St Mary Magdalen, Coventry
St Mary Magdalen, Coventry
St Mary Magdalen stands at the junction of Hearsall Lane and Sir Thomas White’s Road, Chapelfields, Coventry, a red-brick church of 1934 by Herbert T. Jackson, in the Diocese of Coventry. It is not the medieval Grade I Church of St Mary Magdalene at Wyken Croft.
- Location
- Coventry, West Midlands
- Country
- England
- County
- West Midlands
- City / town
- Coventry
- Address
- Sir Thomas Whites Road, Coventry, West Midlands, CV5 8DR
- Postcode
- CV5 8DR
- Built
- 1932–34 (foundation stone 3 December 1932); predecessor tin mission 1895, moved to this road 1917
- Consecrated
- 21 April 1934
- Architect
- Herbert T. Jackson
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Mary
- Diocese
- Coventry
- Parish
- Coventry St Mary Magdalen
- Style
- Romanesque with Byzantine detail
- Materials
- Red brick with stone dressings; glazed blue tile roof
- Opening hours
- Monday: 9am to 12noon. Tuesday: 1.30pm to 3.30pm. Wednesday: 9am to 12noon and 1pm to 5pm. Thursday: 9.30am to 1.30pm. Sunday: 8am to 12noon.
- Access
- Accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas. Ramp or level access available on request
Overview
A corrugated-iron mission of St Thomas, Albany Road, opened at Spon End in 1895 and was moved to Sir Thomas White’s Road in 1917 as the district church of St Mary Magdalen. The dedication recalls a medieval chapel at Spon. Early Gothic designs for a permanent church were refused; local architect Herbert Jackson produced a Romanesque scheme with Byzantine detail, approved in 1931. The foundation stone was laid on 3 December 1932. Cost-cutting in the Depression left the intended west tower and belfry unbuilt. The Victoria County History describes an aisled nave, apsidal chancel, Lady Chapel and vestries, tall red brick with stone dressings and a roof of glazed blue tiles — the origin of the local name “the church with the blue roof”. Bishop Mervyn Haigh consecrated the church on 21 April 1934.
The building is not on the National Heritage List for England. The medieval Wyken church (list entry 1076583) is a different parish and site.