The judge of the winning nomination, Sophie Andreae, vice-chair of the Patrimony Committee of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, explains her choice

I am honoured to have been invited to choose the fifty-first church in The Tablet’s competition following the publication last year of Elena Curti’s fascinating and important book on Catholic church architecture, Fifty Catholic Churches to See Before You Die. The architectural quality of Catholic churches is still too little-known and under-appreciated in this country.

What is fascinating about the nominations is how many twentieth-century churches and, in particular, those built after the Second World War, there are. It has been difficult choice but since I must select just one, it is Francis Xavier Velarde’s stunning Church of English Martyrs (also known as Holy Apostles and Martyrs) in Wallasey, built in 1952-53 and nominated by Andrew Derrick.