Sacred Heart Church, Bournemouth facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sacred Heart Church |
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| Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart | |
Sacred Heart Church, Bournemouth
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 Location in Dorset
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| 50°43′16″N 1°52′43″W / 50.7211°N 1.8787°W | |
| OS grid reference | SZ 0865791278 |
| Location | Bournemouth, Dorset |
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | http://www.bournemouthoratory.org.uk |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II |
| Designated | 20 October 1983 |
| Architect(s) | Henry Clutton |
| Style | English Gothic |
| Completed | 1874 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Portsmouth |
The Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart, or Sacred Heart Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the seaside resort of Bournemouth, England. Located on Albert Road close to the town centre, it was the first Roman Catholic church built in Bournemouth and is part of the Diocese of Portsmouth. It has been designated a Grade II listed building by English Heritage.
History
Background
In the early 1800s Bournemouth was a 'new town'. Prior to becoming a desirable resort for bathing and taking the sea air, Bournemouth was no more than a small hamlet at the mouth of the River Bourne. With its attractive coastline and some seven miles of sandy beaches, it soon gave rise to a number of hotels and guest-houses to accommodate the increasing number of visitors. The development of the town was to be accelerated by the growth of a more efficient railway system, transporting many more people to this popular coastal destination. Initial arrangements for Catholic services were somewhat ad hoc but the increase in the number of affluent visitors led to improved facilities.
Early Church Services
Assembly Rooms behind the Belle Vue Hotel on the present site of the Pavilion Theatre were used at different times for Catholic and Congregationalist services and as a synagogue. The first recorded Mass was in 1861–62 when Mrs Washington Hibbert of Dover Street, London, spent the winter and established a private chapel at the hotel. The Mass was said by Fr Thomas Mochler SJ, who came from Lymington, the nearest church in the Diocese of Southwark. From 1863 to 1865 Lady Catherine Petre undertook the upkeep of the chapel. During the winter 1865–1866 Thomas Weld Blundell kept a private chapel at Walton House, Richmond Hill. From 1866 until 1867 Lord Edward Fitzalan Howard kept a private chapel at Brunstath on the East Cliff. Throughout this period Masses were attended dominantly by affluent visitors coming for the winter. There was first only one permanent Catholic resident, Sergeant Maurice O’Connell, drill sergeant of the 4th Hants Volunteers, but Catholics from a wide area attended. O’Connell was succeeded by Thomas Long as the one permanent Catholic resident. When the gentry were away Catholics travelled in a horse bus to St Mary's Church, then in the Old Town of Poole.
Jesuits
In October 1869 two Jesuit priests Fr James Brownbill and Fr James Eccles were sent from Farm Street, London, and opened a public wooden chapel in Astney Lodge, Richmond Hill, on the site of the house of Dr Fall which had partly burnt down. In 1870 a small wooden church opened on the present Sacred Heart site which was bought with the help of Lady Herbert of Lea and Mr O’Connell. Mrs Brymer presented a harmonium. Baptisms and weddings were recorded from 1872.
Fr Brownbill was the first parish priest until he retired in 1870. He was succeeded by Fr Maurice Mann who was alone after the death of Fr Eccles in 1871 until Fr A. Dignam SJ joined him. While alone Fr Mann had problems saying the number of Masses the congregation needed; the bishop allowed him to say two Sunday Masses during the winter season but not at other times.
In summer 1873 the nave of the new permanent building designed by Henry Clutton opened under Fr Dignam; in that year Fr Meagher became parish priest. Aisles and the present tower were added and the church was solemnly opened on 5 February 1875, with a blessing by Dr James Dannell, Bishop of Southwark. The building was of yellow / white bricks with Bath stone dressings at the doors and windows. In 1875, the bell of 10 cwts 0 quarters 171 lbs was installed by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry; a bill of £141.0s.6d for its supply was received. It was fitted for change ringing but hung alone for over a century.
Mrs Brymer gave the High Altar and stained glass windows of the four evangelists. Baroness von Hugel gave the brass altar rails.
For a time one of the Windsor Cottages on the site was used as a presbytery. The congregation at both the temporary chapel and the permanent building included, as a schoolboy, Rafael Merry del Val, son of the Secretary to the Spanish Embassy in London, who was to become a Cardinal and Secretary of State to Pope Pius X. The future cardinal attended St Aloysius School and later took French lessons from French nuns; he took his first communion at Sacred Heart Church in 1872.
Expansion
Following the creation of the new diocese of Portsmouth in 1882 enlargement work began in 1888 and more actively from April 1896 under the parish priest Fr Cooney SJ and the architect A.J.Pilkington. The completed church was blessed at a midnight Mass on 31 December 1900 also celebrating the start of the new century; in this process a new nave and clerestory, a confessional and work room block and an extension to the house were constructed and changes made to the Albert Road facade. A sacristy was constructed possibly later. The style was based on early French Gothic as in Clutton's original design, faced externally with Swanage stone with freestone dressings. The 1888–1900 works also included a central tower but it did not achieve the planned height.
Architecture
The Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart was designed by Henry Clutton in 1872–74, then considerably enlarged by A. J. Pilkington in 1896–98. The Sacred Heart Church is now designated by English Heritage as a Grade II Listed building.
