The mosaics of The Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine
of Alexandria are considered to be among the finest in England.
They were designed by Gabriel Pippet and carried out by the mosaicists
Maurice Josey and Fred Oates.
Gabriel
Pippet was born and died in Solihull, and he was responsible for artwork
in many parts of England and around the world.
He died in 1962 aged 82 years, and is buried next to the church with
his wife Alice, who died just two days before him.
Mosaics are composed of “tessarae” - coloured pieces of
Venetian glass.The designs were carried out by Gabriel in full size
cartoon form. The outlines were transferred onto the walls and then
each individual piece of mosaic was fixed to the plastered walls by
the mosaicists.
Gabriel Pippet spent some time in Ravenna and Rome where he was most
impressed by the mosaic decoration, and this influence is clearly
apparent in our church. The mosaicist, Maurice Josey, had been employed
on the mosaics in Westminster Cathedral before he came to Droitwich.
When
the church was first built the walls were just bare, white plaster.
If you place your cursor over the next series of pictures you will
see how the interior of the church used to look prior to its transformation
into the fully decorated splendour that we see today.
The walls of the church are covered in marble and in mosaics portraying
major themes, stories and individual holy figures. This website
cannot begin to do justice to the full scope and brilliance of the
mosaics but some of the principal areas are described and illustrated
in this section of the website. There is a guidebook available in
the church (by Father Gerard Harrison S.C.J.) with detailed information
on the mosaics and the stories behind them.
The
church is usually open every day during daylight hours.
