The Church of St Hugh of Lincoln 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 ...

church in Letchworth, Hertfordshire founded by the scholar and priest

Adrian Fortescue Adrian Henry Timothy Knottesford Fortescue (14 January 1874 – 11 February 1923) was an Catholic Church in England and Wales, English Catholic priest and polymath. An influential liturgist, artist, calligrapher, composer, Polyglot (person ...

. The first church was consecrated in 1908 and was dedicated to St Hugh of Lincoln while the modern church which replaced it was built in 1963. It comes under the

Diocese of Westminster Diocese of Westminster may refer to: * Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, since 1850, with seat at Westminster Cathedral * Diocese of Westminster (Church of England) The Diocese of Westminster was a short-lived diocese of the Church of Engl ...

The original church - 1907-1963

Hugh of Lincoln Letchworth Original 1908

When

was appointed

Missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Rector of

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990. Letchworth ...

in Hertfordshire in November 1907 he faced the task of building a church from scratch. Much of the original church he designed and paid for personally, and parish records show that he in fact donated more each year than he received in his annual

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

. The first small church on the site in Pixmore Way opened in 1908 and was designed by Sir Charles Spooner RIBA with a Romanesque facade and was intended to be a temporary church with a presbytery, added in 1909. The church was blessed by Patrick Fenton, the Bishop of Amycla, on 6 September 1908Letchworth Garden City - St Hugh of Lincoln - Taking Stock: Catholic Churches of England & Wales
/ref> and was dedicated to St Hugh of Lincoln. Fortescue's scholarly interest in the Byzantine Church and his connection with craftsmen of the

Arts and Crafts Movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

influenced the design of the church's interior, various liturgical items and artwork from which can still be seen in the new church. Today this original church is the Church Hall and has been named 'Fortescue Hall' in memory of its founder.A Brief History of the Church of St Hugh of Lincoln, Letchworth on the parish website
/ref> Gradually this church became famous for its music and rich liturgical life.

The present church

The original church had always been intended to be temporary until funds could be found for a larger and permanent building and Fortescue created designs for a new church before his death in 1923. In 1938 a design for a new church was drawn up by John Edward Dixon-Spain of Nicholas and Dixon-Spain and Partners and building of this new church should have started in September 1939 but was interrupted by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the end work did not start until May 1961, still largely following Dixon-Spain's original stripped modern Romanesque design and with John Willmott & Sons of

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

as the builders. The church has a frame of reinforced concrete and steel which is externally clad in brick with

Clipsham Clipsham is a small village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is in the northeast of Rutland, close to the county boundary with Lincolnshire. The population of the civil parish was 120 at the 2001 census increasing to ...

stone window and door surrounds. 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 ...

is broad and long nave with narrow aisles and with a western

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

and

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

and a

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

and

Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

to the south. The original flat roof was later replaced with a shallow-pitched concrete roof. The foundation stone was blessed by Cardinal

William Godfrey William Godfrey (25 July 1889 – 22 January 1963) was an English Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1956 until his death, and was elevated to the Cardinal (Catholicism), ...

on 7 April 1962, and the first

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 ...

was held on 21 February 1963. Several church furnishings from the old church were moved into the new including the

holy water font A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or other Christian art. It is used in Catholic, as well as many Lutheran and Angli ...

, the ciborium (removed in the renovations of 2007) and the four stained-glass windows and stone tablet dedicated to Fortescue. Also moved from the old church was the distinctive square alabaster

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

designed by Spooner which stands on stone columns and has the inscription ORATE PRO ANIMA EDMONDI FAVRIEL TREVELYAN DEF. XI DEC. MCMXI in memory of Dr Edmond Fauriel Trevelyan (1859-1911), a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

and a Justice of the Peace.Edmond Fauriel Trevelyan - Lives of the Fellow - Royal College of Physicians website
/ref> The

has a marble altar inset with carved panels of loaves and fishes. The three stained-glass panels depicting the Virgin and Child, St Hugh and St Lawrence were brought here from the old church together with the engraved stone memorial to Adrian Fortescue. Hanging in the

is a large sixteen-feet in diameter carved

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

of the

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

by Stephen Foster. In January 2007 at the beginning of the centenary year of the founding of St Hugh’s Church the Sanctuary and other areas of the church were renovated in order to conform with modern liturgical requirements. On 24 November 2007 the church was consecrated by Bishop

George Stack George Stack KC*HS CStJ (born 9 May 1946) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was installed as the seventh Archbishop of Cardiff on 20 June 2011 and retired on 20 June 2022. Biography George Stack was born in Cork, Ireland, on 9 M ...

as part of the same celebrations.Dedication of St Hugh of Lincoln Church in Letchworth - Diocese of Westminster - 28 November 2007
/ref> In November 2013 Archbishop

Vincent Nichols Vincent Gerard Nichols (born 8 November 1945) is an English Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Westminster since 2009. He was the Archbishop of Birmingham from 2000 to 2009 and is president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference ...

celebrated

in the church on the feast day of St Hugh of Lincoln in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the present church building.

Gallery

File:Hugh of Lincoln Letchworth Icon.jpg, The carved icon by Stephen Foster File:Hugh of Lincoln Letchworth Lady Chapel.jpg, The Lady Chapel File:Hugh of Lincoln Letchworth Font.jpg, The alabaster

dates to 1911 File:Hugh of Lincoln Letchworth Fortescue.jpg, Memorial tablet to

File:Adrian Fortescue Plaque.jpg, Plaque to Adrian Fortescue on the side of Fortescue Hall, the former church building

References

External links

*
St Hugh of Lincoln, Letchworth (Roman Catholic) - Hertfordshire Churches in Photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letchworth, Saint Hugh of Lincoln Roman Catholic churches in Hertfordshire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1963 Churches in Hertfordshire 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Letchword Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster