'
St Bernardine's
'' is the

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 ...

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 ...

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is in the joint

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 Buckingham and Brackley, together with St Martin's Catholic Church, Brackley.

History

St. Bernard began in the year 1892 when a Belgian

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Friar, Father Thaddeus Hermans, looking to open a college for young men wishing to become Franciscans, arrived in

for the first time on the

Feast of the Ascension The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ (also called the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday) commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It ...

. He rented a cottage in Elm Street, where he said the first Mass, finally settling on 9 Chandos Road to set up his first chapel. Later he was able to obtain the site on the London Road and by the end of 1895 he had built his college. Few Catholics lived near Buckingham then but in 1900 the registers record twelve Baptisms. The college was put under the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of St Bernardine, a much revered Franciscan, and so the parish of St Bernardine was set around the college. The college chapel was blessed and opened for public worship in 1912.A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3, 1925
Refers to Catholic Church served by the

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the t ...

. After

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 ...

the parish grew quickly. The Friars were called upon to open Mass centres in many of the surrounding towns and villages, including

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the borders with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, east-southeast of Banbury, north-northeast of Oxford, and ...

. With changing circumstances the college closed in 1968. The buildings were sold to

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the east, Greater London ...

but the Friars were allowed to continue to use the chapel until the parish could build its own. Eventually it was decided to build onto the new Friary in Chandos Road where the Friars had set up their first chapel. The new church was blessed on 26 October 1974 by the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Charles Grant and was dedicated in 1982. In 1989 the parish came into the care of the

Diocese of Northampton The Diocese of Northampton () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England and Wales and suffragan of Westminster. Its see is in Northampton. The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury is the mother church ...

References

External links

St Bernardines Catholic Church, Buckingham

St Bernardine's College, college and chapel monks in foreground C.1910
(photo)
St Bernardine's College, chapel and college buildings
(photo)
St Bernardine's, Station Road, Buckingham
(Google Street View)
St Bernardine's, Station Road, Buckingham
(Google Map) {{coord, 51.9946, -0.9887, type:landmark_region:GB-BKM, display=title Buckingham Roman Catholic churches in Buckinghamshire University and college chapels in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in 1974 1892 establishments in England Christian organizations established in 1892