St Monica, Bootle
St Monica, Bootle
St Monica’s is a Grade I Roman Catholic church on Fernhill Road, Bootle, Merseyside, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, designed by Francis Xavier Velarde and opened in 1936.
- Location
- Bootle, Merseyside
- Country
- England
- County
- Merseyside
- City / town
- Bootle
- Address
- Fernhill Road, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 9GA
- Postcode
- L20 9GA
- Built
- 1935–36
- Consecrated
- 4 October 1936
- Architect
- Francis Xavier Velarde; sculptures by Herbert Tyson Smith
- Denomination
- Catholic Church
- Dedication
- Monica
- Diocese
- Liverpool
- Parish
- St Monica
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Modernist Brick Expressionist
- Materials
- Pale buff brick with painted-concrete dressings; green pantile roof
- Opening hours
- Please contact us for details of opening times.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Historic England and Taking Stock record a church of 1935–36 by Velarde, built by L. H. and R. Roberts. Archbishop Richard Downey laid the foundation stone in 1935 and opened and blessed the church on 4 October 1936. The listing describes pale buff brick with painted-concrete dressings and a green pantile roof, in a Modernist manner influenced by the German brick Expressionist churches of Dominikus Bohm. Pevsner called it an epoch-making church for England.
A mission began in 1922 at Breeze Hill; a temporary church stood at Fernhill from 1923 until the early 1950s. The permanent church has a massive west tower with three bowed-head angel sculptures by Herbert Tyson Smith. The interior is largely bare brick, with a more decorative sanctuary, chrome altar rails and other fittings designed by Velarde. The sanctuary was re-ordered in the 1980s.