The Church of St Joseph and St Etheldreda is the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church of

Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District, in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is north of Lichfield, southeast of Stafford, northeast of ...

, in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England. Built in 1849–50 in

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, it is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Church

The church is a major work of Charles Hansom, built in 1849–50 in Victorian decorated style together with the presbytery; the steeple was added to the west tower in 1868. The nave has north and south aisles with a

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

; at the east end there is a vestry on the south side and a

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

, formerly used by the sisters of St Anthony's convent, on the north side. The approximately tower has diagonal buttresses, a stair turret with a

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...

, and a

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture, Pagan and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with f ...

balustrade with small pinnacles; the octagonal spire surmounting it has

lucarne In general architecture a lucarne is a dormer window. The term is borrowed from , which refers to a dormer window, usually one set into the middle of a roof although it can also apply to a façade lucarne, where the gable of the lucarne is aligne ...

s and

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of a ramping arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall ou ...

es. The east window depicting

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

and Saint Etheldreda is by Hardman & Co., with a central depiction of the

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd (, ''poimḗn ho kalós'') is an image used in the pericope of , in which Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 and Ezeki ...

William Wailes William Wailes (1808–1881) was the proprietor of one of England's largest and most prolific stained glass workshops. Life and career Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England's centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. ...

. The east window in the Lady chapel is also by Hardman and dates to 1860. The

Caen stone Caen stone () is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ...

and

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

chapel altar was added in 1880, and the north window in the chapel is a memorial to Joseph Whitgreave (d. 1885), who endowed the church with his sister, Etheldreda, and depicts them at the base offering the church to God. Beginning in 1938, the original wall decorations in the nave and chancel were painted over and some of the church furnishings, including some of the statues and a 1930

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

that was a war memorial, were removed. The

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

date to 1951. An interior renovation in 2010–13 included new sanctuary furnishings and wall decorations based on the originals. The material of the church is Beaudesert sandstone, much of it laid with the grain for cost reasons, and has required many repairs. During repairs to the tower in the 1930s, a spirelet with a diadem of St Etheldreda was removed from the top of the stair turret and the pinnacles were removed from the centre of each balustrade; funds were insufficient for these details to be replaced. The church was Grade II listed on 21 June 1995. Since the demolition of Rugeley power station, the church's spire has been the tallest structure in the town; at approximately to the top of the

weathercock A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , me ...

, it is widely visible from the surrounding settlements and hills.

References

External links

*
Official website

St Joseph and St Etheldreda, Rugeley
at Archdiocese of Birmingham {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph and St Etheldreda Rugeley Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England

Roman Catholic churches completed in 1850 Roman Catholic churches in Staffordshire Churches in Rugeley

Church

See also

References

External links