Our Lady and St Edmund's Church is a

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 church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Abingdon-on-Thames Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historic counties of England, Historically the ...

, Oxfordshire, England. It was built in 1857, designed by

William Wardell William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a civil engineer and architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but for a successful career as a surveyor and ecclesiastical architect in En ...

and

George Goldie Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie (20 May 1846 – 20 August 1925) was a Manx administrator who played a major role in the founding of Nigeria. In many ways, his role was similar to that of Cecil Rhodes elsewhere in Africa but he did ...

and paid for by

Sir George Bowyer, 7th Baronet Sir George Bowyer, 7th and 3rd Baronet DL (8 October 1811 – 7 June 1883), was a British Barrister-at-Law and Liberal politician. Life Born in Radley Hall in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), he was the son of Sir George Bowyer, 6th Baronet, and ...

in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

. It is located on the corner of Radley Road and Oxford Road near the town centre.

History

Construction

In 1850,

converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He became an advisor to Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman,

Archbishop of Westminster The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

and

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

. Bowyer paid for Our Lady and St Edmund's Church. He commissioned

to design the church. In 1857, the church was completed and blessed by Thomas Grant, Bishop of Southwark. the church consisted of a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, south chapel,

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

and the presbytery. In 1858 the cemetery next to the church was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

again by Bishop Grant. Abingdon Area and Archaeological and History Society
Our Lady and St Edmunds Church, Radley Road
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Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

Abingdon - Our Lady and St Edmund
''Taking Stock'', retrieved 26 May 2022

Developments

Wardell left for Australia and the church was later extended. On 25 October 1865, the church was opened. The enlarged church was designed by

. In 1873, a school, adjoining the church was opened. The school was staffed by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

from the local Convent of Mercy. In 1961, the school moved to the new building along the Radley Road. In 1974, the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

was renovated. It was designed by

Austin Winkley Austin S. Winkley (born 1934) is a British architect who specialises in church architecture and is a member of the Liturgical Movement of UK ecclesiastical architects. Early life Winkley was born in 1934 to a family of Lancashire cotton workers ...

. On 16 November 1974, the new

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

was consecrated. In 1982, a former school building, called St Edmund’s Lodge, was turned to a parish hall.

Parish

Our Lady and St Edmund's Church is its own

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

since 2006 has been in partnership with the other Catholic parishes of

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, east of Wantage and north west of Reading. The town is noted for its railway heritage, Di ...

, Wallingford,

Hinksey Hinksey is a place name associated with Oxford and Oxfordshire. In 1974, many of the places associated with the name were transferred from the county of Berkshire in the county boundary changes. History The place-name is of Old English origin. ...

, and

East Hendred East Hendred is a village and civil parish about east of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse and a similar distance west of Didcot. The village is on East Hendred Brook, which flows from the Berkshire Downs to join the River Thames at Sutton C ...

. Our Lady and St Edmund's Church has four Sunday Masses at 8:45am, 10:15am and 6:30pm, with a Mass in Polish at 2:00pm.

References

External links