Essex church that was on Chemical Brothers album cover is given protected status due to unique features

A church that was featured on a Chemical Brothers album cover has been has been given new protected status thanks to its architectural features including stunning painted glass that give a kaleidoscope effect.

The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Fatima in Harlow, Essex, was opened in 1960 and features an influential design that inspired other UK churches.

Today, the church is probably best known after having featured on the Chemical Brothers' 1998 album 'Brothers Gonna Work It Out.' The church has now been upgraded to Grade II* by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.

It was designed in 1953-1954 by British architect Gerard Goalen (1918-1999) and is said to have inspired Sir Frederick Gibberd's plan for the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King.

Duncan Wilson, Historic England Chief Executive, said: “This stunning church was created as part of the new town of Harlow, offering a brighter and better future in the post-war years, and has been at the heart of the community ever since.

"With its modern style, striking spire and glorious glass panels, it has proved an inspiration in contemporary church design and is loved by people who take comfort in its calming, beautiful presence every day.”

Originally listed at Grade II in December 2000, the church has been upgraded to Grade II *(star) listing to reflect its historic and architectural significance.

The church features stunning dalle de verre glass panels (a glass art technique using thick pieces of coloured glass, giving a deep colour effect) that cover around 60% of the wall surfaces and bathe the church in colour and light during sunny weather.

The glass depicts stories including the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary along with the Tree of Jesse and the Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima in 1917. They were created by Benedictine Monk Dom Charles Norris of Buckfast Abbey, one of the most influential and prodigious glass artists of the 20th century.

The design brief, highly innovative for 1953, was for a church capable of holding up to 500 people, with a freestanding altar in the middle of the congregation, clearly visible to all.

Goalen’s church provided the Catholic community with a space that connected their new modern social and physical environment with their religious lives.

It was built in a striking modernist style, using reinforced concrete and Surrey stock bricks, with a distinctive T-shaped plan, central needle spire and simple colour scheme.

The church was opened and blessed by the Bishop of Brentwood on 26 March 1960.

The Rt Rev’d Alan Williams, Bishop of Brentwood, said: “I am very happy to know that Our Lady of Fatima Church in Harlow has been upgraded to Grade II * listing.

"It is an important church architecturally, not just in the Diocese but nationally. It was one of the first of its kind and unique for its stained glass.”Clare Price, Head of Casework at C20 Society - a national charity campaigning to protect Britain’s modern architectural and design heritage - added: “As a pioneer of a unified scheme of dalle-de-verre glass and modern design, C20 Society is delighted that Our Lady of Fatima has received the Grade II* listing it rightly deserves.

"The effect on walking into the church is uplifting, the feeling of entering a shifting kaleidoscope of colour coupled with the radical new liturgical arrangement of the interior must surely have made many a new town worshipper gasp in astonishment.

"It has lost nothing of its impact in the intervening years, the interior being of such stunning jewel-like quality that it was chosen as the front cover illustration for our book 100 Churches 100 Years, while the exterior was even featured on the cover of a Chemical Brothers album!”