Holy Family, Blackbird Leys
Holy Family, Blackbird Leys
The Church of the Holy Family on Cuddesdon Way, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, is a Grade II church of 1964–65 by Colin Shewring, with a timber hyperbolic paraboloid roof by Hugh Tottenham, built for the postwar housing estate in the Diocese of Oxford.
- Location
- Blackbird Leys, Oxfordshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Oxfordshire
- City / town
- Blackbird Leys
- Address
- Cuddesdon Way, Blackbird Leys, Oxfordshire, OX4 6JH
- Postcode
- OX4 6JH
- Built
- 1964–65; hall extension 1983
- Architect
- Colin Shewring; timber hyperbolic paraboloid roof by Hugh Tottenham
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Holy Family
- Diocese
- Oxford
- Parish
- Blackbird Leys
- Grade
- II
- Style
- Liturgical Movement modern
- Materials
- Reinforced concrete frame with pale grey brick cavity walls; timber hyperbolic paraboloid roof of cross-laid pine boards
- Grid reference
- SP 552 027
- Opening hours
- Sorry, there are no regular opening times for this church.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Historic England lists the church (1464513, Grade II, 12 August 2019). The listing describes a heart-shaped plan reflecting the oval street layout of the estate, with a projecting sacristy, a small campanile and sacrament house, and a narthex. Walls are a reinforced-concrete post-and-beam frame with pale grey brick. The doubly curved roof is four layers of 22mm pine boards, cross-laid and bonded, originally aluminium-covered. The interior sanctuary is a slightly raised oval with a circular Clipsham limestone altar and angular pulpit designed by Shewring; the baptistery is inset between two blocks of pews.
The Anglican Diocese of Oxford designated Blackbird Leys a Conventional District in 1958. Bishop Carpenter dedicated the church on 10 April 1965 rather than consecrating it, to allow a joint Anglican and Free Church ministry; the estate became an Area of Ecumenical Experiment in 1973. A hall, café and offices were added in 1983 and are excluded from the listing. Roof rot from water ingress has left the building closed since 2018; planning permission for demolition was granted in 2021, but the listed church was still standing when last reported.