St Michael the Archangel Church 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 ...

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, ...

Chatham, Kent Chatham ( ) is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The town developed around Chatham ...

, England. It was built from 1862 to 1863 in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style, designed by

Henry Clutton Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Photograph , http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pis&GScid=1366392&GRid=12186732&PIgrid=12186732&PIcrid=1366392&PIpi=3000944& was an English arc ...

. In 1935, an extension was built, designed by the Frederick Walters and Son firm. It is situated on Hill's Terrace between Rochester Street and Maidstone Road, next to Chatham railway station. When built, it was the only Catholic church in

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...

.Chatham - St Michael the Archangel
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 30 January 2016

History

Foundation

In 1795, the first Catholic

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

was founded in Brompton. It created by a French priest. At first, the chapel was housed on Westcourt Street and later on Manor Street. The mission would remain there until St Michael's Church was built.

Construction

The church was built from 1862 to 1863. It was designed by

and the estimated cost was £1,695. When it was built the church became the centre of the Catholic mission in Medway. From the church, priests would go out to say

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 elementar ...

for Catholic congregations in the surrounding area, such as those in Gillingham. In 1881, the pulpit was given to the church by locally garrisoned Catholic soldiers.

Extension

In 1929, a new school was built. It was designed by Frederick Walters and Son. In 1935, 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 sa ...

was extended and side chapels were added. They were also designed by Frederick Walters and Son. The foundation stone of the extension was laid by a Mgr Hallett. On 6 June 1951, 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 ...

Parish

Priests from St Michael's Church also serve St Paulinus Church in Brompton and Sacred Heart Church in Luton. St Paulinus Church was built in 1788 as a Wesleyan Chapel. In 1892, it was bought by the local Catholic Church. Sacred Heart Church was built in 1949. On 26 June 1949, its foundation stone was laid by the

parish priest 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 ...

of St Michael's Church.Chatham - Sacred Heart
from

, retrieved 30 January 2016 St Paulinus Church has one Sunday Mass at 9:00am. Sacred Heart Church also has one Sunday Mass, it is at 10:30am.Saint Michael the Archangel
from Archdiocese of Southwark, retrieved 30 January 2016 St Michael's Church has four Sunday Masses: 6:30pm on Saturday and 9:30am, 11:00am and 6:00pm on Sunday.

References

External links

St Michael's Parish site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatham, Saint Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

Roman Catholic churches in Kent Romanesque Revival church buildings in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1863 1862 establishments in England Religious organizations established in 1862 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Frederick Walters buildings Henry Clutton buildings