Our Lady and St Peter's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

. It was built from 1897 to 1898 and designed by Frederick Walters. It is situated on the London Road close to where it becomes Station Road, north of East Grinstead railway station. It is a Romanesque Revival church and a Grade II listed building.

History

Foundation

In 1879, a Catholic mission was started in East Grinstead. It came from

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

and was dedicated to St Edward and St Louis. It was founded by Sir Edward and Lady Gertrude Blount. The mission was centred in the chapel of Imberhorne Manor, the home of the Blounts. Sir Edward Blount came from Shropshire and was the son of Edward Blount, a member of the House of Commons for Steyning. After founding the Blount Père et Fils Bank in 1831 (which merged with Société Générale in 1870), and being

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

, he retired to Sussex.

Construction

On 15 June 1897, the foundation stone was laid. The architect was Frederick Walters. Lady Blount died during construction of the church. On 2 October 1898, the church was opened. In 1899, stained glass windows were installed in the north east chapel. They were made by Hardman & Co., given by the Blounts and dedicated to St Gertrude and St Edward. Most of the fittings in the church was designed by Walters. Also in 1899, the church was consecrated.East Grinstead - Our Lady and St Peter
from English Heritage, retrieved 25 March 2016

Parish

Our Lady and St Peter's Church's parish also includes St Bernard's Church on Vicarage Road in Lingfield, Surrey. It was built in 1956. Formerly in the parish was Our Lady of the Forest Church in Forest Row. It was built in the 1950s, closed in 2009, and was once visited by John F. Kennedy on 29 June 1963, during his stay at Harold Macmillan's house at Birch Grove, part of his only official visit to the UK. Our Lady and St Peter's Church has two Sunday Masses at 6.15pm on Saturday and at 10:30am on Sunday. St Bernard's Church has one Sunday Mass at 9:00am. Our Lady and St Peter's Church has its weekdays Masses at 9:30am.Newsletter
from EastGrinsteadCatholicParish.com, retrieved 25 March 2016 File:St Bernard's RC Church, Vicarage Road, Lingfield.JPG, St Bernard's Church in Lingfield, part of the same parish. File:Our Lady of the Forest Church (RC), Forest Row.JPG, Our Lady of the Forest Church in Forest Row, closed in 2009.

References

External links