A strikingly-modern church is at the centre of an unholy row between the Catholic Church and a group of architecture enthusiasts.

St Raphael the Archangel church in Stalybridge was built at the height of the Sixties Modernist movement.

Church bosses decided to close down the striking church because of its shrinking congregation and planned to level the site. But the Manchester Modernist Society – which champions the causes of 20th Century architecture – launched a campaign to have the building listed among the region’s most treasured landmarks.

Last week, the 1963 church was granted grade II status after English Heritage ruled it had ‘historic and architectural interest’. But the Diocese of Shrewsbury, responsible for the Millbrook parish, say they will now challenge the decision.

A spokesman said: "The diocese holds the view that this building has no architectural merit and we are very surprised by the decision of English Heritage to give it listed status. The decision is in the process of being appealed."

Church officials had argued that local people were unconcerned about the demolition of the building, which held its final service in July.

Officials now face a substantial maintenance bill to maintain the church– and say they will be unlikely to sell the building to another buyer.

The church contains colourful stained glass windows and striking interior artwork and a distinctive interior layout from a period where priests faced away from their congregation.

Jack Hale, from the architecture group, said the church deserved to be saved.

He said: "We argued that the architecture and interior artwork are of high quality and historically important and English Heritage have accepted that.

The architecture group had teamed up with Bob Proctor, a university lecturer who is an expert on 20th century churches, to argue their case.

Mr Hale acknowledged that the diocese now faced a problem in finding a new use for the church.

He added: "Our argument is that it is an important building and shouldn’t be knocked down.

"It is a problem to decide what to do with it. But the Church does have experience in dealing with assets, such as artworks and other listed buildings."

English Heritage said they had not received any formal appeal about the decision.

A spokeswoman said: "Should anyone want to appeal the listing decision that has been made by the government they can ask for a review – but substantial new evidence would need to be brought forward that would undermine the advice we provide."

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