---
title: "Holy Family, Blackbird Leys"
description: "Located in Blackbird Leys, Oxfordshire. Built 1964–65; hall extension 1983. Diocese of Oxford. Grade II. Liturgical Movement modern style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Oxfordshire","Blackbird Leys","Oxford","Grade II","Modern","Colin Shewring"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/holy-family-blackbird-leys"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:19:33.801Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T20:34:22.800Z"
location: "Blackbird Leys, Oxfordshire"
country: "England"
county: "Oxfordshire"
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"
dedications: ["Holy Family"]
diocese: "Oxford"
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"
website: "http://s482467435.websitehome.co.uk/index.html"
openingHours: "Sorry, there are no regular opening times for this church."
parish: "Blackbird Leys"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1464513"
gridReference: "SP 552 027"
accessNotes: "Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby"
---

# 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.

## 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.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1464513](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1464513)
- [British Listed Buildings: Holy Family, Blackbird Leys](https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101464513-church-of-the-holy-family-blackbird-leys-blackbird-leys)