Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph, Hall Street, Burslem

Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph, Hall Street, Burslem

In the years following the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, Roman Catholic centres of worship began to appear. Many of the early ones were enlarged or rebuilt as their congregations grew and finances permitted. Outstanding among this later generation of churches are Sidney Brocklesby's splendid twentieth-century duo of the Sacred Heart, Tunstall and St. Joseph's, Burslem.

Built in 1925-7 of a brick construction in the Italianate style.
Designed by J.S. Brocklesby who also designed Tunstall's Sacred Heart Church.
The apse has a painting of Christ Pantokrator by Moira Forsyth.
In his novel 'Clayhanger' Arnold Bennett refered to St. Josephs as 'the church of genuflexions'.
The stained glass windows were designed by Gordon Forsyth - he was one time art director and Minton Hollins & Co. In 1920 he became Superintendant of Art Instruction in Stoke-on-Trent.
The murals and ceiling paintings are by his daughter Moira Forsyth.

Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph, Hall Street, Burslem - 'the church of genuflexions'

picture: © Matthew Rice - The Lost City of Stoke-on-Trent

'In front, on a little hill in the vast valley, was spread out the Indian-red architecture of Bursley--tall chimneys and rounded ovens, schools, the new scarlet market, the grey tower of the old church, the high spire of the evangelical church, the low spire of the church of genuflexions, and the crimson chapels, and rows of little red houses with amber chimney-pots, and the gold angel of the blackened Town Hall topping the whole. The sedate reddish browns and reds of the composition, all netted in flowing scarves of smoke, harmonized exquisitely with the chill blues of the chequered sky. Beauty was achieved, and none saw it.''

Arnold Bennett - Clayhanger

The two west towers; one square in plan and one smaller and round

Central wide arched entrance in western gable
"using the decorative properties of brick to enrich the facades with herringbone tiled courses"

The church would not be at all out of place if it was picked up and move to
some sunny square in Rome or Florence.

Italianate style, using the decorative properties of brick to enrich the facades with herringbone tiled courses etc.

detail on the front of the round tower

round southwest tower with conical roof over open arcade

six of the 32 stained glass windows in St. Joseph's - designed by Gordon Forsyth and made by some of the church members

photo: Friends of St. Joseph's

The M.P. for Burslem ath the time - Andrew MacLaren, suggested to the parish priest Fr. Browne, that working people should make the decoration for the church. Renowned artist and superintendent of Stoke-on-Trent art education Gordon Forsyth agreed to teach young parishioners how to make 32 stained glass windows, designed by him. He also designed ceiling panels which were made by them.

Gordon Forsyth was already a nationally recognised artist when he agreed to design windows for St. Joseph's. Burslem church was only a stone's throw away from Burslem School of Art where Forsyth was working. He and Fr Browne became great friends and Gordon Forsyth advised on other artistic matters in the church. Soon Forysth's daughter Moira was producing artwork for the church.

the hugh ceiling painting 'Christ in Glory' was produced by Gordon Forsyth's daughter Moria

photo: Friends of St. Joseph's

Moira Forsyth produced the huge ceiling painting 'Christ in Glory' in panels in her London studio, circa 1935-37. In later years Moira became a highly respected stained glass window artist and designed for many churches through the UK including Guildford Cathedral, Norwich Cathedral, Eaton College, St. Columbas church in London.

Father and daughter left legacy to Mother Town

It's nearly 80 years since two artistic giants dazzled the fertile canvas of Stoke-on-Trent. Alas their names and reputation have faded over time. But their work and legacy are preserved in an extraordinary mural of Christ in Glory on the sanctuary ceiling of St Joseph's RC Church in Burslem.

"It is most certainly a stunning work," says freelance writer Carmel Dennison. "Obviously it has tremendous merit in its spiritual location, but as a stand-alone work of art it commands an important place in the social heritage of the Potteries." Carmel's research into the background of this Christian representation has resulted in a booklet entitled The Forsyths At St Joseph's Church, Burslem. It tells the incredible story of father and daughter artists joining forces with a priest and the local Member of Parliament to produce one of the city's little-known treasures.

"The church itself was commissioned by the parish priest Reverend William Browne and designed by the distinguished 20th century architect JS Brocklesby," Carmel tells me. "The style is Italian and the colours of the bricks, which were locally made at Fenton, were chosen to reflect a herringbone pattern.

"The astonishing thing about it is that it was paid for by subscription and congregation collection, and it was constructed by the hands of the unemployed men of Burslem, brought together during a time of distress and mass unemployment in the 1920s.

"Father Browne recruited these men from around the town and paid them with a daily bowl of soup and a chunk of bread. It is a credit to Burslem's community that the church was built in such a short period of time."

St Joseph's rose from the ruins of an old pottery factory. Father Browne even got the men to demolish the potbank first as they daily got stuck-in with pick and shovel. And as the church building grew, the newly appointed Burslem School of Art principal, Gordon Forsyth (1879-1952), watched with interest, as did the newly-elected Burslem MP Andrew MacLaren.

"It was MacLaren who later suggested to Father Browne that because the church had been built by Burslem's unemployed men, they should be the ones to decorate it," Carmel continues. "He said they should be enrolled in the School of Art so they could be taught the skills to make the stained-glass windows. Naturally there was no money to fund this notion so MacLaren took his plan to Forsyth. Soon a free Saturday morning class at the Wedgwood Institute was up and running for 50 St Joseph's parishioners."

At the time the church was being built, Forsyth's daughter Moira (1905-1991) was a young art graduate. Her archived correspondence, at London's Victoria & Albert Museum, reveals how the windows were made as her father taught unemployed potters and miners in a year how to cut and set the specially-selected coloured glass to correspond with the windows at Chartres Cathedral in France.

"It was an amazing feat," says Carmel. "Imagine nowadays the unemployed returning to school to learn an artistic trade from one of the finest watercolour artists of the day. And nobody got paid for their services!"

And so a bond was forged between the community, a politician, a priest and two artists. In 1945, Scotsman MacLaren lost his seat and left Burslem. He died in 1975 at the age of 82.

Gordon Forsyth, himself a radically-driven socialist, designed the windows and altar panels for St Joseph's. He retired at the end of the war and died in 1952, aged 73. His public work can be seen in the hospital buildings at Hartshill and Haywood.

But it is Moira Forsyth who ultimately completed the work at St Joseph's. Taught pottery design by her father, Moira exhibited her ceramic figures at the White City Fair to worldwide acclaim in 1925. After graduating at the Royal College of Art, she moved from ceramics to glass. Her stained-glass work can be seen in Guildford Cathedral, Norwich Cathedral and Eton College Chapel.

"Moira was totally immersed in St Joseph's Church," declares Carmel. "By the early 1930s, the priest and the art teacher's daughter began planning the huge mural for the sanctuary ceiling. Once the idea was spun, Moira, although creatively prominent by this time, refused from the outset to accept a commission fee, settling for five guineas a week incidental expenses.

"Most of the preparation was done at the artist's studio in London and was completed in 1937. Father Browne was delighted with the result. In a letter to Moira he writes, 'The ceiling has surpassed all my expectations. I congratulate you with all my heart. It is a lasting memorial to your genius and places you side-by-side with the great masters of the past'.

"And this is not just the view of a parish priest. Bernard Rackham, former keeper of ceramics at the Victoria & Albert Museum, valued Moira's work among the best he'd seen. She later received the Queen's Award for lifelong services to the arts. But among her finest work surely is the mural at St Joseph's in Burslem."

Fred Hughes
Sentinel Newpaper
20 Dec 2008

a cratemakers alongide the canal - looking towards Dalehall and Burslem
on the horizon to the left of centre is the tower of St. Joseph's RC Church, Burslem
a number of bottle kilns are also visible

photo: the Ewart Morris Collection

three listed buildings

In this photo there are three listed buildings: the façade of the Hill Top Sunday School, the Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph and the Hill Top works.

Hill Top Sunday School

St. Joseph's Church

Hill Top Works

The style is Italian and the colours of the bricks, which were locally made at Fenton,
were chosen to reflect a herringbone pattern

contents: 2010 photos