| Repository | Jesuits in Britain Archives |
| Ref No | ABSI/PC/2 |
| Title | Sacred Heart, Wimbledon |
| Date | 1883-2014 |
| Level | Sub fonds |
| Description | Publications relating to the history of the parish; newspaper cuttings book; deeds relating to the acquisition of land in Wimbledon in the 1880s, the Church of the Sacred Heart and to the properties at Aynhoe and 1 Spencer Hill; correspondence; orders of service and circulars; papers relating to the shrine of the Sacred Heart; photographs of the Sacred Heart Church, presbytery and parish hall. The collection also includes material relating to St Winefride's and Christ the King (formerly St Austin's) covering the period when these churches were operated by the Society of Jesus. |
| Admin_History | The first Mass celebrated at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Wimbledon was on Friday 17 June 1887, the feast of the Sacred Heart. The Sacred Heart parish was run by the Society of Jesus from 1887 until January 2014 when control was formally handed to the secular clergy of the Archdiocese of Southwark.
Prior to the opening of the Sacred Heart, the Jesuits had for some years served the Catholic population of Wimbledon from their base in Roehampton, just across Wimbledon Common. From 1877 Jesuit priests celebrated Mass in a private chapel in a house called 'The Abbassieh' belonging to Mrs Edith Arendrup in Cottenham Park Road. Madame Arendrup was an instrumental figure in the early history of the Sacred Heart. The widow was determined to see the establishment of a permanent Catholic church in Wimbledon. Through her lawyer, she purchased a plot of land on Darlaston Road from Rev John Brackenbury; the plot adjoined Brackenbury's school, which was later to become the Jesuit-run Wimbledon College.
The building of the Sacred Heart was largely financed by Madame Arendrup and Mrs Bertram Currie, another wealthy widow. Frederick Walters, who had designed the Jesuit church of St Joseph's in Roehampton, was commissioned as the architect and building work began in 1886.
The Jesuits had initially declined to take over the running of the new church. Madame Arendrup formally made over the land and church to the trustees of the Diocese of Southwark. However, in 1887 the English Provincial, Fr Edward Purbrick SJ, accepted the offer of the Bishop of Southwark to assume responsibility for the mission together with an assurance that the Society could establish a school in the area. The land and church were transferred to the Society of Jesus in 1888. Fr William Kerr SJ was the first parish priest.
The completed church was in late Decorated Gothic style and was designed to accommodate a congregation of 800 people. Although the building of the church was largely complete by the turn of the century, the Sacred Heart was not consecrated until 1931. The service of consecration was celebrated by the Bishop of Southwark, Peter Amigo.
With the establishment of Wimbledon College in 1892 and the Ursuline Convent in 1893, Wimbledon's Catholic population grew. Two satellite churches were opened by the Jesuits in South Wimbledon before the First World War - St Winefride's in 1905 and St Austin's (later Christ the King) in Wimbledon Park in 1913. A Mass centre was also established at St John Fisher Parish Hall in Merton in 1938.
After the Second World War the Jesuits gave up St John Fisher, Christ the King (formerly St Austin's) and St Winefride's in 1949, 1959 and 1961 respectively. Control of these churches passed to the secular clergy of the Archdiocese of Southwark.
A parish hall for the Sacred Heart was opened in 1962 and the new presbytery was completed in 1982. In 1961 the Jesuit Missions office moved into the parish from Roehampton. The offices are located at 11 Edge Hill having previously been situated in the property at 1 Spencer Hill.
The Sacred Heart remains one of the largest Catholic parishes in south-west London and, although the Jesuits no longer run the parish, the Sacred Heart retains close ties with the Society and with neighbouring Wimbledon College and Donhead Preparatory School.
A full history of the Sacred Heart is given in: Richard Milward, 'Portrait of a Church: The Sacred Heart Wimbledon 1887-1987' (1987) and Richard Milward, 'Portrait of a Parish: Jesuits in Wimbledon 1877-1977' (1977). |
| Related Material | - Records of Wimbledon College: see LC/1.
- Papers of Fr William Kerr SJ (Superior of Wimbledon Mission from 1887, and Rector 1892-1893): see index card.
- Papers of Fr Joseph Corbishley SJ (Rector, 1956-1963): see index card.
- Papers of Fr John Sinnott SJ (Headmaster, 1937-1950): see index card.
- Papers of Fr Matthew Ingram SJ: see SJ/33.
- Historical notes on the Wimbledon Mission of the Sacred Heart: see Memoranda Vol. 1, pt II, ff. 101-102 (ref: 14/2/16). Includes narrative of the beginnings of the mission and the role of Madame Arendrup, and copy of the letter of the Bishop of Southwark [John Butt] giving consent to a college of higher education and copy of the agreement between the Bishop of Southwark and Edward Purbrick SJ [English Provincial].
- Epistolae Generalium IV: P. Anderledy 1884-1892, ff.35, 38, 96, 103, 105, 211.
Printed material:
- Richard Milward, 'Portrait of a Parish: Jesuits in Wimbledon, 1877-1977' (Ref: ALBSI/P/37, #31).
- Richard Milward, Portrait of a Church: The Sacred Heart Wimbledon 1887-1987 (1987). Library ref: BY.41.W
- [Daniel Considine SJ], 'Going to God: a sermon. Preached in the church of the Sacred Heart, Wimbledon, 4 July 1915 on occasion of unveiling of an altar to the Holy Souls erected in memory of Fr William Kerr SJ' (Ref: ALBSI/P/273, #37).
- James Langan, 'New Stained-Glass Windows: Sacred Heart, Wimbledon', Chaplains' Weekly 2081 (1991), p. 3.
References in Blackett's letterbooks (ref: 10/4):
- Vol 2, f. 140-141 (South Wimbledon), 162: Aynhoe (1910).
- Vol 5, f. 124 (1911 accounts).
- Vol 16, (1 Spencer Hill) f.417 (College) f.57, f. 72 (Wimbledon Park).
- Vol 17, f. 8 (Wimbledon College), 22, 160 (Coombe Lane), 364 (New schools at West Barnes), 365 (various Wimbledon properties), 372 (playing fields at Wimbledon College), 380 (Wimbledon College), 390-1 (Wimbledon College, new schools at West Barnes), 393 (Wimbledon College), 397 (West Barnes & Wimbledon Catholic Institute), 413-416 (Wimbledon Catholic Institute and various properties in Wimbledon), 426 (Wimbledon Catholic Institute), 432-3 (Aynhoe & South Wimbledon), 439 (various properties in Wimbledon), 450 (new schools at West Barnes), 453-4 (new schools at West Barnes; South Wimbledon), 496 (Wimbledon College).
- Vol 18: ff 1-2 (Aynhoe lease), 80 (Wimbledon College).
- Vol 19. ff 220 (Wimbledon College), 230 (Wimbledon College), 240 (Wimbledon College), 294 (Wimbledon College), 320 (loan to Wimbledon College), 487 (new schools at West Barnes).
- Vol. 20 ff 16 (Wimbledon College), 280 (Wimbledon accounts).
Further records are held by the Southwark Diocesan Archives. Please contact: RC Archdiocese of Southwark, 150 St George's Rd, London, SE1 6HX, tel: 020 7928 5592, email: archives@rcsouthwark.co.uk |
| Format | Plan |
| Typescript |
| CD |
| Publication |
| Photograph |
| Manuscript |
| AccessConditions | The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to archive material in the Jesuits in Britain Archives. |