The Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Thomas 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 let ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

in Northampton, England. It is the seat of the

Bishop of Northampton The Bishop of Northampton is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton in the Province of Westminster, England. The see is in the town of Northampton where the bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Our Lady and ...

and

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metropo ...

of the Diocese of Northampton which covers the counties of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, Buckinghamshire and part of Berkshire (formerly in Buckinghamshire) north of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. The cathedral is situated in the north of the town, along the Barrack Road.

History

Foundation

In 1823, Bishop John Milner,

Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District The Apostolic Vicariate of the Midland District (later of the Central District) was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by an apostolic vicar (or vicar apostolic) who was a titular bishop. Th ...

, sent a Fr William Foley to Northampton to establish a permanent Roman Catholic presence in the town. His first base was a small house, used by a Catholic priest during the previous two years, which had one room as a chapel. Fr Foley bought a piece of land on the site of the original St Andrew's Priory, Northampton, whence

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

had gone into exile. It was there that Foley decided to have a purpose-built chapel constructed; the chapel, dedicated to Saint Andrew, was opened on 25 October 1825.

Building

The origins of the current building date back to 1840 when the first

, William Wareing, commissioned

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

to design a collegiate

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

of St Felix. The chapel of St. Andrew was too small for the larger congregation. The new chapel was built in 1844. The number of worshippers soon outgrew the size of the building and Pugin's son

Edward Welby Pugin Edward Welby Pugin (11 March 1834 – 5 June 1875) was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton and part of the Pugin & Pugin family of church architects. His father was an architect an ...

was chosen by Bishop Wareing's successor, Francis Amherst to design an extension in order to make the building into a cathedral. This extension came in the form of the current

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 ...

which was opened in 1864, dedicated to Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury. Dating from the 1860s, the stained glass windows were made by John Hardman of Birmingham. Richly coloured, they depict St Peter and other local saints, such as St Edward the Confessor and St Thomas Becket. Cathedral Church of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury - geograph

Cathedral Church of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury - geograph

Extension

The cathedral was left in this form until 1948 when it was decided by Bishop Leo Parker that the west end of the cathedral should be extended. This meant that part of St Andrew's chapel had to be demolished in order for the development to go ahead. The part of the chapel that survived, including the original altar, is now in the sacristy and chapter room of the cathedral. The building work was finally completed, seven years later in 1955.

Albert Herbert Albert Herbert (10 September 1925, Bow in the East End of London – 10 May 2008) was a British abstract and religious artist, painter and etcher. Education He went to West Ham secondary school and then worked in the ''News Chronicle'' picture l ...

was the architect and he oversaw the original west end being replaced by a straight west end as well as 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 churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

s and a crossing tower being built. Bishop Leo Parker died in 1975 and he was buried in Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

Reordering

In 1998, the sanctuary was re-ordered. A new window, designed by Joseph Nuttgens (a student of

Karl Parsons Karl Bergemann Parsons (23 January 1884 – 30 September 1934) was a British stained glass artist associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Early life, 1884 – 1898 Parsons was born in Peckham in south London on 23 January 1884, the 12th a ...

and who has a work installed in

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

), was put into the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, the original choir stalls from the main altar were moved into the chapter room and the cathedra (or bishop's throne) was replaced with one carved by Stephen Foster; designed to accompany the

Triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...

of the Holy Spirit behind it.Cathedral Sacristy
Retrieved 4 February 2013

Music

The cathedral has two organs. One is a historical tracker action pipe organ, the other is a digital instrument. The tracker action organ was built in 1976 by Hendrik ten Bruggencate and was inspired by the Swiss firm

Metzler Orgelbau Metzler Orgelbau, a firm of organ builders founded in 1890 and based since 1933 in Dietikon, near Zurich in Switzerland, is one of the most important makers of the European classical organ revival and has built many important and respected inst ...

. The other, a digital custom made

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...

organ was installed in May 2008. The console is sited in the west gallery. The cathedral also has a regular choir, that sings in the 10:30 Sunday Mass and other major Cathedral liturgies.

Parish

The cathedral also operates as a parish church and hosts various voluntary parish organisations. In particular the local

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...

meet there to organise serving the poor and disadvantaged of the local area.Cathedral SVP Society
Retrieved 4 February 2013

References

External links

Cathedral of Our Lady & St Thomas, Northampton
{{Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic cathedrals in England Churches in Northampton Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton Roman Catholic churches in Northamptonshire