St Alban's Catholic Church is 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 ...

of the

Roman 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Catholic Church 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 ...

in on the corner of Nether Street and Birkbeck Road in

North Finchley North Finchley is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Barnet, situated northwest of Charing Cross. North Finchley is centred on Tally Ho Corner, the junction of the roads to East Finchley, Church End, Friern Barnet and Whetstone. ...

, London. It is situated in the Barnet

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

of 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 ...

. Founded in 1903, the

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 ...

was completed in 1908. The church is dedicated to

Saint Alban Saint Alban (; ) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded at an ea ...

and includes a statue of the saint in an alcove on the tower.

War memorial

Adjacent to the main entrance to the church is a war memorial to the dead of the First World War which includes a diverse range of names and units. One such is Acting Lieutenant Cyril Edward McLaughlin of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

who was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

in 1919 "In recognition of the gallantry and devotion to duty displayed by him in sweeping and destroying mines, often under heavy enemy fire". McLaughlin died after the end of the war while serving on HMS ''Humber'' in North Russia on 5 October 1919 and was buried in the Troitza Churchyard of Archangel Allied Cemetery.McLAUGHLIN, CYRIL EDWARD.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

. Retrieved 31 May 2016.

Gallery

File:St. Alban's Catholic Church war memorial (2).jpg, The war memorial next to the main entrance. File:St. Alban's Catholic Church 09.jpg, Main entrance. File:St. Alban's Catholic Church 10.jpg, Statue of St Alban.

References

External links

Roman Catholic churches in the London Borough of Barnet 1903 establishments in England Christian organizations established in 1903 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1908 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom English churches dedicated to St Alban {{London-RC-church-stub