Sacred Heart, Southwold
Sacred Heart, Southwold
The Church of the Sacred Heart is a Grade II Roman Catholic church on Wymering Road, facing Southwold Common, in the Diocese of East Anglia.
- Location
- Southwold, Suffolk
- Country
- England
- County
- Suffolk
- City / town
- Southwold
- Address
- Wymering Street, Southwold, Suffolk, IP18 6AH
- Postcode
- IP18 6AH
- Built
- 1914–16
- Consecrated
- 6 June 1956
- Architect
- Father Benedict Williamson and John Henry Beart Foss; built by H A King of Beccles
- Denomination
- Catholic Church
- Dedication
- Sacred Heart
- Diocese
- East Anglia
- Parish
- Sacred Heart of Jesus, Southwold
- Grade
- II
- Style
- Perpendicular Gothic
- Materials
- Brick faced in Weldon stone
- Grid reference
- TM 505 762
- Opening hours
- Main church is open daily between 9am and 4pm. Tower Tours, with stunning views of the Suffolk coast and countryside, available at certain times of year. The church is a short walk (500m) from Southwold High Street, and within walking distance of many famous Southwold attractions and sandy beach. There are various car parks and street parking options are available in the town (please be aware these can be busy at peak summer season).
Overview
Historic England records a church and attached presbytery of 1914–16 by the architect-priest Father Benedict Williamson in collaboration with John Henry Beart Foss, built by H A King of Beccles. The fabric is brick faced in Weldon stone. The plan is rectangular and oriented roughly north–south, with a two-stage east tower over the sanctuary, a polygonal stair turret, a five-bay nave, and a single-storey baptistry. Tracery mixes Perpendicular and curvilinear forms; the nave is open to a king-post roof.
Catholic worship in Southwold began in the 1870s. The present site was bought in 1902; building started in spring 1914 after a bequest from Amy Auld. The church was blessed and opened on 4 June 1916 and consecrated on 6 June 1956, when Southwold became a parish. The 1923 Sacred Heart altar is also a war memorial. Tower repairs followed a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant in 2018–19.