Holy Rood Church, Swindon
Rebuilt in 1905
Holy Rood Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It was founded in 1851 as a chapel and was rebuilt as a church in 1905. It is situated on the corner of Groundwell Road and Lincoln Street in the centre of the town. It was designed by Edward Doran Webb as a Gothic Revival church and was the first Roman Catholic church built in and around the town since the Reformation.[2]
History
Foundation
In 1848, two years before the Restoration of the English hierarchy, a Roman Catholic mission was started in Swindon. A priest would come from St Thomas of Canterbury Church in Fairford to say Mass once a month in the town.[2]
In 1851, a chapel was built in the town between Regent Street and Sanford Street. From 1857, the chapel had its own resident priest. By 1882, the chapel was seen to be too small to accommodate the increasing local Catholic congregation so they bought a disused Unitarian church in Regent Circus in the town.[2] The church was built by the Unitarians in the 1860s, on the site of an old chapel made of iron. The church was completed in 1875 and cost £2,500. It was a Gothic Revival church. In 1887, a vestry was added to the church.[3]
Construction
In the 1900s, with the local Catholic population increasing, plans were made to build a new, larger church. The architect Edward Doran Webb was commissioned to design the church. He was also the architect of the Birmingham Oratory. The new church, on Groundwell Road, was also in the Gothic Revival style. In 1905, the church was opened.[2]
From 1926, efforts were made by the parish priest, Canon J. J. Noonan, to raise between £6,000 and £7,000, to pay the debt from the construction of the church. Six years later, the debt was paid off. On 1 September 1932, the church was consecrated by the Bishop of Clifton, William Lee.[4]
Parish
The church is situated next to Holy Rood Catholic Primary School.
The church has five Masses celebrating the Sunday liturgy: 6:15 p.m. on Saturday; and 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.[5]
See also
References
- ^ "Parishes". Clifton Diocese. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d Swindon: Churches in A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 9, from British History Online (London: Victoria County History, 1970), 144-159.
- ^ Swindon Genealogical Records from Forebears.io, retrieved 5 January 2016
- ^ Orbis Terrarum from The Tablet, 10 September 1932, retrieved 5 January 2016
- ^ "Mass times". Official website of Holy Rood Church, Swindon. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
External links
- Holy Rood Parish site
- v
- t
- e
- I: Joseph William Hendren
- II: Thomas Burgess
- III: William Clifford
- IV: William Brownlow
- V: George Burton
- VI: William Lee
- VII: Joseph Rudderham
- VIII: Mervyn Alexander
- IX: Declan Lang
- X: Bosco MacDonald
- Churches
- Clifton Cathedral – Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul
- Our Lady and St Alphege, Bath
- St John, Bath
- St Thomas More, Bradford-on-Avon
- St James' Priory, Bristol
- St Mary on the Quay, Bristol
- St Gregory, Cheltenham
- Immaculate Conception, Clevedon
- Our Lady St Mary of Glastonbury
- St Peter, Gloucester
- St Aldhelm, Malmesbury
- Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton
- St Osmund, Salisbury
- Holy Rood, Swindon
- St George, Taunton
- St Teresa of Lisieux, Taunton
- St Joseph, Weston-super-Mare
- Patronal Feasts of the Diocese
- Saints Peter and Paul (29 June)
- Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (8 December)
- Schools
- All Hallows Preparatory School
- All Saints' Academy, Cheltenham
- Downside School
- Prior Park College
- St Augustine's Catholic College
- St Bede's Catholic College
- St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School
- St Brendan's Sixth Form College
- St Edward's School, Cheltenham
- Saint Gregory's Catholic College
- St Joseph's Catholic College
- St Joseph's Catholic School, Laverstock
- St Peter's High School, Gloucester
- See also
- Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Apostles
- Downside Abbey
- Prinknash Abbey
- Convent of Poor Clares, Woodchester
- Mythe Chapel
- St Mary of the Angels Church, Brownshill
- Apostolic Vicariate of the Western District
- Catholicism portal
- Somerset portal