St Mary's Church or Our Lady of Reparation Church 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

. It was built from 1863 to 1864 and designed by E. W. Pugin and

Frederick Walters Frederick Arthur Walters (5 February 1849–3 December 1931) was a Scottish architect working in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, notable for his Roman Catholic churches. Life Walters was born on 5 February 1849 at 6 South Terrace, Brompton, Lond ...

. It is architecturally in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

. It is situated to the north of the centre of Croydon on the junction of Wellesley Road and Station Road, next to

St Mary's Roman Catholic High School, Croydon St. Mary's Roman Catholic High School is a co-educational, 11-19 secondary school in Croydon, England. History The school is one of the longest established schools in Croydon, having been founded on 2 September 1851, situated next to St Mary' ...

, but its

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 ...

extends to the west of the town.

History

Foundation

In 1837, a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

was started in Croydon. It was recorded that a

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 celebrated in a house in Croydon, 20 Southbridge Road, that became a Mass centre for the mission. In 1841, a chapel was opened in Broad Green, on Handcroft Road. However, anti-Catholic sentiment led to it and the priest, Fr Patrick O’Moore, being attacked. In 1850, a new priest took over the mission, Fr Alphonsus David.

Construction

The priest, Fr David, worked to get a new church built. In 1861, the current site of the church was bought for £742. The church was also given a £2,000 donation for its construction by a Lady Elizabeth Lloyd Anstruther of Ryde. She was the granddaughter of

Peter Burrell, 1st Baron Gwydyr Peter Burrell, 1st Baron Gwydyr PC (16 June 1754 – 29 June 1820) featured in English politics at the end of the 18th century, but he was best known for his involvement in cricket, particularly his part in the foundation of Marylebone Cricket ...

, and niece of

John FitzGibbon, 2nd Earl of Clare John FitzGibbon, 2nd Earl of Clare KP GCH PC (10 July 1792 – 18 August 1851) was an Anglo Irish aristocrat and politician. Early life FitzGibbon was born on 10 July 1792. He was the eldest son of John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare and ...

.Her aunt, Countess Elizabeth Burrell (1793–1879), funded many of the Catholic churches on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

and in the then

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark ( ) is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient ...

after meeting and being friends with Thomas Grant, the first bishop of Southwark. She also donated some money and asked for the church to be dedicated to "Our Lady of Reparation". Elizabeth Lloyd Anstruther, after donating the money for the church's construction, would, a few years later, become a

Benedictine nun The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they a ...

St Mary's Abbey, Colwich Saint Mary's Abbey in Colwich, Staffordshire was an abbey of Roman Catholic nuns of the English Benedictine Congregation, founded in 1623 at Cambrai, Flanders, in the Spanish Netherlands, and closed down in 2020. During the French Revolution, ...

. Construction on the church start on 1 May 1863 and lasted until 1864. The architect was E. W. Pugin, son of

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

, and a specialist in

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

. The capacity of the church at the time of its opening was for 600 people.

Developments

In 1876, plans were started to expand the church. The plans were made by

. At the time, he lived locally, and carried out the work early in his career, over twenty years before he would go on to design

Ealing Abbey The Abbey of Ealing is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery located on Castlebar Hill in Ealing, England. It is part of the English Benedictine Congregation. The shrine is dedicated to Saint Benedict of Nursia. In 2020, the Abbey had fourtee ...

and

Buckfast Abbey Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast, near Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a Congregation of Savigny, Savignac, later ...

. He extended the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

by adding side chapels, as well as north and south aisles to the church and the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

was enlarged. The plans were put into place in 1881 and on 26 November 1882, the church was reopened. Cardinal Manning, the

Archbishop of Westminster The archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

preached at the ceremony. According to

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

, the additions by Walters were designed and constructed "in a seamless manner, such that it is not immediately obvious today where Pugin ends and Walters begins." In 1968, Wellesley Road, in front of the church, was expanded, so the church lost part of its forecourt. So in 1972, the front entrance to the church was extended, a parish hall added and a new presbytery built. That year, the church interior was changed with the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

altar rail The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...

s removed.

Parish

Next to the church is

, it was built in parallel with the church. It was founded in 1851, in a school building alongside the chapel in Broad Green and moved to its current site when the current church was built, having a small school building alongside it. The church is in the centre of Croydon, but is closer to

West Croydon station West Croydon is a multi-modal interchange station located in Croydon, South London. It is a southern terminus of the Windrush line of the London Overground, and is also served by National Rail services operated by Southern (Govia Thameslink Ra ...

than

East Croydon East Croydon is a railway station, tram stop and associated bus station in Croydon, Greater London, England. It is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is the 20th List of busiest railway stations in Great Britain, busiest station in Bri ...

and its

is mostly in the west of the town. It has seven Sunday Masses at 7:00 pm on Saturday and at 8:00 am, 9:15 am, 10:45 am, 12:15 pm, 3:00 pm, and 6:00 pm on Sunday.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church Croydon Roman Catholic churches in the London Borough of Croydon Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark Gothic Revival church buildings in London 1841 establishments in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in 1864 Religious organizations established in 1841 E. W. Pugin church buildings 19th-century church buildings in England