History

History of St. Oswald’s Church, Tile Hill

In 1956, the City of Coventry was being rebuilt after the destruction of the Blitz. A sum of money was allocated for the building of a new church in one of the new communities on the edge of the city. Architect Basil Spence, who had already begun work on the new Coventry Cathedral, came up with a new construction method which allowed for three churches to be built within that budget and work was started in Tile Hill, Wood End and Willenhall.

The three of the churches are very much alike in their brutalist style. Each has a distinctive concrete and wood campanile (bell tower) separate from the building and a simple rectangular shape from the outside. Each of the churches has a unique pattern of windows which creates a different atmosphere inside. At St Oswald's we have floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides of the Sanctuary, a glass arch at the west end and two rows of windows along the sides.

Subsequent PCCs have made some changes. Sir Ninian Comper’s icon is displayed at the west end of the church, originally from All Saints Church in Warwick. A pair of Spence ambos have been removed and replaced with a pulpit. Extra internal up-lighting has been added. We now have the Stations of the Cross around the walls along with representations of the Seven Sacraments (all prints from the nuns of Turvey Abbey) along with icons of a variety of Saxon Saints.

The church remained relatively unchanged until 1999 when we embarked on an extensive project of building and refurbishment. The wood and glass front of the hall was replaced by a more secure wall, the entrance lobby was extended and a new Vestry/Chapel and Sacristy were added to the north side of the building. The new work was consecrated by Rt Revd Anthony Priddis (then Bishop of Warwick) in 2000.

In 2001 Particia Holtom's wall hanging of St Oswald and St Aidan was taken down for cleaning and the interior of the church was painted giving us a new bright, friendly and welcoming church.

The free-standing concrete bell tower is now in a sad state of disrepair. The cost of making the tower safe has been quoted at over £200,000 for full restoration. In October 2014 St. Oswald’s were granted Grade 2 Listed status by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. St Oswald's is a cultural landmark and we are looking at for funding for the restoration of the bell tower.