The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Parish of Our Lady of the Angels is located in

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England. The parish is part of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshire ...

and a part of the Rugby Deanery. The current Parish Priest is Fr. Simon Hall. Working alongside the diocesan clergy are a group of

Presentation Sisters The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by the Venerable Honora "Nano" Nagle in 1775. The Sisters of the congre ...

. It is one of two parishes serving the town, the other being St. Anne's. Originally, it was the Parish Church for the whole of the town, until 1948 when the aforementioned Parish of St. Anne's was created out of it. Today the Parish of Our Lady of the Angels covers Nuneaton town centre and the surrounding areas of Caldecote, Weddington, St. Nicolas Park, Horeston Grange, Whitestone, Attleborough, Chilvers Coton and Stockingford.

History

St. Mary's

Following the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, the culmination of

Catholic emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

in Great Britain, there were various missions to the Catholic population in the country; including the Nuneaton area. Whilst Mass would have been said first at Leather Mill Farm, Caldecote, then at a cottage in Bond Street, a permanent church was required for the burgeoning Catholic population. In 1837, a parcel of land was purchased in Coton Road, where the new church was to be built. St. Mary's was opened in 1838 (a year after the foundation stone was laid). The laity was first served by the Dominicans (until 1880) and then the

Capuchin Fathers The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...

(until 1889).

Our Lady of the Angels

1889 was another key moment in the history of the parish. After nine years, the Capuchin Fathers moved to Olton Friary,

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

. At this point, the church came fully under the control of the then Diocese of Birmingham (it was not elevated to an Archdiocese until 1911) and the diocesan clergy. Concurrently, the name of the church was changed to ''Our Lady of the Angels''.

Parish Changes

In 1949, the geographical size of the parish was altered, when St. Anne's Parish church was built, as a result of the growing Catholic population in the town. 1960, a new "Mass centre", ''St. Bernadette's'' was built in Stockingford (again to address the growing Catholic population in Nuneaton). However, 1994 saw a "change in circumstance" (including a reduction of the number of priests serving the parish) sadly saw this popular church close, with Mass provision reverting to the 'mother church' of the parish (ie. Our Lady's).

Schools within the parish

Our Lady and Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy (Primary)St Thomas More Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Nuneaton (Secondary & post 16
Both schools are a part of th
Holy Spirit Catholic Multi Academy
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References

External links

Parish History

Rugby Deanery

Archdiocese of Birmingham

Archdiocesan Parish Directory
{{Archdiocese of Birmingham Roman Catholic churches in Warwickshire Buildings and structures in Nuneaton