| Description | In 1926 the local Catholic community was served by priests from the Fathers of Sion in a wooden chapel in Athenaeum Road. In 1928 a larger site big enough to accommodate a church, parish centre and presbytery was purchased for £1800 on the site of the present parish buildings. A roomy wooden building was bought and transported by parishioners to serve as the church, while the old church became St Mary's Hall, the centre of the parish's social life.
In 1937 Fathers Hoare and Woolfe were joined by Father Jeremiah Ryan who took over as parish priest in 1942. Plans to start the construction of a permanent church in 1939 were postponed due to the outbreak of war. After many delays the foundation stone of the present church, designed by Wilfrid Mangan, was laid and blessed by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Godfrey, in May, 1958. A new parish centre replaced St Mary's Hall in 1978. |