Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph and Presbytery Mary Street Heywood
A brick Basilican Romanesque design of the early twentieth century by Oswald Hill, with an austerely handsome arched interior enhanced by rich decoration in the sanctuary and transepts.
The mission at Heywood was founded from Rochdale in 1855. In 1856 a church, school and presbytery were built in Dawson Street. The mission continued to grow and after the appointment of Fr Poole in 1898 discussions began about a new and larger church. The foundation stone of the present building was laid on 13 October 1913 and it was completed in 1916. A perspective view of the church held in the Diocesan Archiveis is dated 1914 and inscribed ‘H. O. Hill 9 Albert Square M/c’
On plan it consists of a short nave, north and south transepts (with an extended south transept) and a small apsidal sanctuary. The walls are faced with a mixture of grey and white brick with dressings and ornaments of hard red brick. The roofs are covered with Westmorland slate. The site slopes down from east to west so the gabled grey-brick west end with its Romanesque decoration and corbel table is given additional height. In the centre of the front is a full-height gabled projection, with a single storey canted baptistery projection at its base flanked by entrance porches up steps. The south side wall of the nave is of white brick with some banding. Broad pilaster strips divide two wide bays with triple round-headed windows under the corbel table. The pattern is continued in the south transept with two windows. A later and lower extension of the transept continues the pattern with three windows. The north side of the church is the same as the south. There is no outer north transept but instead a fairly modern single-storey brick addition along the north wall of the nave and west wall of the transept which contains the main entrance to the church. The east wall, which was presumably intended to be hidden from view, is of white brick, without ornament but with a projecting full-height windowless apse.
The interior is a space of considerable architectural quality. The nave is of two square bays defined by giant arches in the side walls and across the nave. The piers of the arches are pierced for low passage aisles. The high canted ceiling is panelled. A third and similar bay forms the crossing, with shallower full height bays for the transepts, which both have pairs of richly decorated chapels on their eastern sides. The south transept has been further enlarged to provide an organ gallery with an arcaded front. The apsidal sanctuary is raised five steps above the nave with an elaborate nave altar and a high altar behind it. The walls of the sanctuary have a Doric arcade and both the openings of the arcade and the semi-dome of the apse have scenes from scripture in mosaic. Four large panels, two on each side of the altar, are in opus sectile and with the panels set into sanctuary floor and at the entrances to the side chapels appear to be c1916. The mosaic work in the semi-dome, depicting the Coronation of the Virgin, appears to be later, pre-Second World War work. The ensemble is powerful and is further enhanced by other fittings including the marble altar rails and the bold drum font, moved from its original position in the western baptistery.
The church contains mosaics designed by Eric Newton (born Eric Oppenheimer, but later changing his surname by deed poll to Newton, his mother's maiden name) of Ludwig Oppenheimer Ltd, Blackburn Street, Old Trafford, Manchester. The firm was well known for its decorative mosaic schemes notably for churches.