Record

AAW - Archives of the Archbishop of Westminster
- DOW - Diocese of Westminster
  - PAR - Parishes

Repository	Archives of the Archbishop of Westminster
Ref No	AAW/DOW/PAR/176
Title	Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, Most Holy Redeemer, Sayesbury Road
Level	Series
Description	World War II saw the arrival in this area of many Irish Catholic workmen to help build a Royal Air Force airfield at Allen's Green. Mass was said for the workmen in a newly-built 'Nissen' hut one Sunday in July, 1940 - the first such celebration in Sawbridgeworth since the Reformation. Father Richard Marsh CSsR, a Redemptorist from St. Joseph's, said the first Mass. A regular Mass was said after that, though in a variety of places. Soon, Fr. Bernard Griffin CSsR, was appointed 'Padre'to the RAF, and a Catholic chapel was built alongside an assembly hall and gymnasium, Another Redemptorist, Fr. Lawrence Doyle, replaced Fr. Griffin. He said Mass in the new chapel, At the end of the war the Air Ministry sold the assembly hall and gymnasium, including the chapel. The Redemptorists arranged to say Mass on Sundays and Feast days in a room at the White Lion pub, which was owned by Rayment's Brewery of Pelham. The first Mass at the White Lion was offered at 9am on November 5, 1950, by Fr. Vincent Young CSsR. From January, 1953, services were held at the newly-built War Memorial Hall but in time the old town cinema in Sayesbury Road was purchased. The task of transforming it into a church was undertaken by a group of volunteer parishioners, taking about three months to complete. Mass was celebrated for the first time in the new church on December 2, 1956. Fr. Vincent Young returned as priest-in-charge in 1965. The church remained unaltered until 1968, when a renovation programme, costing £8,000, was undertaken. Bishop Butler, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster re-opened the church in September, 1968.

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