St Saviour's Church or St Saviour, St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist Church is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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 ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, London. It was built in 1898, and architecturally it is in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

style, with a coloured marble interior. The church is situated in the centre of Lewisham on the High Street. 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

While there were Catholics present in Lewisham in the 1800s, for most of that century, there was no official place of worship. In 1893, in autumn, a meeting was held to organise regular worship in one location. As a result of the meeting, a French resident of Lewsiham allowed

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 ...

to be said in her home on Morley Road. The first Mass there was celebrated on 27 May 1894. A priest, Fr Sheehan, came from Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Blackheath for it. Later that year, a

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 ...

was created encompassing the Catholics in Lewisham and a resident priest was appointed, Fr McClymont. However, as the location was too small, the search for a permanent chapel continued. A hall in the School of Art was briefly used. Afterwards, an abandoned building in Rushey Green was purchased and was turned into St Columba's Chapel. When a new resident priest arrived, Fr George B. Tatum, the chapel was renamed St Saviour and Saints John the Baptist and Evangelist. The efforts to have a larger church continued. In 1898, a school and chapel were built on a piece of land purchased on the High Street. It was the site of a former manor, dating from the 1600s, called The Limes. The parish priest at the time was Fr James Connell. He continued the efforts to have a church and another school large enough to accommodate the growing community. The school and the chapel still exist, at the back of the current church, with the former chapel now the school hall.

Construction

On 24 April 1909, the foundation stone of the current church was laid. Construction of the church was funded by the founder of the Pearl Assurance Company, now the Phoenix Group, Patrick James Foley. The cost of the initial building came to £2,000. The architect was Claude Kelly. He also designed St Peter's Church, Aldrington in a similar style. On 9 December 1909, the church was opened. A new larger school was opened the following year. However, the church was quite small. In 1914, additions were made to it: the

main altar Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation), multiple rivers with the same name *Ma'in, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Yemen * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *Spanish Main, the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territ ...

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

, side passages,

confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall where the priest from some Christian denominations sits to hear the confessions of a penitent's sins. It is the traditional venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Luther ...

s and side chapel dedicated to St Patrick. The total cost came to £3,000 and it was paid off in 1917, and the church was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 23 October 1917.

Developments

More chapels continued to be added to the church: the Lady Chapel in 1918, St Joseph Chapel in 1921, and the Sacred Heart Chapel in 1924. A new presbytery and the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

were constructed from 1928 to 1929 next to the church. From 1978 to 1979, repairs were made to the church interior.

Parish

Next to the church is still the school, St Saviour's Catholic Primary School. The church has five Sunday Masses at 5:30pm on Saturday and at 8:30 am, 10:00 am, 11:30 am and 5:30 pm on Sunday.Directory
from

Archdiocese of Southwark The Archdiocese of Southwark () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in England. It is led by the Archbishop of Southwark. The archdiocese is part of the Metropolitan Province of Southwark, which covers the South of England. Th ...

, retrieved 20 October 2024

Exterior

St Saviours Church Tower, Lewisham High Street (geograph 3471022).jpg, Church tower St Saviours church, Lewisham (geograph 3869457).jpg, Church and presbytery West Face of Saint Saviour's Church, Lewisham (02).jpg, Doorway

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Saviour's Church Lewisham Roman Catholic churches in the London Borough of Lewisham Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark Italianate church buildings in the United Kingdom 1909 establishments in England 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in 1909 Religious organizations established in 1909 Grade II listed churches in the London borough of Havering Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England 20th-century church buildings in England