of St. Thomas
of Canterbury Catholic Church
(The
parish was erected in 1790, the first
Mass said by a resident priest in 1790
and the church was built in 1791 and set
aside for religious worship on 17th
April 1792.)
 St.
Thomas of Canterbury Church was in
existence and in use nearly a hundred
years before the Diocese of Portsmouth
was set up in 1882!
The Acts of Catholic
Emancipation in 1791 and 1792 allowed
Catholics in England build their
own places of worship, but they were
still required to keep a low
profile.
When this Relief Act was
passed, Mrs. Heneage and her chaplain,
Mr. Simon Lucas, were able to put into
operation the building of a church in
Newport on Land that Mrs. Heneage had
acquired in Pyle Street.
St. Thomas of Canterbury
Church was influenced in two ways, by
the religious bias of the day, (it would
have had to be built as a meeting-house
or "preaching box", not to
cause offence, an to be built in the
fashion of the period.
The
above (click and you will see the
full document) it the original document
(1792) certifying the newly built church
as a place of worship. It is now
in the Portsmouth diocesan archives.
The
Presbytery or "Chapel House"
 The
presbytery was already in existence when
Mrs. Heneage bought the land for the
erection fo the Church, It consisted of
the Presbytery as it is known today and
also No. 95 which adjoins it, this
originally being one house.
Architecturally it is a good example of
town domestic architecture of the 17th
century.
1800 - 1900
The story of the church
from its beginnings to 1900 is mainly
one of maintenance with no substantial
change in the structure of the church,
and only cosmetic changes to the
interior.
1900 - 1954
During this period there
is no written evidence of work being
done in teh church, and one can only
assume in the absence of any records,
that the parish priests of the time did
not make any major alterations.
1955 to 1977
During the late 1950's
,dry rot and death watch beetle had been
discovered in the flooring of the church
and an accidental fire in 1960 badly
discoloured the walls of the church,
destroyed the harmonium and
damaged the organ gallery. Renovation
work was done on the church to repair
this and to improve the heating.
In the process of this work, there was
the great discovery of 4 graves, which
included that of Mrs. Heneage, Father
John Russell and the Abbé de Grenthe
and an unknown grave. The graves were
re-interred.
1978 - Present
The roof of the church
was repaired externally and
internally.
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| The
interior of the church showing
the gallery, railings and organ. |
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|
Statue
of Mary |
The
murder of Thomas A Becket from a
psalter manuscript made 20-30
years after his death. Painted
by Dom Pedro Subercaseaux OSB of
Quarr (1920-38) hanging in the
church. |
Presently, there
was structural work needed in the
church and completed.
At Easter 2001 there was
a fire in the back of the church,
because of the fire the whole electrical
system was redone and the church fully
painted inside and the pews
rearranged.
Historical
information from: "St.
Thomas of Canterbury Bicentenary"
©1992
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Fairest Lord
Jesus |
 
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