Church of St Teresa of Lisieux | |
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Roman Catholic Church of St Teresa of Lisieux, Taunton | |
51°01′53″N 3°05′23″W / 51.0315°N 3.0898°W | |
Location | Taunton, Somerset |
Country | England |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Website | tauntonvalecatholics |
History | |
Status | Functioning |
Dedication | Thérèse of Lisieux |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | Grade II |
Architect(s) | Eric Francis |
Years built | 1958–1959 |
Construction cost | £18,000 |
Administration | |
Diocese | Diocese of Clifton |
Deanery | St Dunstan[1] |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | Roman Catholic Church of St Teresa of Lisieux and attached presbytery |
Designated | 11 November 2016 |
Reference no. | 1438078 |
The Roman Catholic Church of St Teresa of Lisieux in Taunton, Somerset, England, dates from 1958–1959. It is the only known church design of Eric Francis, a Chepstow-born architect who worked mainly in Monmouthshire and the South-West of England. St Teresa's is a functioning parish church within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton, and a Grade II listed building.
Eric Francis (1887–1976) was born in Chepstow, Wales. Articled as an architect in 1909, he trained under Guy Dawber and Detmar Blow.[2] He specialised in smaller country houses, including a number in Monmouthshire in collaboration with Henry Avray Tipping.[a][b][3][6] In the 1920s he moved to West Monkton, Somerset, undertaking a number of works in the area until his death in 1976.
The Church of St Teresa of Lisieux was commissioned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton in 1958.[7] Established as an outreach church of St George's Roman Catholic Church, Taunton, it was planned to serve a new council housing estate at Lyngford. Francis designed the church, the accompanying presbytery and a parish hall, but the last was not built. His contractors were Messrs Stansell & Son. The foundation stone was laid by Joseph Rudderham, Bishop of Clifton, in 1958 and the structure was complete by 1959.[7] It remains a functioning parish church.[8]
Julian Orbach and Nikolaus Pevsner, in their Somerset: South and West volume of the Buildings of England series, describe the church as a "striking" design, "between Georgian and Swedish Modern".[9] The construction material is red brick, with steep tiled roofs and a flèche "like a radio mast".[9] The church was designated a Grade II listed building in 2016.[10]