Description

SUNDERLAND

NZ4056 SUFFOLK STREET
920-1/14/213 (East side)
10/11/78 Church of St Ignatius
(Formerly Listed as:
SUFFOLK STREET
(South side)
Roman Catholic Church of St Ignatius
the Martyr)

II

Parish church. 1887-9. By C Hodgson Fowler and paid for by
Bishop Lightfoot, Bishop of Durham; site bought with voluntary
contributions from the people of Hendon. Ashlar; roof of
graduated Lakeland slate with stone gable copings and stone
spire. Early English style. Chancel with N vestry and meeting
room and S chapel; aisled nave with SW tower.
EXTERIOR: lancet windows, 3 stepped at E, 3 to N and S
chancel, paired in clerestory and aisles of 5-bay nave, with
sill strings continuing around buttresses defining bays except
in clerestory, and dripstring to W. 4-stage tower has double
boarded door in S with elaborate hinges in surround of 3
chamfers with ball-flower-stopped dripmould; paired lancets
above; on W a polygonal stair turret with lancets and stone
roof, and 2 lancets above; short blank third stage; paired
louvred belfry openings in arcade with many shafts and blind
narrow end lancets under dripstring, recessed between shallow
pilasters which rise from angle buttresses to cusped corbel
table; high broach spire with louvred and gabled 2-light
lucarnes. W elevation has gabled left buttress; vesica above 3
tall lancets; WWI war memorial panel and cross in low relief
under coping below central lancet; door and blocked overlight
in W end of N aisle similar to SW tower door. Steeply-pitched
roofs, gabled to S chancel chapel and pent on aisles, have
stone gable copings and cross finials.
INTERIOR shows 5-bay nave arcade with double-chamfered arches
on quatrefoil piers with clasping rings and moulded capitals;
king post roof. Sanctuary has full-height richly-carved
reredos of 1901, with crucifix and many statues including Old
Testament prophets, apostles, and Northern saints, for which
models were made `by Mr. Floyce, a Frenchman and executed by
Roddis of Birmingham' (booklet in church); a gift from Bishop
Lightfoot; made of Bath stone. Shafted chancel arch, high and
moulded, with inner arch on corbels. N chancel has organ arch
at W and 2 blind arches. S Lady Chapel has crocket capitals on
clustered pier and on corbels of 2 arches, rich furnishings
including altar by Hicks of Hicks and Charlewood, and
wrought-iron screens and communion rail. 5-bay nave has door
in blocked NW bay, and arch to tower in SW. Plain wrought-iron
pulpit on ashlar plinth at Bishop Lightfoot's instruction.
Scheme of stained glass drawn up by Rev GF Brownie, Canon of
St Paul's, London and Bishop of Bristol, includes richly
coloured pictures of Anglo-Saxon saints and kings in aisles, E
and W windows commemorating Bishop Lightfoot, the W with
scenes from his life. Foundation stone in SW porch dated 25
October 1887.
The church was provided to meet the needs of one of the most
crowded areas of Sunderland.
(Corfe T and Milburn G: Buildings and Beliefs: Sunderland:
1984-: 15-16; Carr Alwyn: St Ignatius-Hendon-1899: Sunderland:
1966-).

Listing NGR: NZ4038956282

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26512792

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)