History
“The Millbrook parish was formed in 1958 from the neighbouring parish of Stalybridge; the first Mass in Millbrook had been held in 1946 in the canteen of Staley Mill. The Bishop of Shrewsbury, the Right Reverend John A Murphy (later Archbishop of Cardiff) commissioned the architect Edward J Massey of Massey and Massey, Warrington, to design the Church of St Raphael in 1960; the foundation stone was laid in 1961 and the Church was officially opened on 25th April 1963. During the commissioning process, the Bishop stipulated that the High Altar should be such that, if the Liturgy required it, Mass could be celebrated facing the congregation. An article was published in the Catholic Building Review, northern edition, in 1960 in which the architects’ practice stated that ‘ The Church is in the new manner whereby Mass may be said from both sides of the Altar and the Congregation is grouped about the Sanctuary on three sides’. The bringing forward of the altar and move away from longitudinal planning was encouraged by the Liturgical Movement, which favoured the closer involvement of the faithful in the Mass, and is one of the first espousals of this approach in the Roman Catholic church in England; it may also be seen in the centralized arrangement at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, designed by Frederick Gibberd for a competition held in 1959, and built in 1962-7. Such planning predates the Vatican II Constitution on Sacred Liturgy which was approved in 1963, the same year that St Raphael’s opened.
The Roman Catholic Church of St Raphael the Archangel, Millbrook, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: Historic Interest: the internal planning of St Raphael the Archangel focuses upon an island altar, and whilst not having the fully developed centralised arrangement advocated by the Liturgical Movement, it clearly demonstrates a transitional period in the planning of Catholic churches, being a precursor of Vatican II (1962-5), after which such schemes were officially embraced. Architectural Interest: the church references Byzantine motifs, particularly the large crossing dome and the mosaic-like appearance of the prominent dalle de verre screen, in a bold modern design of geometric blockiness and stepped massing culminating in the dominant circular dome Intactness: the church retains its original character to a high degree, being largely intact and architecturally unaltered, and retaining the majority of its high-quality contemporary fixtures and fittings Artistic Interest: the church is a showcase for contemporary arts and crafts, being embellished with Pierre Fourmaintraux’s extensive figurative dalle de verre screen of Tobias and the Archangel whose brilliant colours and organic forms epitomise good 1960s ecclesiastical glass design and dramatically enrich the interior space, which is also imbued with a full set of bespoke ceramic stations of the cross and holy water stoops by Alan Boyson. Fixtures and Fittings: the internal character of the church is enhanced by well designed fixtures and fittings including a large contemporary pendant light designed by McGloughlin of Dublin to the ideas of the architect, whose scale serves to visually unite the dome with the crossing containing the island altar below, and is complimented by original marble altars, altar rails and font, and other light fittings.
