| Description | In 1910 Father Thomas Heditch was appointed as rector of the new parish of Palmers Green, holding Mass at a house in Grovelands Road and later Hazelwood House in Green Lanes. Fr Thomas Heditch died in 1912. His replacement Fr Patrick Gallagher purchased a site at the junction of Stonard Road and Green Lanes and a temporary tin church was erected. On Friday 20th June 1913 His Eminence Cardinal Bourne laid the foundation stone of the new Catholic church in the presence of about 500 people. The church was to be dedicated to St Monica and, with the exception of the Augustinian Priory at Hoxton, is the only parish in the Westminster Diocese to be dedicated to St Monica. The work of building the new church and presbytery occupied almost a year and the official opening took place on Monday 4th May 1914 attended by Cardinal Bourne. The church together with the presbytery was built for £6,600 including the cost of the site. About one-third had been collected, leaving a debt of some £4,000 but the interest on that sum had been guaranteed by some of the parishioners.
In 1920 Fr. Gallagher attended the Passion Play at Oberammergau and was so impressed by the wood carving industry there that he ordered the Sacred Heart and Lady altars, statues of St. Joseph and St. Monica, the confessional boxes and a pulpit with an effective sounding board. The work was delivered and installed in 1921.The stained-glass windows, three on the south wall of the church and two on the north, were made by F. Mayer of Munich and London.The Stations of the Cross are carved in oak and were originally framed.
In 1980 the church needed a new roof and, in 1984, it became necessary for the external stonework to be repaired and protected. At the same time, the interior was also cleaned, redecorated and repaired, and a new coloured window by the Maltese artist Carmel Cauchi was installed in the chancel in place of the plain glass which was originally behind the High Altar.
As the church debt had been repaid many years before, it was decided that St. Monica's Church should be consecrated. Cardinal Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, performed the ceremony of the consecration on Sunday 6 October 1985 and relics of two early martyrs, St.Constantia and St. Jucunda, and of St. Pius X were placed in the altar.
By 1997 it had become clear that further work needed to be done to accommodate the requirements of the new liturgy. The Tabernacle was moved back to the east end of the church, the presidential chair placed nearer to the people, a new sanctuary floor was laid, a new altar, a new lygilium, and a new font were installed, the pews were sanded down to reveal their original lighter colour, the walls, floors, mosaics, Stations of the Cross and statues were cleaned and repainted where necessary and a new lighting system designed. |