As you approach the
Church, all paths lead to the main entrance. On the left hand side are two enclosed notice boards where the Parish bulletin and other information are displayed.
You enter the Church through double doors into the porch. On the left hand side is the gentlemen’s toilet and on the right hand side one finds the ladies’ toilet. In front of you to the left is the Parish prayer book on a lectern in which parishioners prayer requests are written.
The large wooden sliding door to the right of the porch leads to Our Lady of Mercy Hall. A similar sliding door on the left of the porch reveals St Joseph’s Hall. Walk a couple of steps forward into the lobby where you find Catholic newspapers on your left and general notices on your right. Step forward and you will be in the main Church.
From the lobby take the narrow corridor to the left, pass through two glass doors that are close together and you find yourself by the Parish post box. The next room is the library, followed by the folders and counters room where bulletins are folded and collections are counted. Step through that room into a committee room and resources room and also from that area you can reach a dining room and adjoining kitchen.
Returning to the corridor, you find rooms 1, 2 & 3, then turn right to the Deacon’s office and Parish office where one finds the Parish secretary.
Returning to the Church, the stained glass window is a permanent memorial, chosen by parishioners to honour Fr Michael Phelan, Priest-in-Charge at Holy Innocents' and ultimately Parish Priest from 1955 to 1984. He died in 1985 aged 71. The design shows the Holy Innocents as birds flying to the Cross. There is an explanation of the memorial by the artist
Margaret Traherne, an internationally recognised
stained glass window designer, on the column to the left of the window.
Funds were raised and a plan developed for a stained glass window to be set within the tall plain window behind the Altar. Designs were submitted to the Diocesan Fine Arts committee for approval but were rejected as being too mundane and lacking in artistic merit. The late Fr John Hennessey, then an assistant priest in the Parish, suggested asking Margaret Traherne to create a design.
The Holy Innocents are also the subject of a bronze relief on the left wall of the Church, designed by our parishioner the late Nesta McGavin.
The Altar is formed from a solid block of Cumbrian slate weighing around two tons. Behind the Altar is the Unity Chapel. The Crucifix is one of several items retained from the old Church. The bell, now operated by remote control at the Elevation, formerly was also used to chime the Angelus across the fields from the old Church. The corridor to the right of the Altar leads to the Priests’ Sacristy, the Flower Sacristy and the Confessionals.