St Austin's Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

, Staffordshire, England. It was built from 1861 to 1862 and designed by E. W. Pugin in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

. It is located on Wolverhampton Road to the south of the town centre. It was later added to by Peter Paul Pugin and it is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

History

Foundation

After the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the Stafford barons, who were descended from

William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford, FRS (30 November 1614 – 29 December 1680) was the youngest son of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and his wife, the former Alethea Talbot. A Fellow of the Royal Society from 1665, he was a Royali ...

, himself descended from the

Dukes of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...

, remained Catholic and supported the local Catholic population. In the 1760s, the Stafford family paid for a priest, Fr Thomas Barnaby to celebrate

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

in an attic in a house on the Green in the town. In the 1780s, Fr John Corne served the local

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

, rented a house on Tipping Street and built a chapel in the garden. In 1791, the year of the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 ( 31 Geo. 3. c. 32) is an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1791 relieving Roman Catholics of certain political, educational, and economic disabilities. It admitted them to the practice of la ...

, a permanent chapel was built on Austin Friars. It is the earliest post-Reformation Catholic chapel in the town.

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 Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

Stafford - St Austin
''Taking Stock'', retrieved 16 June 2022

Construction

The current church was built next to the chapel on Austin Friars. The presbytery of the original chapel still exists. In 1819, the chapel was rebuilt by the architect Edward Jerningham. His family, the Jerninghams donated the stained glass and the stalls for the

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

. By 1851, a new larger church was needed to accommodate the 250+ people attending Mass in the chapel. In 1858, the priest at the time, Francis Amherst (before he became Bishop of Northampton), and his successor Fr John Wyse commissioned E. W. Pugin to design the current church. On 21 May 1861, the foundation stone was laid. In total, construction cost £3,000. On 16 July 1862, the church was opened.

Developments

From 1884 to 1894, a new

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

, Lady Chapel altar and the Sacred Heart Chapel altar were all added. Each of them was designed by Peter Paul Pugin. In the early 1900s, new confessionals and sacristies were built. In 1954, a parish hall was built next to the church. In 1962, a tower, designed by Sandy & Norris, was added to the church. In the 1990s, a spire was added to the short tower.

Parish

St Austin's Church serves its own

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

. It has Sunday

at 5:00pm on Saturday and at 11:00am on Sunday.

Interior

St Austin's Church interior, Stafford by Mike Berrell.jpg, Interior St Austin's Church organ, Stafford by Mike Berrell.jpg,

Organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Austin's Church Stafford Buildings and structures in Stafford Roman Catholic churches in Staffordshire Grade II listed churches in Staffordshire Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Staffordshire 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom 1861 establishments in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1862 Christian organizations established in 1861 E. W. Pugin church buildings