User:Hassocks5489/Church Sandbox

After the Reformation in the mid-16th century, Roman Catholic worship was forbidden in England for several centuries. Only in the 19th century did freedom to worship according to Catholic principles become legal again after a series of Acts of Parliament were passed. Despite the restrictions placed upon it, the Catholic faith was maintained in several parts of the present Diocese, particularly in West Sussex where some 19th-century churches developed from secret Masses celebrated in rooms of houses or other hidden locations. At West Grinstead, home of the recusant Caryll family, Benedictines and Jesuits maintained a clandestine mission at a shrine dedicated to Our Lady; the Church of Our Lady of Consolation and St Francis was built next to it in the 1876. In Slindon, Mass was held in a secret chapel in Slindon House from 1695, and was used until a permanent church funded by the Countess of Newburgh was built in 1865. From around the same time, services were held in a chapel at nearby Burton Park, a house belonging to the Biddulphs, and 19th-century family member Anthony Wright Biddulph paid £5,000 for St Anthony and St George's Church to be built at nearby Duncton in 1868–69. The Dukes of Norfolk kept their allegiance to Rome even when Catholicism was outlawed, and their seat at Arundel became a Catholic stronghold. A chapel within Arundel Castle was used for many years until a large church was built in 1870–73. This became the cathedral when the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton was formed. The family also founded St John the Evangelist's Church at Heron's Ghyll in East Sussex (built in 1896–97), a hamlet in which Mass had been said since 1866 at Coventry Patmore's house. This was acquired by the Dukes of Norfolk in 1879. Other rural churches opened for, or sustained by the patronage of, prominent local Catholics include those at Horn's Cross (built in 1935 on land and with money given by writer Sheila Kaye-Smith, who died in 1956) and Burwash, where the modern church supersedes one which was demolished in 1989 at a house called Southover Hall, home to the Catholic family of Madame de los Heros.

Parts of East Sussex are associated with a strong Protestant Nonconformist tradition which is largely absent in West Sussex<<>> and Surrey, and in some cases anti-Catholic feeling influenced the development of the denomination's churches. At Hailsham, Catholics at first had to occupy the upper floor of a brewery's stables, and there was opposition to the idea of a permanent church (a tiny wooden building, now the church hall to the present St Wilfrid's Church, was used for more than 30 years). At Battle, the 1886 chapel is set well back from the road and "was apparently designed so as not to look too obviously like a church". In contrast, an example of ecumenical partnership exists at Broadfield, a 1970s neighbourhood of Crawley New Town, where the Church of Christ the Lord was built in 1980 as a joint place of worship for Anglicans, Catholics and an Evangelical fellowship.

''NB. Churches converted from other denominations to RC: Moulsecoomb (Anglican), Woodingdean (Anglican), Staplefield (Baptist).'' Worth Abbey history

Across the three counties there are many convents, friaries and other buildings associated with religious orders, some of which incorporate churches used for public worship. At Upper Beeding, The Towers Convent chapel has been licensed for public worship since it opened in 1929. A former Franciscan friary (now St Augustine's Abbey) at Chilworth had the Church of the Holy Ghost as a central component; the same applies at Our Lady of England Priory, a monastery in Storrington, where Edward Goldie's church (1902–04) forms part of the complex—a Premonstratensian monastery of 1888. The Friary Church of St Francis and St Anthony at Crawley originated as part of a large town-centre complex of monastic buildings. These were cleared by the 1980s, but Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel's replacement church of 1958 still occupies the site. The Church of our Lady Help of Christians, whose 1,400 capacity makes it the largest place of worship in Sussex, is part of the Worth Abbey complex. The church at Wadhurst was founded by Italian Rosminian monks; the Mount Novitiate House of Fathers of Charity, which they founded in a house in the village, had its own chapel which was superseded by the permanent church in 1928. Other venues for public Catholic worship which are maintained by the Diocese are the University of Surrey at Guildford, where a chaplain celebrates a weekly Mass on Tuesdays; the Meeting House at the University of Sussex in Falmer, where the joint Chaplaincy to the Universities of Brighton and Sussex offers a Sunday evening Mass; and the interfaith chapels at Gatwick Airport's North and South Terminals. A chaplain linked to the parish of Egham serves the Royal Holloway, University of London.

In some places in the Diocese, buildings erected for other purposes have been converted into churches. St Anthony of Viareggio's Church in the suburb of Rose Green in Bognor Regis was originally a bungalow which was left in a will to the Servite Friars who served the town's main Catholic church. It was adapted to form a church for the west side of the town in xxxx. At Hurstpierpoint, the Archdiocese of Southwark bought a terrace of three Victorian cottages, converted two into St Luke's Church and kept the third as a presbytery. Two unusual conversions can be found in rural Mid Sussex: the church at Staplefield, dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima, was built in xxxx as a Particular Baptist chapel called Providence Chapel, and was used as such until xxxx; and St Dunstan's Church at West Hoathly was built in the 19th century as a butcher's shop with living accommodation above. The building was altered internally to form a church in xxxx.

Several churches have closed since the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton came into existence. At Midhurst and Shoreham-by-Sea, 19th-century buildings were superseded by new churches and were sold; Midhurst's, designed by xxxx and opened in xxxx, became a restaurant, and the Grade II-listed former St Peter's Church became a nursing home. At Felpham, St Peregrine's Church served Catholics from xxxx until xxx but was sold to a Plymouth Brethren congregation who still use it as a meeting room. The Catholic chapels at Angmering and Barnham have been incorporated into adjacent Roman Catholic schools, and one at Nutbourne (used until nearby Bosham's church opened) retains its connection with the denomination as it is part of the International Catholic Bible School. The short-lived Church of the Holy Ghost at Bulverhythe became a car garage. At North Chailey, a redundant Anglican church was bought by the Diocese and used as the Church of Our Lady Queen of Heaven between xxx and xxx. In xxxx it was reported to be for sale as a house, on condition that the graveyard was retained. In 2008, the church at Hurst Green was closed because of structural problems, and attempts by villagers to turn it into a community centre have not succeeded as of 2024. In Surrey, consolidation of parishes in the late 20th and early 21st centuries left several churches surplus to requirements. In Send, St William of York's Church (opened in 1939) closed in 2007 and was put up for sale, as was St Alphege's Church in West Horsley in about 2011. All Saints Church at Mytchett was bought by Gurkhas in 2011 after it closed. The parish of Chilworth and Gomshall was disbanded with effect from 2 January 2011 after the Franciscan friars who served the Church of the Holy Ghost moved out; the church was an integral part of the friary complex, which was sold to a Benedictine order and became St Augustine's Abbey. Gomshall's church (opened in 1964), served from Chilworth, also closed and was sold to a Coptic Orthodox congregation. Nearby, a short-lived church in Beare Green has been converted into a village hall. Byfleet was served by three churches for a period in the late 20th century, but only one remains. St John the Evangelist's Church at Sheerwater opened in 1961 but closed in 1995 when the parish began to be served by only one priest; and the centrally located St Thomas More's Church of 1973 went out of use in 2006, leaving only the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians at West Byfleet. The nearby town of Weybridge had two churches until 1988, when the congregations moved into the new Christ the Prince of Peace Church. St Charles Borromeo Church, the older building, was sold to the Korean Presbyterian Church, while St Martin of Porres' Church (a former cinema) was demolished for office development. At Whyteleafe, the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury (opened in 1961 and fitted with good dalle de verre glass) closed in 2010 when the congregation amalgamated with Caterham. A planning application to demolish it in favour of flats was refused in July 2012.

In some places, former convent chapels or similar buildings were used for public religious worship, usually until a separate church was built in the locality. Examples of this include Haywards Heath, where the Priory of Our Lady of Good Counsel was superseded by St Paul's Church, and St Leonards-on-Sea, where the Convent Chapel of the Holy Child Jesus served as the new resort's first Catholic place of worship (under the name St Michael's Chapel) until the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and English Martyrs was ready. St Joseph's Convent Chapel at Clive Vale, another suburb of Hastings, was also registered for public worship for a time. More recently, the Chapel of Christ the King at Cardinal Newman School in Hove was registered for public worship and marriages, the latter in 1974.

Writing in 1968, a historian stated that "a site for a Roman Catholic church has been bought in the village centre" at Findon in West Sussex, but it was never built.

This talks about Godalming, Milford, Barrow Hills and the demolished chapel of Elstead (including dates!)

Some refs:
 * St Paulinus', Sompting registered in April 1941
 * Sheerwater worship reg officially canx March 1997
 * St Thomas More, Byfleet registered in August 1973
 * St Peter's Chapel, Merrow registered in May 1969
 * Probably predecessor of present St Pius X, perhaps situated at nearby St Peter's RC School.) → http://www.stpiusx-guildford.co.uk/aboutus_history.html History of Merrow and former church at Burpham!!!! (St Mary of Pity; dem between 2007 and 2010, probably by 2008; Guildford Borough Council planning apps 04/P/00405, 07/P/1649 and 07/P/0880 refer) (See paragraph below)
 * St Thomas More, Bramley registered in September 1961
 * Former St Joseph's, Guildford deregistered
 * Comprehensive history of Guildford-area churches
 * Barnham registered in March 1970
 * Old Dean registered
 * Predecessor to St John the Evangelist at Tadworth deregistered
 * Brief mention of St Oswald, Deepcut in NHLE listing of Anglican church

Demolished
Although the disused church at Whyteleafe still stands as of 2024, several other former churches in the Diocese have been demolished. St Thomas of Canterbury's Church in Oxshott was replaced by flats called Canterbury Mews. In the city of Brighton and Hove, two churches were knocked down without replacement because of structural problems. The ornately decorated church at Portslade had to be demolished in 1992—although Mass is still celebrated in the Catholic school next to where the church stood—while the short-lived church on the Whitehawk estate had been built with high-alumina cement, a dangerous material. Structural defects also claimed St Edward the Confessor's Church in Woldingham: it stood on the site of a former pond, and subsidence caused the walls to crack. Worship ceased in the late 1980s and its marriage registration was revoked in October 1990, although the building survived a few years longer in secular use. In Burpham near Guildford, Mass was said in various locations until land was bought and a church built in 1958. St Mary of Pity's Church opened in June 1960 and was united in a parish with the Church of St Pius X at Merrow when that opened. The last service at Burpham was held in September 2003, and the building and its land were sold for residential development (for which planning permission was granted in 2008).

In Woking, the Diocese decided to provide a large new Catholic church on a site occupied by a former school. This led to the demolition of St Dunstan's Church in the town centre (built in 1925) and the Church of Our Lady Mother of God in the Kingfield suburb, which opened in 1962. Planning permission was granted in July 2005 for its demolition and replacement with flats. The new church, also dedicated to St Dunstan, opened in 2008.


 * See here for Byfleet
 * What's in here??? See Page 2 of Google search results for Byfleet "St Thomas More" demolition


 * Cokeham
 * Durrington

Also remember Mass Centres. Anglican churches at Tatsfield, Roffey (until ?2010?), Barnham, Farncombe and Woldingham have Masses ... any others? Portslade is technically a Mass Centre.


 * History of the Diocese
 * St Raphael's Nursing Home chapel in Danehill is the responsibility of St Paul's at H/Heath and has a weekly Mass on Wednesdays which is also open to visitors
 * There is still Mass at Copthorne, at Bankside Lodge! 51.139817,-0.113805 Just down Borers Arms Road, past St Francis Gardens (site of the old convent). http://www.dabnet.org/parishes/Parishes/C/copthornewestsussex.htm http://www.copthorne.org/downloads/Publication(October12).pdf http://www.crawleyparish.org/convent-chapel-copthorne/