St Thomas Aquinas Church, Ham is a

Roman Catholic 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 lette ...

church on Ham Street on the western corner of Ham Common,

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut of pork, cut that has been food preservation, preserved by wet or dry Curing (food preservation), curing, with or without smoking (cooking), smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. Lo ...

, in the

London Borough of 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 ...

. The church is a former 19th-century school building, acquired in 1968 and converted for worship and community use.

Services

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 ...

is held on Saturday evenings and on Sunday mornings. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, mass has been held online via

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and later using

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. There has also been daily

rosaries The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

held at 8:30pm remotely. There is also a mass in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

on Sunday mornings to accommodate the local German-speaking population. (The German School London is nearby in Petersham.) A German priest is sent by the German-speaking church of in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, London, to hold mass. The German-speaking congregation also meets with the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

German-speaking congregation at

St Andrew's Church, Ham St Andrew's Church, Ham, is a Grade II listed Church of England church on Church Road, Ham Common in Ham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Architecture The church was built in grey brick in 1830–31; the architect was Edward Lapi ...

for

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

services.

History

School

The building was constructed as Ham School in the late 1880s, replacing an earlier village school funded by the National Society. This early school accommodated boys in St Andrew's Church on the opposite side of Ham Common, and girls in the converted first floor of nearby

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s. This failed to meet the new standards required by the

Elementary Education Act 1870 The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between the ages of 5 and 12 in England and Wales. It established local education authorities with defined powers, autho ...

. Faced with the unpopular prospect of having a state controlled

Board school School boards were public bodies in England and Wales between 1870 and 1902, which established and administered elementary schools. School boards were created in boroughs and parishes under the Elementary Education Act 1870 following campaignin ...

imposed upon them, local ratepayers established a committee to construct a new school. Funds were raised from local charities, subscriptions and the National Society and the building opened in 1890 as St Andrew's School. Built with capacity for 100 boys, 101 infants and 101 girls, the school remained open until 1966, when it was replaced by the larger St Richard's with St Andrew's Primary School. The building was used for various community functions throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Church

From the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

until 1856 there was nowhere for Catholics to worship in Ham. Between 1856 and 1870 a small chapel, St Mary's, was established in the grounds of

Beaufort House Beaufort House is an 18th-century grade II listed house in Ham, near Richmond, Surrey. History Beaufort House was built in about 1780. It was originally the dower house to Ham House. In about 1855, a private Catholic girls school moved to Bea ...

, to the north along Ham Street. In 1952 a small plot further north in Ham Street, where 201–7 now stand, was bought by Richard and Mary Cave and the

Chapel of Ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

of St Elizabeth's, Richmond, was constructed there. The first Mass was celebrated on 18 January 1953 but the dedication to

St Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

was not made until 22 February 1953, by Bishop Cowderoy. Intended as a temporary structure, the " tin hut" served until the former Ham School site was acquired in 1968. The northern part of the former school building became the church whilst the southern section became the

church hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church, generally for community and charitable use.

, still used by community groups. The first Mass was celebrated on 14 October 1968. A flat was built in 1985 for the use of the resident parish priest, Canon Frank Davys, when St Thomas's became a parish in its own right. The church was consecrated on 28 January 1987 by Reverend Michael Bowen, the Archbishop of Southwark. The single light

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window by Paul Quail, depicting "Heavenly Jerusalem", was added in 1990.

Parish Priests

Gallery

File:St Thomas Aquinas church, Ham, exterior.jpg, From Ham Street File:St Thomas Aquinas church, Ham. Cross.jpg, Exterior from Ham Common File:St Thomas Aquinas church, Ham. Interior.jpg, Interior view of the church File:St Thomas Aquinas church, Ham. Stained-glass window by Paul Quail.jpg, Stained-glass window by Paul Quail

References

External links

* *
Taking Stock: Catholic Churches of England & Wales – St Thomas Aquinas, Ham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Thomas Aquinas, Ham 1974 establishments in England Churches in the Diocese of Southwark Churches in Ham, London Former school buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames