Saint Mary's Catholic Church — Francis Street

Freestanding T-plan gable-fronted Victorian Roman Catholic church, built c. 1885, with tower to west, polygonal apse and connecting block leading to friary. Pitched slate roofs with gable finials. Snecked limestone walls with cut-stone quoins, buttresses between window openings and projecting confessional additions. Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary set in niche and flanked by lancet windows having stone tracery, with quatrefoil and hood moulding above. Group repeated on smaller scale to gable apex. Paired lancet windows set between buttresses. Arcade of lancet windows with carved labels stops to connecting block. Diagonally sheeted timber double leaf doors with wrought-iron strap hinges, flanked by pairs of polished granite colonnettes with foliated capitals, having pediment above with inset pointed overlight having carved stone foil. Form of main entrance repeated on smaller scale for side entrances. Open timber roof with tongue and groove sheeting behind to interior. Four polished granite columns with carved stylised ivy capital divide nave from transepts. Stained glass by Early. Cast-iron railings and polygonal gate piers to site. Foundation stone of earlier church on site set in grotto to the east.