The Catholic Church of St Edmund of Canterbury is a

Roman 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 letter ...

Catholic 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 ...

church in Nelson Road, Whitton,

Richmond-upon-Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It is part of the Upper Thames

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

of the

Diocese of Westminster Diocese of Westminster may refer to: * Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, since 1850, with seat at Westminster Cathedral * Diocese of Westminster (Church of England) The Diocese of Westminster was a short-lived diocese of the Church of Engl ...

. It is dedicated to

Edmund Rich Edmund of Abingdon (also known as Edmund Rich, St Edmund of Canterbury, Edmund of Pontigny, French: St Edme; c. 11741240) was an English-born prelate who served as Archbishop of Canterbury. He became a respected lecturer in mathematics, dial ...

(also known as Saint Edmund or Eadmund of Canterbury, and as Saint Edmund of Abingdon) (1175–1240), who was a 13th-century

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. The congregation was established by the Edmundite Fathers, who acquired land in 1934 and converted existing structures on the property into a chapel for worship. A permanent church was built in 1937 but destroyed by German bombing on 29 October 1940, during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. The current church was completed in 1963 and consecrated in 1972. In 1988, the Edmundites withdrew to the United States, and the parish has since been staffed by diocesan clergy.

Building

The current church building, constructed between 1961 and 1963, to replace the original building dating from 1935, was designed by F. X. Velarde and completed for the F. X. Velarde Partnership by Richard O'Mahony. The

aumbry An ambry (or ''almery'', ''aumbry''; from the medieval form ''almarium'', cf. Lat. ''armārium'', "a place for keeping tools"; cf. O. Fr. ''aumoire'' and mod. armoire) is a recessed cabinet in the wall of a Christian church for storing sacred vesse ...

for oils is by David John, but the font by the same designer is no longer there.

Services

Mass is held every morning and also on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Communications

The church publishes a weekly newsletter, ''St Edmund's Chronicle''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitton, Saint Edmund of Canterbury 1934 establishments in England 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Christian organizations established in 1934 Churches bombed by the Luftwaffe in London Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster Saint Edmund Roman Catholic churches completed in 1963 Roman Catholic churches in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames English churches dedicated to St Edmund