OS grid reference TQ3348456029 Country United Kingdom Website Sacred-Heart.co.uk Dedication Sacred Heart | Denomination Roman Catholic Opened 11 August 1881 Construction cost 5,000 GBP | |
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Founded 24 August 1879 (1879-08-24) Address Essendene Rd, Caterham CR3 5PB, UK Similar All Saints Church - Oxted, Church of St John the Baptist - O, Whyteleafe railway station, Dormans railway station, Titsey Place | ||
Sacred Heart Church or formally the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Caterham, Surrey. It was built in 1881 and designed by Ingress Bell. It is situated between Essendene Road and Whyteleafe Road off the High Street. It is a Grade II listed building.
Contents
Construction
In 1879, after a request from Francis Parson, a local Catholic, the Bishop of Southwark, James Danell, sent Fr Francis Roe to Caterham to serve as priest there. Hs first Mass was on 24 August 1879 in a local depot, where army officers built a temporary chapel. Before this, a priest from Croydon travelled to Caterham to celebrate Mass for soldiers and local Catholics.
On 24 June 1880, the foundation stone of the church was laid by Bishop Danell. Most of the construction was paid for by Fr Roe's father, Captain William Harriott Roe. The architect for the church was Ingress Bell, who also designed St Joseph Church in Guildford in 1881, but that was demolished in the 1980s. He adopted the Early English Gothic Revival style and a cruciform plan.
On 11 August 1881 the church was opened. The first Mass was celebrated by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Manning and attended by the Bishop of Middlesbrough, Richard Lacy, because Bishop Danell died in June 1881.
Interior
The windows and painted murals around the apse were built by Hardman & Co. The murals were designed by Joseph Aloysius Pippet. Illustrating the life of Jesus, they are not contemporary with the church: it was stated in 1907 that "[t]he sanctuary has been recently adorned with elegant mosaic pictures".
Parish
The parish covers the Catholic population of Caterham, Whyteleafe and Godstone. The church has three Sunday Masses. They are at 9:00am and 10:45am on Sunday morning and at 5:15pm on Sunday afternoon. There are weekday Masses at 10:00am from Monday to Thursday, at 7:00pm on Friday and at 10:00am on Saturday morning. Whyteleafe had its own church until 2010. St Thomas of Canterbury's Church was designed by Broadbent and Partners architects (scheme architect J.F.G Hastings) in 1961 and registered for marriages in November of that year, but it closed in October 2010 and is threatened with demolition.