Sacred Heart 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 let ...
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, ...
in
Exeter, Devon, England. It was built from 1883 to 1884 and designed by
Leonard Stokes
Leonard Aloysius Scott Stokes (1858 – 25 December 1925) was an English architect and artist.
Leonard Stokes was born in Southport (then in Lancashire) in 1858 the son of Scott Nasmyth Stokes, a school inspector. He trained in London and tra ...
. It is situated on the corner of South Street and Bear Street, close to
Exeter Cathedral in the centre of the city. It is a
Gothic Revival church and a Grade II listed building.
[
]
History
Foundation
Before the church was built, Roman Catholics congregated for Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
in rooms of houses. The site of the church was previously the Bear Tavern, which before the Dissolution of the Monasteries was the town house of the abbots of Tavistock Abbey
Tavistock Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Rumon, is a ruined Benedictine abbey in Tavistock, Devon. Nothing remains of the abbey except the refectory, two gateways and a porch. The abbey church, dedicated to Our Lady and S ...
.[Exeter – Sacred Heart]
from English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
, retrieved 1 January 2015 After its completion, the Catholic followers in the city moved from St Nicholas' Priory which was where they previously worshipped.
Construction
Building work on the church started in 1883. The foundation stone was laid by William Vaughan, Bishop of Plymouth. It is the earliest surviving architectural work of Leonard Stokes
Leonard Aloysius Scott Stokes (1858 – 25 December 1925) was an English architect and artist.
Leonard Stokes was born in Southport (then in Lancashire) in 1858 the son of Scott Nasmyth Stokes, a school inspector. He trained in London and tra ...
.[ At the time, he was in a business partnership with C. E. Ware. On 18 November 1884, the church was opened.][ Inside, the church was made using materials such as Bath Corsham, Pocombe and Portland stone; the total construction cost approximately £10,000. In 1926, the church tower was completed. Originally designed as a pointed ]spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...
, the flat-top tower contains a bell of .
Parish
The church has three Sunday Masses: 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. There is also a Polish Mass at 2:30 p.m. every Sunday of the month and a Syro-Malabar Mass at 6:00 p.m. every third Sunday of the month. During weekdays there is a 10:00 a.m. Mass from Monday to Saturday.[Churches]
from Diocese of Plymouth
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese in England. The episcopal see is in the city of Plymouth, Devon, where the bishop's seat ( cathedra) is located at the Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Boniface. ...
, retrieved 1 January 2016
Exterior
The Church of the Sacred Heart, South Street, Exeter.jpg, South side
File:Sacred Heart RC Church, Exeter (3).JPG, Side chapel
See also
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese in England. The episcopal see is in the city of Plymouth, Devon, where the bishop's seat (cathedra) is located at the Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Boniface.
H ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Sacred Heart Parish site
{{Diocese of Plymouth
Sacred Heart
Roman Catholic churches in Devon
Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England
Grade II listed churches in Devon
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1884
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom
Gothic Revival architecture in Devon
Gothic Revival church buildings in England