St Tarcisius 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 ...

Camberley Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...

, Surrey. It was built between 1923 and 1924 and was designed by

Frederick Walters Frederick Arthur Walters (5 February 1849–3 December 1931) was a Scottish architect working in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, notable for his Roman Catholic churches. Life Walters was born on 5 February 1849 at 6 South Terrace, Brompton, Lond ...

. It is situated on the London Road, to the north of the town, next to The Atrium Shopping Centre. It is a Grade II listed building.

History

Foundation

In 1869, a priest, Fr Thomas Purcell would come from

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

, to say

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 ...

for the local Catholic population in various people's houses. For the next four years, Catholics would travel to

St Joseph's Church, Aldershot St Joseph's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Aldershot, Hampshire. Built in 1913, it is situated at the top of a ridge on Queens Road, overlooking the town centre, between the Municipal Gardens, Aldershot, Municipal Gardens and Princes ...

for Mass. On 25 January 1873, a site was bought for £120 for a school. In 1874, a priest, Fr McKenna, was permanently appointed to serve the Catholics in Camberley. In 1879, Lady Southwell gave a plot of land, the present site, for the construction of St Tarcisius Church. In 1884, a temporary iron church was built to accommodate the

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

. In 1888, the priest's house was built and in 1896 the school was expanded.History
from CBParish.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2015

Construction

In 1906, Fr Patrick Twomey came to Camberley and started to plan to build a new permanent church. On 12 September 1923, the foundation stone of the church was laid by the Bishop of Southwark,

Peter Amigo Peter Emmanuel Amigo (26 May 1864 – 1 October 1949) was a Roman Catholic bishop in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. He founded The John Fisher School in 1929. Biography Peter Amigo was born at Gibraltar, the ninth of eleven children bo ...

. On 18 November 1924, the church was opened. The church was designed by Frederick Walters as a War Memorial for fallen British Catholic military officers in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It served as the chaplaincy for Catholics at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

. On 26 June 1926, 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 ...

by Cardinal Francis Bourne. In 1935, stained-glass windows, designed by

Paul Woodroffe Paul Vincent Woodroffe (25 January 1875 – 7 May 1954) was a British book illustrator and stained-glass artist. Early life Woodroffe was born in Madras (present-day Chennai), one of nine children of Francis Henry Woodroffe, a judge in the M ...

, were installed in the church.

Architecture

Exterior

There is a tower on the north west side of the church and the church is made of

Bargate stone __NOTOC__ Bargate stone is a highly durable form of sandstone. It owes its yellow, butter or honey colouring to a high iron content. In some contexts it may be considered to be a form of ironstone. However, in the context of stone buildings local ...

. The top of the tower is

crenellated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

and there is a porch under the tower. There is a traceried window above the entrance. The

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s are

gabled A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

and also have traceried windows. Above 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 ...

is a five-bay traceried window.

Interior

There are memorial plaques made of marble in the porch. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

has a

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

ceiling. The

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

in the nave and the arches inside the transepts are made of

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

. The original pews, made of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, that were installed when the church was built, are still present.

Gallery

File:St Tarcisius Church Camberley main altar 2024.jpg, The high altar File:St Tarcisius Church Camberley chapel 2024.jpg, The altar in a side chapel File:St Tarcisius Church Camberley side chapel 2024.jpg, Side chapel File:St Tarcisius Church Camberley pulpit 2024.jpg, The pulpit File:St Tarcisius Church Camberley font 2024.jpg, The baptismal font File: St Tarcisius Church Camberley nave.jpg, View down the nave to the entrance File:Nave of St Tarcisius Church Camberley 2024.jpg, View up the nave to the altar File:St Tarcisius Church Camberley plaques 2024.jpg, Memorial plaques in the porch File:St Tarcisius Church Camberley plaques 2 2024.jpg, Plaque in the porch File:St Tarcisius Church Camberley plaque 2024.jpg, Plaque in the porch

Parish

Since 2007, the church has been part of the parish of Camberley & Bagshot along with Christ the King Church in Bagshot and St Peter & St John Church in

Old Dean The Old Dean is a suburb of Camberley in Surrey, England. The area starts approximately 1 km NNE from the town centre. The estate is built on the Olddean or Old Dean Common falling within the district of Surrey Heath Borough Council. It is ...

, so the Mass times of the churches do not conflict. St Tarcisius Church has Sunday Mass at 9:15 am, Christ the King Church has its Sunday Mass at 11:15 am and the Sunday Mass for St Peter & St John Church is on Saturday afternoon at 5:30 pm.

References

External links

Camberley and Bagshot Parish site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Tarcisius Church, Camberley Roman Catholic churches in Surrey Grade II listed churches in Surrey Roman Catholic churches completed in 1924 Camberley Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Surrey 1924 establishments in England Frederick Walters buildings Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom