymarking.com

The Catholic mission in Shifnal was founded in 1854 by Fr William Malloy of Madeley. Fr Malloy was an Irishman and in an anti-Irish riot in June 1855 the Shifnal lodging house in which he and his congregation worshipped was completely destroyed. In the aftermath of this event Lord Stafford donated a plot of ground (formerly occupied as allotments) for the erection of a Catholic school and chapel. Built to the designs of Charles Alban Buckler, the buildings incorporated a generous schoolroom/chapel with a schoolmaster’s house to the south. As no schoolmaster was ever appointed, from the outset the residence was used as a presbytery. The ‘Little Irish School’, as it was known locally, closed in 1917. St Mary’s remained under the patronage of Lord Stafford until 1960 when it was passed to the Diocese of Shrewsbury. At this date both church and presbytery were modernised. It is thought likely that it was at this time that the rear wall of the eastern part of the presbytery was re-built, in brick. St Mary’s was built as a school-chapel, and consists of a single cell with no aisles and an exposed and stained timber arch-braced roof. It is entered via a porch in its northeast corner. The church has another point of access at its southeast corner where the sacristy serves as a link between the church and the presbytery. This is a two storied residence of single cell depth plan which runs from east to west in the lee of the church’s south gable.

Son of the antiquary and church restorer John C. Buckler, Charles Alban Buckler’s (1824-1905) obituary in Building News noted ‘his first and last love in architecture was for the Early English style’. With its Early English style windows, this love is writ large at St Mary’s. Buckler seems to have wanted to contrive the appearance of a building which had been added to over the centuries. Thus for instance the easternmost part of the presbytery is set back and its roofline on a different plane to the main body of the residence, though all is thought to be of the same phase.

Over the presbytery entrance door is a stone carved with the date of the building’s construction, a coronet and a shield bearing the Stafford arms. The building was evidently modernised in the 1960s; whilst the original plan form appears to survive, the interiors which had been seen have late-twentieth century finishes and fittings.

Both church and presbytery are constructed of Staffordshire brown stone. The roofs are tiled. Those on the church are machine made and probably date from the 1960s. A historic photograph of the interior shows earlier seating, an ornate altarpiece, communion rails and an elaborate scheme of stencilled decoration on the walling behind. These were lost in the 1960 modernisation and subsequent alterations and replaced with white walls and a contemporary altar of simple design framed by a wood-bordered curtain screen and a suspended wooden canopy. The church is carpeted throughout and all windows are plain glazed. The stone holy water stoup near the church’s entrance (photo bottom left) is said to have medieval origins. The church has a beaten silver chalice which dates from 1630.

Source : taking-stock.org.uk/Home/Dioceses/Diocese-of-Shrewsbury/St-Mary-Shifnal

Type of Church: Church Status of Building: Actively in use for worship Dominant Architectural Style: Gothic Diocese: Shrewsbury Address/Location: Victoria Road Shifnal Telford, Shropshire United Kingdom TF11 8AE Relvant Web Site: [Web Link] Date of organization: Not listed Date of building construction: Not listed Associated Shrines, Art, etc.: Not listed Archdiocese: Not listed

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