The new church of St Joseph's was built in 1968. Designed by the architectural practice of G. Parry Davies and Associates, it is constructed in the Modernist style which had been finding favour in Catholic Church planning from the First World War onwards. This had developed from the growth of the principle that worship was a communal activity, and that the congregation should not be excluded from sight or participation in the rituals of the liturgy. The Second Vatican Council in 1963 cemented this ideology, encouraging the use of free standing altars where priests could perform the ceremonials whilst facing the congregation and therefore promote `active participation?.
St Joseph's is a hyperbolic paraboloid, constructed of brick and concrete and with a winged roof, reflecting in a small way the Modernist architecture movement in the Catholic Church exemplified by the likes of Schloss Rothenfels-am-Main in Germany, both with its shape and the use of definitively twentieth century materials. The interior continues other principles of this movement, the main sanctuary being a plain white parallelogram, the blank white wall behind the free standing altar representing `the region of the invisible father?. Decoration is provided only in the form of narrow lights around the ceiling line, filled with abstract stained glass, while two narrow lights of similar dimensions contain more symbolic imagery including a shepherds crook and a key. The focal point for imagery is situated in the baptistery, in the form of a stained glass window by renowned north Walian artist Jonah Jones featuring a strong depiction of the Baptism of Christ.
S Fielding July 2018
Narrow lights of Dalle de verre stained glass by Peter G Morton frame one end of the otherwise plain white parallelogram that forms the interior. The focal point for imagery is situated in the baptistery, in the form of a stained glass window by renowned north Walian artist Jonah Jones featuring a strong depiction of the Baptism of Christ.
application/pdfRCAHMW ExhibitionsBilingual exhibition panel entitled Eglwysi a Chapeli Dinbych; The Churches and Chapels of Denbigh, produced by RCAHMW, 2013.
