Sacred Heart Church
Sacred Heart Church in the Parish of Saint Patrick
South side of church
54°33′50″N 1°14′28″W / 54.5639°N 1.2412°W / 54.5639; -1.2412
OS grid reference	NZ4916119007
Location	Middlesbrough
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	SacredHeartMbro.org
History
Former name(s)	Sacred Heart of Jesus and St Philomena
Status	Active
Dedication	Sacred Heart
Architecture
Functional status	Parish church
Heritage designation	Grade II listed
Designated	28 July 1988[1]
Architect(s)	Jules Coomans
Style	Romanesque Revival
Groundbreaking	20 September 1930
Completed	1932
Administration
Province	Liverpool
Diocese	Middlesbrough
Deanery	Northern Vicariate[2]
Parish	Saint Patrick

Sacred Heart Church formerly the Church of Sacred Heart and St Philomena is a Roman Catholic Parish church in the town centre of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. It was built from 1930 to 1932 and is based on the design of St Andrew's Abbey in Bruges, Belgium. It is situated on the west side of Albert Park on the Linthorpe Road. It is a Grade II listed building.^[1]

History

Construction

The foundation stone of the church was laid on 20 September 1930 by the Bishop of Middlesbrough, Thomas Shine.^[3] In 1932 the church was opened, originally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St Philomena.^[4] The church architect was Jules Coomans (1871–1937), a Belgian architect from Ypres. He designed the War Victims Monument in Ypres and there is a street is named after him there. He also worked on various renovations and construction of churches in Ypres and Bruges.^[5]

Developments

In 1953, stained glass windows were installed around the sanctuary in the church. The windows were designed by the studio Harry Clarke in Dublin, Ireland. From 1961 to 1967, mosaics designed by Ludwig Oppenheimer from Manchester were also installed.^[4]

In the 1960s, the name of the church changed to become Sacred Heart Church.^[4]

Parish

In the 2000s, the two other Roman Catholic churches in the city centre closed. In 2000, the former cathedral of the Diocese of Middlesbrough, St Mary's Church on Sussex Street, was destroyed in a fire. Two years later, in 2002, St Patrick's Church on Cannon Street was closed and demolished. These three parishes were combined into one and – to help reflect the traditions of the three parishes – the new parish was named Saint Patrick but dedication of the Church remains that of the Sacred Heart.^[6]

The church hosts two Sunday Masses at 9:30 am and at 6:30 pm. It also has weekday Masses at 9:15 am on Mondays, at 6:30 pm on Tuesdays and at 9:15 am on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and at 9:00 am on Saturday.

Exterior

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  Church entrance