Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Duke University Libraries https://archive.org/details/catholichandbookOOhodg f THE CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. A HISTORY OF THE METROPOLITAN MISSIONS, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF ©itq Jun%d dfhur^a and djha^ds OF THE DIOCESES OF WESTMINSTER AND SOUTHWARK. Eontitin: C. DOLMAN, Cl, NEW BOND STREET, AND 22, PATER NOSTER ROW BURNS AND LAMBERT, 17, PORTMAN St., PORTMAN SQUARE, AND 63, PATER-NOSTER ROW. RICHARDSON AND SON, 147, STRAND. , T. JONES, ALDINE CHAMBERS, PATER-NOSTER ROW. WEEKLY REGISTER OFFICE, 3, BRYDGES STREET, STRAND, 1857. X'[ SHHoMBS’ Bill c -j£ r jl7~U‘Z' Diocese of Westminster. v Diocese of Southwark. v Introduction. vi Abingdon, * S. Page 3 Acton, t W. 4 Arundel, S. 5 Baldwin’s Gardens, w. 7 Barnet, w. 8 Bayswater, w. 12 Bermondsey, s. 12 Brentford, w. 13 Brentwood, w. 14 Brighton, s. 15 Brompton, w. 17 Buckland, s. 19 Bunhill Bow, w. 19 Burton Park, s. 21 Canterbury, s. 21 Calehill, s. 23 Chatham, s. 23 Cheapside, w. 25 Chelmsford, w. 26 Chelsea, w. 27 Chichester, s. 30 Chislehurst, s. 30 Clapham, s. 31 Claremont, s. 33 Commercial Road, w. 34 Crayford, s. 41 Croydon, s. 43 Deptford, s. 44 Eastbourne, s. 45 East Hendred, s. 46 Farm Street, w. 50 Fulham, w. 51 Gravesend, s. 53 * Southwark. Greenwich, S. rage. 54 Guildford, S. 56 Ham, S. 57 Hammersmith, w. 57 Hampstead, w. 59 Hackney, w. 60 Hanwell, w. 61 Hastings, s. 61 Hertford, w. 62 Horsham, s. 62 Hyde, North, w. 63 Holloway, w. 63 Hyde, The, w. 65 Ingatestone Hall, w. 66 Isleworth, w. 69 Islington, w. 71 Kensington, w. 74 Kentish Town, w. 77 Kingsland, w. 80 Kingston, s. 78 Lincolns Inn Fields, w. 82 Moorfields, w- 86 Manchester Square, w. 83 Margate, s. 84 Mitcham, s. 84 Millwall, w. 85 Mortlake, s. 88 Newbury, s. 91 New Road, w. 92 Old Hall Green, w. 92 Peckham, s. 96 Poplar, w. 98 Portman Square, w. 100 f Westminster. IT INDEX CONTINUED - Ramsgate. S. 105 Reading, s. 106 Reigate, s. 108 Richmond, s. 110 Romford, w. 111 Romney Terrace, w. 112 Rosoman Street, w. 114 Rotherhithe, s. 115 Saffron Hill, Great, w. 115 Sheerness, s. 116 Slindon House, s. 118 Soho, w. 118 Somers Town, w. 119 Spitalfields, w. 121 Stratford, w. 125 St. Alban’s, w. 126 St. John’s Wood w. 131 Religious Houses, Sutton Place S. 132 Tottenham, W. 138 Tunbridge Wells, S. 140 Turnham Green, W. 141 Waltham, W. 141 Walthamstow, W. 142 Wandsworth, S. 143 Warwick Street, w. 148 Webb Street, s. 148 West Grinstead, s. 149 Westminster Road, s. 127 Weyhridge, s. 151 Windsor, s. 153 Witham, w. 156 Woolhampton, s. 157 Woolwich, s 158 159. Benedictine Convent, Hammersmith, 161. Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Hammersmith, 162. St. Edward’s Convent, Blandford Square, 163. House of Mercy, 165. St. Joseph’s Convent, Chelsea, 166. Monastery of the Good Shepherd, 167. Reformatory School, Blyth House, Brook Green, H ammersmith, 170. Roehampton, 173 St. Mary’s Training School, 173. V IBtocese of raestimnster. Archbishop: —His Eminence Cardinal Wiseman. Coadjutor :—His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Errington, Arch¬ bishop of Trebizond. Provost: —The Very Rev. Henry E. Manning, D.D. Vicars General: —Very Rev. Canon Maguire, D.D., Very Rev. Canon O’Neal. Very Rev. Monsignor Canon Searle, Secretary to the Cardinal Archbishop, 8, York Place, Portman Square. canons. Very Rev. John Maguire, D.D. Very Rev. Georg. sLtae Canon Theologian. -James O’Neal. -Thomas Long, Canon -W.W.Weathers,D.D. Penitentiary. -Erancis Searle. -George Rolfe.-Robert Shepherd. -William Hunt. -Fred. Oakeley. Ecclesiastical Inspectors > Very Reverend Dr. Manning. op Schools : j" Reverend R. G. Macmullen. JBtotm of Jcoutijtoarft. Bishop :—The Right Rev. T. Grant, D.D. Provost: —The Very Rev. T. Doyle, D.D. Vicar General :—Vacant. CANONS. Very Rev. J. Doyle, D.D. Very Rev. M. A. Tierney, Penit. ——-James Holdstock. -John Ringrose. -Daniel Rock, D.D.-Peter Collingridge. -Timothy J. Reardon.-John Crookall, D.D. -Rich. North, D.D., -H. Rymer. Theologian. --J. Danell. Ecclesiastical Inspector \ Reverend j. G . Wen ham. of Schools: > INTRODUCTION. The late lamented Mr. Pugin observed in 1838, “We are positively almost without an'ecclesiastical building in the metropolis, where the I'ites of the Church can be performed in a solemn manner, or where the beautiful feelings and system of Catho- licism can be exemplified.” Happily this reproach' can no longer be applied to the Catholics of Lon¬ don. But a few short years ago they certainly seem, (as indeed was natural in the midst of their sufferings, decreasing numbers, and persecutions,) to have almost forgotten that the glorious Cathe¬ drals, Abbeys, and Minsters, which yet adorn the land, though they may be perverted to uses hostile to the Catholic religion, were erected by the piety of their forefathers in the ages of faith. The rapid change which has taken place, from dark-dungeon looking chapels in back streets, to magnificent and spacious Churches, is indeed remarkable, and deserves to be chronicled, and, of course, the same mav be said of the mode of conducting the services of the Church. “ What changes have taken place,” says Father Thomas, “within my recol¬ lection in the offices of the Holy Week, that is as to the way of celebrating them. Dr. Bramstone used to describe with much effect the Tenebrse in INTRODUCTION. vii Castle Street, Holborn, where he, a limb of the law, and Charles Butler, another limb, and the Rev. Mr. Linde, and Bishop Douglas, met in the ‘ Episcopal palace,’ in an upper chamber, at the 4th house, on the right hand—and a dirty, dingy, shabby-genteel house it was—for the purpose of reciting the Divine Office. They met and sepa¬ rated, too thankful that even that much was done, and hoped for better days. I can recollect the old chapel in the London road, when the Tenebrse was also a small affair indeed. We hoped for better times, and thank God they have come.” The state of bondage in which our Catholic fore¬ fathers were held is sufficiently apparent by their inability to possess suitable places for devotional purposes, in exchange for the noble Churches, Ab¬ beys, and Cathedrals, of which they had been un¬ justly despoiled. A few facts, shewing the state of Catholicity in the metropolis subsequent to the so- called u Reformation,” will not be out of place here, before describing the Churches and Chapels as they now exist in, and near, the Metropolis. In 1623, the Catholics of London, not having a public chapel, congregated surreptitiously to offer up their prayers, and assist at the Holy Sacri¬ fice, at Hunsdown House, a spacious mansion in Blackfriars, then in the occupation of Count de Tillier, the French Ambassador. On the 26th of October, the floor gave way owing to the con¬ gregation (above 300 people,) being too numerous Vlll INTRODUCTION. for the strength of the room. Father Drury, a missionary priest, was, at the time of the sad oc¬ currence, preaching, and he perished, together with ninety-four other persons. The event was fami¬ liarly known afterwards as u The fatal Vespers.”— (Howe's Ed., 1631.; Charles I. assigned Somerset House to his Queen, (Henrietta Maria,) in the 9th year of his reign and caused a chapel to be added to the building for the free use of the Catholic religion. The chapel was designed by Inigo Jones, and the first stone laid Sept. 14th, 1632. (Ellis's Letters.) A few tombs of her French Catholic attendants are built into the cellars of the present building immediately beneath the great square .—( Cunning- hame.) The readers of Challoner’s Missionary Priests, need not to be reminded of the frequent torturings imprisonments and executions of catholic Priests at the time when Puritanical influences prevailed. An interesting discovery was made by the Rev. Joseph Sidden, in the month of April, 1850. This was no less than the finding of a letter under the altar at West Grinstead, (of which place this estimable clergyman was then incumbent) bear¬ ing date 12th November, 1643, and written by one of the martyred missionary priests, while a prisoner in Newgate. This was Father Bell, a Franciscan. He had been appointed to an office held by Father Paul, who had been put to death INTRODUCTION. IX for his religion and priesthood, six months before. Father Bell received his Superior’s letter not many hours before his committal to Newgate, where Father Paul had been imprisoned before him. There is something very edifying about the letter which Fatliei Bell addresses to his Provin¬ cial, and it will be perceived that the holy martyr almost with an expression of gaiety, alludes to his having already taken the place of Father Paul, i.e. in prison, even before his official appointment had arrived. The following is an exact copy of this hitherto unpublished letter—the hand-writing is legible and firm. “ E. Ed. I receaved your command with all humi- litye and promptitude in execution : for I had taken possession of B. Fr. Paules place about some 20 houres before it came to mee. Now I emestly beg your prayers that I may constantly follow on to pursue the end by perseverance. Mr. Wood I hope will be able to make some little relation of what hath passed liithertoo. All that I ask of any is that St. Andrew begged of the people ne impedirent passionem. Gods holy will be done in aeternum. Youre poore Br. Francis Bell. November 12, 1643.” In Pepys Diary are the following entries which give some idea of Catholic matters in the metro¬ polis in the reign of Charles II:— X INTRODUCTION. u 1666-7.—January 23rd, my Lord Brounker and I walking into the Parke, did observe the new buildings, and my Lord seeing I had a desire to see them, they being the place of the priests and friars, he took me back to my Lord Almoner, [Cardinal Howard of Norfolk,] and he took us quite through the whole house, and chapel, and the new monastery, shewing me most excellent pieces in wax worke, a crucifix given by a Pope to Mary Queene of Scots, where a piece of the [true] cross is, several fine pictures, and good prints of holy pictures. I saw the dormitory and the cells of the priests. We went into one, a very pretty little room, very clean, hung with pictures, and set with books. The priest was in his cell with his hair clothes to his skin, bare legged, with a sandal only on, and his little bed without sheets, and no feather bed. A pretty library they have, and in the refectory every man had his napkin, knife, cup of eai’th, and basin of the same, and a place for one to sit and read while the rest are at meals. Their windows all look into a fine garden and the Parke. I wished myself one of the Capu¬ chins.” “ 1667.—March 16.—I to walke in the Parke where to the Queenes Chapel, and there heard a fryer preach with his cord about his middle, show¬ ing that God did respect the meek and humble as well as the highe and riche. He was very full of INTRODUCTION. Xl action, but very decent and good I thought, and his manners of deliverie very good.” A few years later, as we learn by the London Mercurie , (1688, Dec. 31.) “ The Popish chapel, to which the monks belonged, at St. James’ being lent to the French Protestants, they had prayers and preaching in it on Sundays.” This was the friary at St. James’s Palace, so called from the Friars who attended Catherine of Braganza, Queen of Charles II. The present Lutheran chapel occupies the site of the old friary. In 1689, as we gather from the state documents in the Lord Steward’s office, a warrant directed to Sir Christopher Wren, Surveyor of works, was issued from the Board of Green Cloth, signed “ Devonshire,” and “ Newport,” commanding Sir Christopher to close up a door in Buckingham Court, near Spring Gardens, which led into St. James’s Park, in order to prevent “ the great and numerous concourse of Papists who resort to the Coffee House of one Bromefield, and to other houses there.” Every effort was made to extinguish the catho¬ lic religion—catholic medical men, experienced in common with all other professions, the frowns of the hostile parliament. In 1679 in accordance with an order issued by parliament to the college of physicians, to return the names of all papists and eject them from the college, Dr. John Betts, and xn INTRODUCTION. Dr. Short, were served with notices. This in¬ famous conduct was again repeated in 1689, when a list was returned containing the names of the following catholic physicians:—Doctors J. Betts, Conquest, Sir W. Walgrave, Mendez, and E. Betts. Dr. J. Betts was ordered in 1692, to lose his place in the college if he did not take the oath of allegiance. St. Pancras’s Church is said to have been the last of the old London Churches in which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered. This may account for the fact recorded by Strype, that “ those of the Roman Catholic religion have of late affected to be buried here.” There appears to have been a domestic chapel at Weld House, near Lincolns Inn Fields, during the reigns of Charles II., and James II. This House occupied the present site of Great and Little Wild Street, close to Duke Street, and was inhabited by Don Pietro Ronquillo, the Spanish Ambassador. During the ebullitions of hatred against the Catholics on the termination of the reign of James II, the Ambassador’s house was attacked and ransacked. Macaulay in his history says, “ Ronquillo, conscious that he and his court had not deserved ill of the English nation, had thought it unnecessary to ask for soldiers, but the mob was not in a mood to make nice distinctions. His house was therefore sacked without mercy; and a INTRODUCTION. Xlll noble library, which he had collected, perished in the flames. His only comfort was that the Host in his chapel was rescued from the same fate.” (Vol. ii. p. 560.) Another writer says, “ The mo¬ bile, that day the king went, grew very unrulie and in great multitudes assembled and pulled down, that night and the following day, many houses where mass was sayd and priests lodged; and also went to Wild House, the Spanish Ambassador’s, and whither several Papists had sent their monie and plate, supposing that was a sanctuarie,* (as in¬ deed it ought to be,) but the rabble demolished that chapell took away the plate and monie, and burnt pictures, rich beds and furniture to great value, the poore Ambassador making his escape at a back doore.” ( Bramstone , p. 339). The following extracts from the “ Universal Museum and complete Magazine,” will give some information relating to catholicity in the metro¬ polis, a little later than a century ago. “ 1765.—August 8.—Sunday, a new Mass house was opened in Tottenham Court Road.” “ September 20.—-A new Mass house was open¬ ed near Church street, Spitalfields.” “October 21.—Two Romish Priests were taken out of a private Mass house, near Moorfields, to be dealt with according to law.” * The rich plate of the Chapel Royal had been deposited there. 2 XIV INTRODUCTION. “ 1767.—February 6. —Wednesday, a private Mass house, at tlie back part of a house near Salt¬ petre Bank, was suppressed.” “ February 7.—Another private Mass house has this week been suppressed in Kent street.” “February 17.— Friday, John Baptist Molonv, a popish priest, was taken up for exercising his function in Kent street, several Sundays, con¬ trary to law. He is hound over in £400 pen¬ alty to appear at the next Kingston assizes.” “ March 20.—A private popish Mass house in the park, Southwark, where four young couple had assembled to be married, was visited by the peace officers, on which the parties got off, and the apartments were padlocked and shut up. The priest was dressed as an officer.” “March 27.— Another private Mass house was shut up in Black Lion court, St. Giles.* “ April 22.— A popish Mass house in the Park, Southwark, was suppressed, but the officiating pi'iest escaped at a back door.” “July 17.— By an account taken this week, it appears that there are near 10,000 papists most of them poor miserable people, who live in the purlieus of St. Giles and the neighbour¬ hood thereof. A number of Papist priests lurk in this part of the town, who chiefly support * Another account says, “ Another Mass house was discovered in Hog Lane, near the Seven Dials.” INTRODUCTION. XV themselves by marrying poor papists for a few shillings. August 23.—Last Friday, at the assizes at Croy¬ don, John Baptist Molony was tried for unlaw¬ fully exercising the functions of a Popish Priest and administering the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to divers persons after the manner of the church of Rome, where he was convicted and received sentence of joerjoehial imprisonment .” In the following year the Rev. James Webb was tried for “ Priesthood,” in the Court of King’s Bench. It was two years later, viz:—in 1769, that the Hon. and Right Rev. James Talbot, bro¬ ther to the Earl of Shrewsbury, was tried for his life at the Old Bailey, for saying Mass, and was only acquitted on account of insufficiency of evi¬ dence. The single house of Dynely and Ashmall, Attorneys in Grays Inn Lane, defended more than twenty priests under such prosecutions (Butler). So late as 1782, catholic labourers were actually fined and distrained for refusing to attend the service of the established church (Flanagan). On the east side of York Street, St. James’s Square, was formerly a chapel under the protec¬ tion of the Spanish Embassy. The organ now at the (Protestant) Church of St. James, Piccadilly, and one of the finest instru¬ ments in London, was originally made by the celebrated Rene Harris, in 1687, “for King XVI INTRODUCTION. James II’s. Catholic Chapel at Whitehall.” It was set up in an elaborately adorned case by Grin¬ ling Gibbons. A Father Corker, previously imprisoned for his religion, v?as accredited to the court of King James II., soon after his accession to the throne, as resident ambassador of Ferdinand of Bavaria. This appointment enabled him to erect a very pretty convent at Clerkenwell, but which subsisted for a very brief period. It seems to have been the first object of attack on the part of the mob, when the news reached London of the safe landing of the usurper William, Prince of Orange. Among the faithful adhei'ents of the fallen monarch, none aided his majesty more loyally, than the Hales family. The Hales family, (Baro¬ nets of the first creation) nobly maintained time religion in the neighbourhood of Canterbury* during the 17th and 18th centunes. The Baro¬ net of James the second’s days assisted the King to escape from his rebel subjects. He was captured together with the King in a boat, and for a short time confined prisoner with his majesty at Favers- ham. In acknowledgement of his fidelity to his + In page 21 will be found an account of the New Mission at Canterbury. It may here be mentioned that at Hales Place mansion near that city, is also a chapel dedicated to St. Stephen The remains of Sir Edward Hales, the founder lie entombed under the gospei side of the altar, where they were de¬ posited in 1802. The baronetage became extinct at the death of the last Sir Edward in 1829. The young and amiable daughter of the nephew of the last Baronet, piously continues to uphold religion at St. Stephen's. May she long enjoy this honour and every other blessing. INTRODUCTION. xvu Sovereign, tlie king, in his exile at the palace of St. Germains, created him Earl of Tenterden and Viscount Tunstal. The Rev. Joseph Sidden, who has been twice chaplain at Hales Place, was told more than thirty years ago by a mem¬ ber of the family that the house of Hanover in the middle of the last century, had offered to recognise these titles on condition that the then representative of the Hales family would conform to Protestantism. It need hardly be said that the offer was rejected. In a court in Fenchurch Street, a century ago, mass was celebrated in a private house, at which several citizens were accustomed to assist although they risked by so doing the vigilance of the infor¬ mer. There are many persons now living who re¬ member the excellent Dr. Archer. This worthy man (as also did the venerable and saintly Bishop Challoner,) preached at a public house near Lin¬ colns Inn Fields, where the Catholics assembled by stratagem to hear the word of God, which was prohibited to be preached at the Chapel in Duke Street, although mass was said there under the protection of the Sardinian Ambassador. In Rosemary Lane, also at a public house, called “ The Windmill,” Catholics met unsuspected by the informer or pursuivant, for the purposes of de¬ votion. Referring to the death of Dr. Archer XV1U INTRODUCTION. in 1834, a writer observes, u The death of our venerable fiiend naturally. reminds us of the re¬ markable revolution that has occured, within the space of forty years, in Catholic affairs in this metropolis. When Dr. Archer preached at the Ship Public House in Turnstile, there was no Chapel in Spanish Place, none in St. George’s Fields, the Borough, none in Westminster, Poplar, Kensington, Chelsea, Woolwich, Greenwich, Tot¬ tenham, no St. Patrick’s Chapel, nor Virginia Street. The Chapel in Moorfields was a retired room in an unfrequented Street, with a spy win¬ dow to discriminate between friend or foe, before the door was opened to the applicant for admission, the Neapolitan Chapel was not much better, it was small, and in a stable yard. The Chapel in War¬ wick Street was in a back yard, to which a narrow passage conducted. Lincoln’s Inn Fields was under the protection of the Sardinian Ambassador, but no pulpit was permitted. The Catholics were permitted under the plea of some imaginary con¬ nection with the different embassies, to attend at mass at the Ambassador’s Chapel; but all this was mere sufferance, and happy were they that so great a privilege was conceded to them, after the long and wasting persecution they had endured.” In 1814, there were in London eighteen Chapels, of which six were principally supported by Foreign nations, viz,—French, German, Spanish, Sardi¬ nian, Bavarian, and Portuguese. INTRODUCTION. XIX r In 1792 tliere were only thirty-five Catholic Churches throughout the whole of England and , Wales. In London alone there are now above , forty. So late as 1840, there were but sixteen , convents, and three monasteries, in England and Wales. Now there are above seventy convents, and twenty monasteries. So that Religious Houses in England in sixteen years have increased at the rate of 450 per cent. If the progress, then, of the last few years has been so satisfactory, have we not cause to look with joyful hope for the future and with confidence exclaim, “ Magna est veritas, et prsevalebit.” I have publicly to express my obligations to several dignitaries of the Church for information readily afforded me in compiling the following pages.* I have been also indebted to the columns of our Catholic newspapers and periodicals for some particulars of several of the Missions. I have ac¬ ceded to the request that the Catholic Hand-book shall appear annually. In the next publication I propose to give the same number of Engravings of our Churches, etc., as is contained in the present volume, but, of course, containing different views. I shall also add the particulars of new missions, * I may venture specially to mention the names of three of our learned priests, the Very Rev. Canon Tierney, F.R.S., &c. ; the Rev. J. O’Toole, D.I>.; and the Rev. Joseph Sidden.—for whom in return for their kindness, I humbly solicit the prayers of the readers of this publication. XX INTRODUCTION etc., established during the year, a full description of all new churches, and embracing other more distant missions. To these will be added a list of the clergy, a calendar, &c., &c. Of those mis¬ sions and churches which are now only some¬ what briefly described, I shall endeavour to obtain such additional information as I have been un¬ able to procure in time for the present edition. I am aware that there must be in a work of this nature many defects, and some errors. For these I ask the indulgence of my readers, and solicit their kindness in forwarding me corrections, and such additional information, as they may possess, so that the next edition may be rendered more perfect than the present one. N. W. HODGES. London , May 1, 1857. THE CATHOLIC HAND-B00K. ABINGDON. (S.) The establisliment of this mission is due to the pious zeal and generous munificence of G. Bowyer, Esq., M.P., D.C.L. May God remember him whom His grace has inspired with such zeal for His glory. The , mission was first opened on the 6th of March, 1856, on which occasion, the Bishop of the diocese cele- ; brated Mass in the Library of the presbytery, which, ; until the completion of the church, is used as a ‘ temporary chapel. Most of the vestments are offer- ' ings, some from a distinguished lady convert, and the albs and altar cloths, used on great festivals, are trimmed with the richest old lace brought from Italy, by the pounder. The church comprises nave, two aisles, chancel, chapels, and sacristies, with south porch, and western bell gable. The presbytery (which has a cloistered communication with the church,) contains a spacious dining room, library, and reception parlour on the ground floor, besides the kitchen and ordinary offices. On the first floor there is a sitting room re- served for the use of the Bishop on his visits, and five bed rooms. The church as well as presbytery is erected in the decorated style of gothic architecture, being built of Kennington stone, the windows and 4 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. doorways having Bath stone dressings. The entire plan is most successful as well as regards external ap¬ pearances as convenience, and reflects the greatest cre¬ dit upon Mr. Wardell, the Architect. Abingdon though not much known in modern times, was a place of con¬ siderable distinction in ecclesiastical history, previous to the so-called reformation. It was the seat of a mitred abbey, (whence its name, Abbatice Oppiduvi) of great antiquity. Interesting remains of this Abbey may be still seen within the premises known as Spen- love’s brewery. It was besides, the birth-place of St. Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury. Abingdon is six miles from Oxford, and within two hours of Lon¬ don, by rail. There are two fine churches in the town which were erected in catholic times, and dedicated to St. Helen and St. Nicholas, but which are now pervert¬ ed to protestant uses. The generous founder of this new catholic mission has presented the church with a costly and richly designed service of antique gold altar- plate, and he (Mr. Bowyer,) is understood to be will¬ ing also to grant a site of three acres of freehold land, to any community of nuns who will undertake to build a convent upon it. ACTON. (W.) A Benedictine mission formerly existed here, but the chapel was closed in 1853. The mission as at pre- CATHOLIC HAND'BOOK. 5 sent constituted, was opened on the Feast of St. Al- phonsus Liguori, in 1848, by the late Father Joseph Butt, Founder and first Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Hammersmith. Father Ignatius preach¬ ed, and the Bishop of Troy officiated. The new mission embraces Turnham Green, Chiswick, Old Brentford, Acton, Ealing and Han well. The first pastor was the Rev. H. Green, who was succeeded by the Rev. J. Clark, who retired in 1852, on account of advanced age and ill health. On the 24th October, 1852, the present incumbent the Rev. J. Bonus, B.D., was ap¬ pointed to the charge of the mission. The number of catholics exceeds 2000, most of whom are poor market garden labourers. Ground has been purchased and plans prepared for the erection of a new and spacious church, schools, presbytery, &c. At present the tem¬ porary chapels are at Turnham Green, Brentford and Hanwell, which will be found described in their proper places. ARUNDEL. (S.) The origin of this Mission may certainly be dated as far back as the time of the “ reformation.” When the change in religion deprived the catholics of their ancient churches, the owners of the castle contented themselves with seeking the comforts of religion in the domestic chapel of St. George, which had been found- 6 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. ed within the precincts of the building, as early as the beginning of the 13th century. Here they assembled their family and their dependants, here the catholics of the neighbourhood still found an asylum for their faith, and here in the face of danger, and the darkest hours of persecution, the Sacred Victim was constantly offered. This chapel of St. George continued to be the chapel of the congregation, as well as the family until the latter end of the last century. At that time, however, Charles Duke of Norfolk was about to alter and enlarge the castle, and with a view to the completion of his design, resolved to remove the chapel to another site. The spot selected for this purpose was without the castle, on a part of the ruins of the old college of the Blessed Trinity,* which having been founded and endowed by Richard, Earl of Arundel, in 1380, had been dismantled at the time of the sup¬ pression of colleges and chantries, and had since been suffered to fall into decay. In one part, however (the south side of the quadrangle,) the external walls still remained tolerably sound. These, therefore, were now repaired : the interior space was fitted up as a chapel and residence for the chaplain ; and from that time to the present it has been dedicated to the services of religion. The first chaplain, whose name is recorded, was the Rev. Charles Cordall, who came to Arundel from Douay, in June 1748, and resided in the castle until April or May, 1755. The next in succession is » A fall anil interesting account of this College will he found in Canon Tierney’s well known History of Arundel, vol. iL p. 575-641. THE CATHOLIC HAND BOOK. 7 unknown, but the third was the Rev. Joseph Addis, who became chaplain in 1722, and held the appoint¬ ment until some time in the year 1780. He was fol¬ lowed by a Mr. Fiswick, and he again by the Rev. Phillip Wyndham, who arrived at Arundel in the sum¬ mer of 17 85, and continued to serve the mission from that time till his retirement at Christmas, 1823. Since that period the incumbent has been the Rev. M. A. Tierney, F.R.S., F.S.A., &c., &c. BALDWIN’S GARDENS. (W.) St. Bridgets. —This very populous and densely crowded locality, has a catholic population of several thousand souls. They are chiefly of the poorest classes, Irish and Italians. The mission was first established by Father Kyne, in 1851, the first priest attached to it being the Rev. D. Toomey. The building used as a chapel is a plain brick structure, converted from trade purposes. It has no architectural pretensions, although the interior is more decent in appearance than might be expected from the extreme poverty of the district. This is one of the poorest missions in London. The good effected by the ministrations of the clergy here is incalculable, and the sympathy of wealthy catholics might be appropriately extended to this district. 8 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. BARNET. (W.) This mission was opened with the approbation of the Cardinal Archbishop, (then the Vicar Apostolic,) in April, 1849, by the Rev. Dr. Faa di Bruno, of Alexan¬ dria, Piedmont. At that time a good number of Ca¬ tholics were congregated in the neighbourhood of Barnet, owing to the works then going on at the Great Northern Railway, and at the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum. Mass was first said in a 1 louse taken for the purpose in High Street, opposite the Salisbury Arms, and service continued to be performed there for about three years. During that time a small sum hav¬ ing been raised by subscription, the purchase of a piece of ground 150 feet by 100 in Union Street was effect¬ ed, the trustees being his Eminence Cardinal Wise¬ man, Rev. Dr. Faa di Bruno, Rev. John Kyne, and Rev. James Bamber. Shortly after the purchase of the ground Mother Olive, Superioress of the Ursuline Nuns, at Settard, Lernbourg, wrote to say that they would gladly contribute towards the erection of the Church, if a piece of the ground was allotted to them for build¬ ing a convent. To this proposal the Cardinal gave his consent, and Dr. Faa di Bruno allotted the largest portion of the ground for the convent. The laying of the foundations of the church took place in 1853, under the direction of Francis Gualand, an Italian architect from Bologna, and as the means would not allow the immediate erection of the church, which was designed on rather an extensive scale, the CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 9 intended poor school for females, (which, according to agreement, was to be erected at the expense of the nuns and conducted by them gratis,) was completed and fitted up as a temporary chapel. The means for the erection of the church and house, have been en¬ tirely collected through the exertions of Dr. Faa di Bruno, almost exclusively abroad in Belgium, Holland, Prussia, &c., but the amount being limited has only sufficed to lay the foundation of the church, and ad¬ vance the erection of the priest’s house, which through additional assistance from the private income of Dr. Faa, is now in course of completion. The Ursuline Nuns gave £300 towards commencing a large convent, but meanwhile having made other arrangements, they would be glad to find some other community to take their place here. As Dr. Faa was obliged to attend to the Italians at the Sardinian chapel in London, and give his attention to the erection of an Italian church in the metropolis, he could not devote the necessary time to obtain money for the new church, but kept the mission constantly supplied. For two years it was served by the Passionist Fathers from the Hyde, but in 1855 the Rev. Dr. Faa resumed his personal care of the mission, and charitably undertook to say mass there every Sunday, although he had also to say mass at 7 o’clock at the Sardinian chapel, and hear the con¬ fessions of the Italians till half-past 9 o’clock, and re¬ turn to preach in Italian at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Of the usual attendants at the chapel, besides the 10 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. few who reside in the town of Barnet, some conn from the more distant towns and villages of Hatfield ; Enfield, St. Albans, ’Watford, Whetstone, Finchley. &c. The immense lunatic asylum at Colney Hatch, is never without some catholic inmates, and this oi course affords occasional extra duties to the missionary priest at Barnet. The militia being established here occasioned an increase in the number of catholics, and during harvest time the number is increased still greater. In such cases the temporary chapel is of course too small and in order to find room, a tent is erected on the premises large enough to accommodate three hundred people. There are at Barnet two very interesting ancient churches, (in protestant hands,) one, probably built by the Benedictines of St. Albans, as an inscription speaks of a prior of St. Albans being buried there. The words “ Pray for the soul,” were however struck out during some recent repairs. The other is called Hadley church, rebuilt about 400 years ago by order of the government, for the sake of haring masses and prayers said for the repose of the souls of the soldiers who died in the battle of Barnet, in April 1471, in which king Edward IV gained the victory, and the earl of War¬ wick was slain. In the second year of the new mission of Barnet the people got so alarmed at the progress of catholicity that they thought it expedient to get the notorious no-popery orator Dr. Cumming, from Crown court, CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 11 - to give two lectures, contrasting the “ Errors of Popery , with the Truths of the Bible.” The effect, however, of these lectures was counteracted by the answers given to Dr. Gumming, on that public occasion, by Dr. Faa, and also by the distribution of a pamphlet setting forth the errors of Protestantism as compared with the Truths of the Bible. A sample of protestant fair play occurred in consequence. The protestants, feeling annoyed at seeing their plan baffled, took ad¬ vantage of Dr. Faa’s temporary absence in France, to procure the delivery of two other lectures from Dr. Cumming, and intimating beforehand that no catholic priest would be allowed to speak. Not only so, but they ! also took the precaution of preventing Dr. Faa obtaining the use of the Hall, when he applied to take it for the purpose of delivering a lecture in reply to the protestant champion. These proceedings have, however, rather promoted than retarded the spread of the true religion, and several conversions have taken place here. An efficient school is now kept at Barnet for the education of the few catholic children, and every hope is entertained that in time this mission null be a flour¬ ishing one. The beauty of the country, the exquisite salubrity of the air, the convenient distance from Lon¬ don, the accommodation of the railway and omnibus, are sure to induce many Catholics to reside in this part of the country, as soon as the new church is com¬ pleted. Mass on Sundays, and Festivals at half past 11. . Evening service at 7 o’clock, except during Lent. Mass on Mondays at 9 o’clock. 12 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. BAYSWATER. (W.) St. Helen’s. —The new church of St. Helen is of go¬ thic design, and presents many features of interest. The schools adjoin, and since the establishment of this mission by Dr. Magee, a few years ago, have served the pur¬ pose a of temporary chapel. They are also gothic, and harmonize with the church, having a neat bell turret. The church is expected to be completed in the course of a few months. Adjoining it is in course of erection a very large presbytery, consisting of a refectory, 41 by 22 feet, common room same size, a cloister, four re¬ ceiving rooms, sixteen bed rooms, and a very large library at the top of the house. The foundation stone of the new church was laid by his Eminence the Car¬ dinal Archbishop of Westminster, on the 2nd Decem¬ ber, 1851. BERMONDSEY. (S.) The church of the Most Holy Trinity, Bermondsey, is a spacious gothic edifice, erected from the designs of Mr. A. W. Pugin. The first stone was laid on the 3rd of August, 1834, by the Right Rev. Dr. Bramston, the then Yicar Apostolic of the London district. The church was formally opened by the same prelate on CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 13 the 16th June, 1835. The plot of ground upon which the Church was erected was purchased at the expense of a benevolent lady, the Baroness Montesquieu, who also bought and furnished a well built adjoining house. A very humble Chapel had previously existed for a few years in East lane, which was of course superseded by the present building. The convent of the Sisters of Mercy adjoins the Church. It is also in the gothic style of architecture, and is in keeping with the Church. Lady Barbara Eyre contributed no less than £1,000, towards its erection. In addition to a large school conducted by the Religious of Our Lady of Mercy there are four other numerously attended schools. The Catholic population attached to the Church of the Holy Trinity is estimated at upwards of nine thousand. BRENTFORD. (W.) St. John’s Chapel. —This chapel (formerly a dis¬ senting meeting-housej has been secured by the exer¬ tions of the Rev. J. Bonus, B.D. It is a plain building devoid of architectural pretensions, conveniently situat¬ ed in the Market-place, and it is hoped that before long this new mission will have important results. It is under the pastoral charge of Mr. Bonus, assisted by the Rev. C. Tunstall. c 14 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. BRENTWOOD. (W.) St. Helens. —This is a gothic structure. It was con¬ secrated on the 26th October, 1837, by the Right Rev. Dr. Griffiths, Y. A., of the London district. It is situated close to the town of Brentwood, on the right hand side of the road leading to Thorndon Hall. The length of the Church is 64 feet, the width 28 feet, and the height 50 feet. It will accommodate about 400 persons. The site for the church was granted by Lord Petre, who also contributed munificently towards its erection. Adjoining the chapel is the residence of the officiating priest. In 1841, the ground adjoining was solemnly blessed by Bishop Griffiths as a place of sepulture. Thorndon Hall. —There is a domestic chapel, open for the use of the parishioners, and a chaplain, at Thorndon Hall, the seat of Lord Petre. It is also gratifying to be able to state that the beautiful devo¬ tions of the “ Stations of the Cross,” can be performed in his Lordship’s park, where are erected full sized representations of the events of that sorrowful journey undertaken by our blessed Lord. In the park is also a chantry chapel, or Mausoleum. This has been recently erected by the present Lord Petre, from designs by Mr. Wardell. The basement forms a spacious crypt, or vault, for the interment of members of the family, and the chapel above is carried out in the best and most appro¬ priate manner, every decoration and inscription hav¬ ing reference to the purpose of the place, and no thought or expense has been spared in its erection. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 15 BRIGHTON. (S.) St. John’s Church. —This Church dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was erected in 1835, and con¬ secrated in the same year, by the Right Rev. Dr. Bram- ston, Vicar Apostolic of the London District. It is situate in Upper St. James Street, at the eastern ex¬ tremity of the town. Though externally it has by no means an imposing appearance, the interior presents a very fair specimen of Italian architecture, but accom¬ modates only about three hundred persons. The altar piece particularly commands attention. It is a sculpture, (by Carew,) representing our Lord’s baptism, by St. John, and was a present from the late Earl of Egremont. There was no resident priest in Brighton, till about the commencement of the present century. For some years previously, the few Catholics of the place were occa¬ sionally visited by the Chaplain of a Catholic family, at West Grinstead, about fifteen miles distant. The Rev. W. Barnes was the first Priest. He was suc¬ ceeded in 1804, by the Abbe J. Mouchel, a French emigrant Priest, who officiated in a very humble room, in Middle- Street, afterwards in premises, in Margaret Street, and subsequently in a house, in High Street. This latter building continued to be used till the present church was erected, as already stated, in 1835. St. John’s was one of the first churches consecrated in this country, after a lapse of nearly three hundred years, pecuniary liabilities in too many cases, preventing the act of consecration being performed upon the erection 16 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. of modern churches. The present building was erected in a great measure, through the self-denial and un¬ wearied exertions of the Rev. Edward Cullen, who became the resident Priest in 1818, having succeeded Dr. Bew, who had officiated since 1811, when the retirement of the Abbe Mouchel, before alluded to, took place. The Rev. Mr. Cullen died in 1850, having passed thirty-two years of an honourable and virtuous life, as the zealous Catholic Pastor of this town. He was succeeded by the present excellent staff of Clergy, Canon Reardon and Messrs. Rymer and Simpson. The site of the present buildings—Chapel, School, and Presoyrery, was given by a liberal Protestant nobleman, the Marquis of Bristol, who also contributed largely to the fund, for the erection of the Presbytery. The Schools were built in 1854. To a pious member of the congregation, Mr. Isaac Cooper, now deceased, is in a great measure due the praise in this respect, conjointly with the Clergy. There is a Convent of Sisters of Mercy—an offshoot from the Bermondsey convent— and by the Sisters are the girls taught. The boys are taught by a certificated master. Up to 1812 the bap¬ tisms (from the commencement of the mission,) aver¬ aged eight a year, they amount now to one hundred an¬ nually. The congregation is estimated at between a thou¬ sand and fifteen hundred. We must not forget to state that the wife of King George IV., better known to the world as Mrs. Fitzherbert, lies buried in the vaults underneath this chapel. She resided for many years CATHOLIC IIAUD-BOOK. 17 * at Brighton, and was a pious and charitable member of the congregation. After her death which took place in Brighton in 1837, a monument was erected in St. John’s church to her memory. BROMPTON. (W.) The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is a parish Church served by the Fathers of the Oratory of St. Philip, whose college and residence it adjoins. It is at present a temporary structure intended before long to give place to a more noble building. It is built of brick, the dimensions being 181 feet in length, and 40 feet in width, the height to the ridge of the roof being 27 feet. It is by no means in its external appearance an ornament to the adjoining college and neighbourhood, but the interior has a more cheer¬ ful aspect, and reminds us of some of the Roman Churches. It has several chapels, that dedicated to the great St. Philip Fieri, contains several valuable paintings, one of which, representing the raising of a noble Roman youth from the dead, by the blessed Saint, is much admired. It is in a gorgeous frame, the offering of a devout lady. In the chapel of St. Mary Magdalene repose the relics of St. Eutropius, Martyr, where they were solemnly deposited by the Cardinal Archbishop on the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul, in 1856. The present temporary church was first solemnly . . /O £££ e/ f/rk+r (0 ♦ /*■ /H f, 18 4 CATHOLIC HAXD-BOOK. opened on March 22nd 1854, when, probably, for the first time, the Adorable Sacrifice was offered in Bromp- ton. The Church was constituted a parish Church in July, 1856, the district assigned to it being partly taken from Chelsea and partly from Kensington. The Church is opened daily for the devotions of the faithful from 6.30 a.m., till 10 p.m., without interruption. Masses are said every half hour from 6.30, till 10 a.m., both on Sundays and week days. High Mass is sung on Sun¬ days, and on all the greater festivals of the Church, at 11 a.m., followed by a sermon. On Sundays at 3.30, the services consist of Vespers, Sermon, and Benediction, and at 7 there are also devotions, with sermon and Benediction. On the evenings of the week there are also devotions at 8, and on the evenings of Thursday and on Festivals Benediction is given. A sermon or lecture is delivered every evening after the devotions in St. Wilfrid’s Hall. The College. —The following account of the di¬ mensions of this handsome building, will give some idea of its extent, &c. The Oratory, 72 feet long, and 30 feet wide, and 29 feet high. The library 72 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 23 feet high. The Refectory, 50 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 28 feet high. The Cor¬ ridors are 169 feet long, 9 feet wide, and 14 feet high. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 19 BUCKLAND. (S.) This church is dedicated to St. George, The first stone was laid on the 26th October, 1846, by the Rev- Dr. Rock, as a delegatus from the Right Rev. the Bishop of Olena, V. A. of the London District. It was built under the direction of Mr. C. Hansom, archi¬ tect, by the pious munificence of Sir Robert Throck¬ morton, Bart., by whom the mission and school is supported. It was opened for divine service on Low Sunday, A.D. 1848. According to the last registra¬ tion the congregation numbered about two hundred. Mass is offered daily at 9 o’clock, (in summer at 8,) and on Sundays, with a discourse, at half-past 10. In the afternoon is Vespers, Instruction and Benediction. There is a mixed school attached to this mission, attended by about fifty children. BUNTIILL ROW. (W.) The Catholic population of this district (as proved by a census taken in the summer of 1856,) is between 4,000 and 5,000. The church is a plain brick structure with stone dressings; and is situate in Lamb’s Build¬ ings, a densely populated locality between Bunhill Row and Chiswell Street. It is semi-Gothic having a well- oroportioned high-pitched, open roof, supported upon stone brackets. There are no aisles nor galleries. The seats, which are all open, are’ 1 stained to imitate carved oak, and afford accommodation for about 400 persons; 20 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. but the Church will hold altogether about 1,000 peop] The gas fittings are of Gothic design and extreme, neat. At the western end of the Church is a raised encl< sure for the choir. The sacristy is on the south-east sid of the Church, having an entrance immediately into tl sanctuary. At the eastern end of the Church is a sem circular recess in which the altar is placed. This aps¬ is more richly decorated than the rest of the building the walls being diapered, and in addition to two paini ed side windows, there is also over the altar a sma. circular painted window containing a representation c the patron saint, St. Joseph, with the lily of purity i his right hand, his head encircled in glory. There ar two sets of well arranged confessionals. The cliurc is 75 feet long, 36 feet wide, and 40 feet high. Under neath are two large and lofty school-rooms. Th church is approached by a flight of steps to a porch and there are two entrances from different streets, am separate entrances to the schools. The church wa solemnly opened on the 1st day of December, 1856, b; His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster in the presence of the Bishops of Southwark and Troy and a number of distinguished ecclesiastics and laymei who attended to pay a tribute of respect to the Pastor the Rev. D. Toomey ; by whose untiring exertions thL much needed church for a poor congregation wa mainly erected. The cost, including the gas fittings etc., amounted to about £2,600. Mr. Kelly, o Thavies Inn, was the architect. The church wa: CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 21 It iuilt on land previously belonging to the Associated Catholic Charities. A mission had been carried on lor a few years, in a dwelling house in the neighbour- (1 nod, and for a short time in a temporary chapel hired or the occasion. The prospects of the Church in this icality, are bright and cheering, now that the poor iiave a temple commodious and spacious, as well as substantial, if not ornamental. BUKTON PARK. (S.) This mission has been combined from an early eriod with the chaplaincy of the family residing here, die chapel which was in the interior of the mansion, Vas thrown open to the neighbouring catholics, and he chaplain of the family was also, as he still is, the >astor of the congregation. In 1826, the original chapel, together with the Teater part of the mansion, was destroyed by fire ; >ut, when the house was rebuilt, a new chapel was rected in immediate communication with it; and there he services of religion have since continued to be per- ormed. CANTEEBUEY. (S.) St. Thomas The Martyr, No. 60, Burgate street, ’his temporary chapel, within the city of twenty-seven anonized saints, was opened at Whitsuntide, 185 6, 22 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. by the Rev. J. Sidden. Of the building all that e; be said at present is, that it is neat and convenien but we sincerely hope that it will shortly give place to church more worthy of St. Thomas’s glorious place ■ martyrdom. It is situate immediately contiguous i the venerable church of St. Mary Magdalene, whic tradition states to have been consecrated by St. Ai selm, the eastern end forms one side of the chapel ei trance. It is close to the precincts of the cathedr: consecrated by the blood of the great martyr of tl 12th century. The faithful cannot forget that the hoi lives and deaths of no less than twenty-seven canoni; ed saints have added lustre to Canterbury, so that catholic mission established here ought to posses great attractions, and be the object of our sympathies prayers, and hopes. It is gratifying and remarkabl to know that the tabernacle, chalice, paten, &c., wer gifts from protestants. The rich green vestments use here were an offering made to St. Thomas by a catholi lady of rank, through Mr. W. H. Chambers, to whos pious care and industrious generosity, so much is du both as regards the chapel and school. The curiously in laid platform on which the priest stands at Mass is visibl; depressed by the tread of English Confessors, perhap martyrs too, who standing on it more than two hun dred years ago, offered to God the One Perpetua Sacrifice at the risk of their lives. It was given by th venerable Mrs. Woodroffe, the last of the Hawkins’s c Nash Court. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 23 “ C ALE HILL. (S.) The chapel here is a private one in Calehill House, le residence of Major Darell. The congregation is omposed principally of the household and dependants f the Darell family, numbering about fifty. A neat presbytery was built a few years ago by the ite Phillip Darell, brother of the present proprietor. It was once in contemplation to erect a new church djoining the presbytery, but this project was aban- oned at least for the present. The town of Ashford, istant five miles, would be a desirable field for a new fission. ! - CHATHAM. (S.) Brompton. —This mission dates back about sixty ears, and was founded by an Irish priest, Father lunkett, in the days of Bishop Douglass. The chapel as on a different site from the present, and is spoken ■ as having been a very fair, creditable building for itholics of that day. It was subsequently pulled own to make room for an artillery barracks, which as erected somewhat more than fifty years ago upon s site. The government gave a sum of money in impensation, with which the present premises were jirchased. Father Plunkett was succeeded by a irench emigrant priest, Father Salmon, who was cer- inly here, as the registers testify, as early as the 24 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. year 1802. He used to celebrate mass for some tin in his private house, but after the two houses, no belonging to the mission, were purchased, a sm: chapel was erected in the back ground, the san with the exception of a few additions, to which oi poverty at present confines us. It is a small woods building raised upon low walls of brick, with a galler together capable of holding about one hundred ar eighty persons. It has since been enlarged by throv ing in the rest of the garden, and now aceommodati about three hundred and fifty, but all symmetry h; been lost, as the additional building rises only to ha the height of the original part, and a low ceiling rui immediately over the heads of the people in this lath part. The external effect of the building, only that is hid from public Hew by the houses in front, is somi what hideous certainly, and the low ceiling makes insufferably close inside, with the densely thronge congregation. The High altar and the side altar < the Blessed Virgin, have been made as ornamental i the means of the place would allow. It is to he hope that before long a new site will be obtained from th government, for the erection of a fair and goodly cliurcl but all applications to that effect have as yet been un successful. The needs of the place are very greai there being generally as many as one thousand fiv hundred Irish soldiers stationed here, and a large civi ban population of more than three thousand Catholics CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 25 , CHEAPSIDE. (W.) THE GERMAN CHAPEL OF ST. BONIFACE. This chapel is situated in a street called Great St. Thomas the Apostle, leading out of Bow lane, Cheap- side, in the city of London. It was formerly a dissent¬ ing meeting house, and at one time was favoured with the patronage and frequent presence of Lord George Gordon, of “ no-popery ” rioting notoriety. In 1809, the premises being unoccupied, the lease was purchased, and from that time this chapel has been frequented by a considerable congregation, many of whom were natives of Germany settled in London, for whose spiritual consolation a German priest has gene¬ rally been attached to the chapel. There is a memorial in this chapel to Father Miith, who long laboured here, upon the tablet being sculptured emblems of the Chris¬ tian priesthood,—sacrifice, endurance and triumph. In 1856 various improvements were made in this church. The exterior was repaired and the cross erected over the entrance. The interior was appro¬ priately decorated and a beautiful altar of Our Lady erected. The statue of the B. V. M. is of stone, finely 'carved and beautifully coloured. It is placed on a pe¬ destal, in a recess, which is hung with drapery, having monograms in gold-colour. The ceiling is of a light blue with stars. In front is an open carved screen. This is one of the most ancient of the metropolitan catholic places of worship. It is situated conveniently D 26 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. for those catholics who are engaged in business i the city. We ought not to omit recording the fat If that the present pious Emperor of Austria, Francis Jo to seph, has lately added another claim to the gratitud to of the German catholics, by nearly doubling the annua for allowance granted by the Austrian government toward the support of this chapel. _ joi CHELMSFOED. (W.) CHUKCH OF THE UI1IACULATE CONCEPTION. This church was the first in England dedicated un¬ der that invocation. It was solemnly opened by Car¬ dinal (then Bishop) Wiseman, on the 21st of October, 1847. Before that time Mass was said in the present school rooms (then in one), which were raised in six weeks of the autumn of the year 1845. The mission was commenced in June of that year, since which time the three schools and the church have been built, as well as a large and .convenient house adjoining pro¬ cured for the priest’s residence. The congregation is about four hundred in number, and in the Charity school, Infant and Middle schools; about one hundred children (though not all of catholic parents) are edu¬ cated. The church is of flint and Bath stone, without pews or fixed seats, and accommodates about one thou¬ sand people. It contains three altars, a baptistry, a confessional, and eleven stained-glass windows. The organ, which has a diapered front, is a very fine instru- CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 27 nent, contains sixteen stops, two rows of keys, and separate pedal organ. The total cost of the church was about £2,500. Mr. J. J. Scoles was the architect. The jhurch is situate in the newest and best part of Chelms- iord, or rather of its suburbs, Moulsham, twenty-nine niles from London. Nine trains from London stop at Chelmsford daily, two express trains performing the journey in less than an hour, so that this beautiful ihurch can readily be seen by the London tourist. Chelmsford is remarkable in statistics for being one of the healthiest places in England; its appearance is daily improving, and some of its public and private buildings very striking for proportion and beauty. The population of the town is about nine thousand. CHELSEA. (W.) St. Mary’s, Chelsea, was founded by the Eev. Abbe Yoyaux de Franous, D.D.,* who spent thirty years of his life in the sacred duties of the ministry in * The Abbe was a professor of the Sorbonne, Hon. Canon of the Royal Chapel of St. Denis, and President of the College des Trenecinque. He nar¬ rowly escaped with his life during a revolutionary attack upon his College, but most of his students were then massacred. He was subsequently solicit¬ ed by two kings of France to return to his native land, where the highest ecclesiastical distinctions awaited him, but his reply was that he could not abandon his beloved flock at Chelsea, He died in November 1840, aged 81. Amongst other ecclesiastics of note who have been at various times attached to this church may be mentioned the late Cardinal Weld, the Right Rev. Bishop Morris, the late Very Rev. Dr. Cox, (V. G., Southwark), Very Rev. Monsignor V. Eyre, &c., &c. 28 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. Chelsea. His first chapel was a poor room over a sh< : in a back street, but his anxiety to found a tempi more worthy of God’s Holy Religion, enabled him t R obtain assistance to erect the present building, which : !;i situate on the north side of Cadogan terrace, Sloan 6 Square. It is worthy of note that in erecting thi s: church the Abbe nad particularly in view the want " of the catholic veterans in the Royal Hospital c 81 Chelsea, where he laboured almost incessantly anion; the hundreds of wounded and infirm soldiers, who a 18 that time were sent from our armies on the continen to the Royal Hospital; and it should not be forgotter that the Duke of York as commander in chief, on th< opening of the church, granted to the catholic soldier: a permission to attend the public exercise of their reli¬ gion, a privilege previously denied them since the so- called reformation. The first stone was laid in 1811, by the Right Rev. Dr. Poynter (V. A. L. D.), on the festival of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, and it was opened on the festival of Saints Peter and Paul, in the following year. The entire cost was about £6,000, of which one-half at least was contributed by the pious founder of the mission. The then royal family of France, and particularly the Duchess of Angouleme, also subscribed considerable sums. The example was followed by several French diplomatists and foreigners of distinction, and not only did the catholic English nobility afford assistance, but it is gratifying to know, that the late lamented Sir R. Peel (then Irish Secretary,) con- CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 29 inributed no less a sum than £300. Externally the church ,] ( iay be considered plain. The dimensions of the interior t< re ninety by thirty feet, and forty feet in height. In i 856 the interior of the church underwent consid¬ erable improvement, the decorations having been exe- i uted by Messrs. Barff and Co., of London and Liver¬ pool. These consist of three altar-pieces, executed in iieal fresco by a Munich artist in their employment, r ’he decorative work in the Italian style is partly in r'esco, partly in encaustic, the ornamental work in the teiling panels containing emblems of the Blessed Virgin. j)n the pilasters are painted the heads of the apostles, ^he general effect of the whole is light and cheerful, peing rich without any approach to the gaudy—artis- . ic effect has been studied with success, and the work a all its details well executed. The principal altar- >iece represents the assumption of the Blessed Virgin ; hose over the side altars are our Blessed Lord bearing n his hand the chalice and sacred Host; and on the pposite side, St. Joseph with the infant Jesus. Panels n imitation of bas-reliefs have been introduced with ffect. The subjects are, over St. Joseph’s altar, the 'light into Egypt—over the altar of the Blessed Sa- rament, the Last Supper ; and that at the side of the Sanctuary is the Annunciation. The Rev. R. G. Mac- aullen, B. D., is the present incumbent of this church. 30 CATHOLIC HAND-HOOK. CHICHESTER. (S.) Kii St. Richard.—T his church was built in 1854, ai I opened in 1855. It is, with the presbytery adjoinin )Vt iii the simplest style ot' early English architecture, ar is built of Purbeck stone. It comprises a nave, cliai cel, and sacristy, and it has a double bell gable at tl * , an west end. The designs are from the pencil of M J] Wardell. and he has evidently sought to make the ne in' catholic church harmonize with the more ancient an venerable monuments of religion by which it is sui 1 ! rounded, and to impress on it the same stamp an character they all bear. •/ CHISLEHURST. (S.) St. Mary’s. —Chisleliurst, which is easily accessibb from Greenwich, from which it lies but a few miles has been described as “a charming rural village situate about midway between the once royal palace at Elthani, and the Episcopal one at Bromley in Kent.’ A new church, dedicated to St. Mary, the Blessec Mother of God, was solemnly opened and consecratec in the month of August, 1854, having occupied about nine months only in its erection. The foundation stone was laid by his Lordship the first Bishop of South¬ wark, on December 8, 1853. From the designs of Mr Wardell, a fair specimen of a little village church has been produced, beautifully constructed of the rag-stone CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK, 31 >f the county, with Bath stone dressings in the middle lointed style, the windows being all two-lighted with [uatre-foiled headings, with the exception of the one iver the altar, which is a rose window, filled with a epresentation of our Divine Redeemer and his Blessed dother surromided by angels and lilies. The plan ncludes nave with north porch, chancel and two sa- .risties, with a residence for the priest adjoining. The nterior is fitted with chairs for three hundred and fiftv . j •/ >ersons. The stations of the cross are fixed in the lave walls. The confessional is at the south-east angle if the nave, where an angle archway receives the peni- ent, the priest being seated in a sacristy separated by he wall and perforated with a square lattice. The '.hurch is situated at an angle of the road nearly oppo- ite the mansion of the munificent founder of the mis- ion and church, Henry Bowden, Esq. CLAPHAM. (S.) CHURCH OF OUR IMMACULATE LADYE OF VICTORIES. The foundation stone of this beautiful church was aid on the feast of St. Alphonsus, 1849. It was so- emnly opened by the Cardinal Archbishop of West- uinster, on the 14th of May 1851 ; and on the festival if St. Edward the confessor, in 1852, the church was 32 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. duly consecrated by His Eminence, in the presence o: the Right Rev. Dr. Grant, bishop of the diocese, and i ii number of distinguished ecclesiastics. The church, * designed by Mr. Wardell, contains most exquisite sculptures and frescoes, and may be safely pronounced ii one of the finest specimens of gothic architecture in or near the metropolis. A fresco, above the chancel : arch, executed by Mr. Settegast, of Coblentz, repre¬ senting the Last Judgement, is greatly admired. The church is built of Kentish rag-stone, and consists of a nave, two aisles, chancel chapels of Saint Alphonsus, and of Saint Joseph. Sacristy and oratory for Fathers, and a porch formed of the lower stage of the tower. The chancel chapels, and entrance porch, are all vaulted with stone groining. The altars are most elaborately : sculptured, that of St. Alphonsus, has the principal events of the life of that Saint, carved in bas-reliefs, i on the reredos ; and that of St. Joseph, the espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the nativity of Our Lord, and the death of St Joseph. The church affords accommodation for about six hundred worshippers. There are no catholic reminiscences of this neigh¬ bourhood prior to 1848, in which year a mission was commenced by the Right Rev. Monsignor George Talbot, D.D., then one of the curates at St. George’s cathedral. The first mass offered up at Clapham in modem times was at St. Anne’s house. In June, 1848, the district was confided to the care of the Re- demptorist Fathers, De Held and Petcherine, who took I CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 33 ) ip their residence at Clapham. After some time, the sathers succeeded in purchasing a house formerly the i, 'esideuce of Lord Teignmoutli, in which a large room e remarkable for its having been the spot where the 1 arnous Protestant Bible Society was founded) served r or three years as a temporary chapel. This house is 1 iow occupied by the Fathers, and it immediately ad- ■ oins the church. A confraternity of the Holy Family i for men,) is established here. The members meet ivery Monday evening. There is now a large eom- nunity of Sisters of Notre Davie in Clapham, who aave a school for voung ladies, numbering between sixty and seventy. The Sisters also have the charge if the poor school for girls. There is also a com¬ munity of the brothers of Christian Doctrine, (founded ly the Y. de la Salle), who have a boarding-school ii then - house, and teach the poor boys. When the mission was first opened by Monsignor Talbot, there were not supposed to be more than fifty or sixty catho¬ des in the locality. A striking instance of progress is therefore perceived in the circumstance of the last Easter communion (1857), amounting to above seven hundred. CLAREMONT. (S.) Since the arrival of the ex-Royal family of France in 1848, a domestic chapel has been in use at Claremont, the chaplain attached to which is at present the Rev. 4bbe Guelle. 34 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. COMMERCIAL ROAD EAST. (W.) Saints Mary and Michael. —“ Old Virginia Stree : Chapel ” is now numbered amongst the things thai 1 were, and in place of the plain brick building so inti¬ mately connected with the events of the last century, and which has now reverted to the Dock Company, we have a spacious and magnificent church, the admiration of all who have seen it, and a fitting termination to the struggles of this extensive and populous mission. The old chapel in Virginia Street was once an hospital for foreign sailors, who, being Catholics, were permitted, through the interest of the Portuguese Ambassador, to have the consolations of religion, but the ministry of the priest was at first very limited. Indeed, not long ago, aged Catholics in this district, were in the habit of speaking of the bed in the Priest’s room, where they heard Mass, such an appendage being considered a ne¬ cessary protection against the intrusive informer. That this was no idle fear, we may infer from the fact, that the Rev. James Webb was tried as a felon, at the Old Bailey, before Lord C. I. Mansfield, in 1762, for exer- 1 cising his priestly functions in this chapel. In 1780, the building was attacked by the protestant rioters and entirely destroyed.* ’ It was afterwards rebuilt in the * Some of the circumstances connected with the destruction of the chapel by the mob, in 1780, are worthy of notice. The officiating clergyman received a communication from the Secretary of State, requesting them to use their 1 influence in preventing the Irish, who inhabited the water side, from opposing the rioters, when they should attack the chapel: they also received frequent I CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 35 ilainest style, totally devoid of any ornament. An irgan was purchased, galleries erected, and other ac- ommodation provided, chiefly through the pious bene- icence of an individual, who expended £1,500 in this Qeritorious work. For some time this chapel sufficed, >ut as the congregation increased, the smallness of the hapel was found to be highly inconvenient. Forty 'ears ago, a subscription was commenced for a new hurch, and under the auspices of the very Rev. Dean lorrabin, arrangements were made for at length, se- uring for the sixteen thousand Catholics of this dis«- trict, a church worthy of their exertions, and a glorious sample of what might be effected by patience, perse- r erance, and self-denial. This new church, situated in he very best part of the Commercial Road, and not in i back street, was solemnly opened on the Festival of he Immaculate Conception in 1856, by the Cardinal Irchbishop of Westminster, in the presence of the ashops of Nottingham, Northampton, and Troy, the oundation stone having been laid by His Eminence on he 24th of May, 1853. In the meantime, however, lformation of the progress of the riot, and notice when it became necessary lat they should themselves attend to their own personal safety. They there- >re visited the Irish, and by their entreaties prevailed upon every man to eep within hia lodgings, and there remain until even the appearance of isturbance should no longer he seen in the neighbourhood. The Rev. M. !oen, in mentioning this circumstance, related that- had he judged proper, e could have assembled within the space of one half-hour, three thousand ien, from amongst the ballast-getters, coal-heavers, &c., and by their assist- vice have protected the chapel, but he thought it right rather to yield to the lishes of the government. One of the Clergy who remained upon the spot, -jntil the last extremity, with difficulty escaped from the infuriated mob. 3G CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. a mission had been inaugurated in Johnson street, i September 1849, on account of the want of accommc dation in Virginia street. The divine mysteries wer first celebrated under a tent. On Christmas eve 1849, the tent was struck, and the altar transferred t the newly-built schools of St. Patrick and St. Austir in Johnson street, the lower, or boys school room having been hastily fitted up for the occasion. Mid night Mass was here chanted in a corner of the oh Stepney parish, where, since the days of the good am benevolent dean Colet, the anniversary of our Divim Saviour’s birth had not been commemorated in the ancient catholic fashion. This school room affordec accommodation for about five hundred persons at eacl Mass. Owing to the opening of the new church, it h now used for the purposes for which it was originally in¬ tended. The following description of the new church appeared in the Weekly Register of December 13th. haring been prepared for that paper by the compiler of the Catholic Hand-book. “ The church is in the gothic style of the decorated period, and is built of Kentish rag with Caen-stone dressings. The tower is at present raised to the height of sixty feet, but will (when the funds admit,) be, together with the spire, of the height of two. hundred and forty feet. The tower stands at the western end of the building, and opens into the nave by a well pro¬ portioned arch, forty-five feet high. In the tower, which thus forms a porch, are two holy-water stoups, CHURCH OF ST. MARY AND ST. MICHAEL, COMMERCIAL ROAD. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 39 'ith carved and crocketted canopies of chaste design nd execution. There is a veiy handsome stone font t the west end of the south aisle. The extreme length of the building is one hundred nd eighty-five feet, and breadth seventy-five feet. It is ivided into nave and aisles, the latter separated from he nave by an arcade of twenty columns, and the ihancel and sanctuary being formed of high flights of teps. There is a novel feature gained by the intro- laction of two figures on pedestals (composed of four lolumns), at the entrance of the chancel—one repre- enting Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and he other St. Patrick. These are by Mr. Phyffers, and leserve great commendation. The high altar is of Caen stone, and is fitted with an mtependium, with representations in three panels upon a gold ground, of the Annunciation, Crucifixion, and St. Michael slaying the Dragon. The reredos is formed in encaustic tiles, and finished by an elaborately carved and battlemented cornice, containing the inscription, “ Dignus est Domine Dens noster accipere gloriam et honorem et virtutem." The throne for the Holy Sacra¬ ment is in the centre of this, and has a noble canopy in stone, decorated with kneeling angels holding crowns, the four evangelists, and finished with a sta¬ tuette of St. Michael the Archangel. Upon the walls of each aisle are a series of carved panels, which in colours upon a gold ground show the stations of the cross, or the events of our Lord’s progress to calvary. 40 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. The flooring is paved with Staffordshire red and blue! tiles, and the interior roof is open timber. A spacious I organ chamber opens into the aisles with three arches I in which is-fixed a new and powerful organ by Bishop,! of Lisson grove. There are three chapels, dedicated to I St. Patrick, the Blessed Virgin, and the Blessed Sacra-1 ment. The two former are, as yet, not fitted with altars, but the latter contains one of Caen stone, the reredos of which is divided into two panels—one repre¬ senting a sculpture of the miraculous multiplication of bread, and the corresponding one the institution of the Blessed Eucharist. These panels are divided by a large and elaborate tabernacle (by Hardman) of beaten brass. The altar front is formed by three marble columns, having alabaster capital and bases, and which divide the compartments. The panels represent the lifting up of the Serpent in the 'Wilderness, and the Crucifixion. There is a cornice of angels to the rere¬ dos. This chapel opens into the north aisle by an arcade of four arches, which are enclosed by an ela¬ borately wrought iron screen. There is a stained-glass window by Hardman, containing in the centre com¬ partment a full length figure of Our Blessed Lord, and adoring angels in the compartments on either side. There are four confessionals, the priest’s compart¬ ments being conveniently arranged with fire places and windows. The interior of the church gives seat accom¬ modation for two thousand five hundred, but with the use of chairs the building would hold one thousand CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 41 nore. The church has been erected from the designs f Mr. W. W. Wardell, of Parliament street and of lampstead, and it is not too much to say that it has licited the warmest admiration from all who have be- teld it. It was designed with a view to meet the ob- ,3Ctions raised by many against Gothic churches, on he ground of their unfitness for the proper exercise 'f church functions, and in this instance the attempt ppears to have been most successful. The great fea- ure which strikes the spectator on entering the vast difice is the open, spacious sanctuary, and the great levation of the altar : every part of the ceremonies can !e distinctly witnessed from every portion of the church, fhere is an absence, too, of heaviness about the building ! diich might be expected from its dimensions ; and this nay be accounted for by the extreme height of the uilding, and from the fact of its possessing clerestory pndows, which, together with the great eastern and vestern windows, and indeed all the others, are re¬ markably well proportioned and of exquisite design. Ve must not omit to mention that near the entrance •f the church is a handsome porter’s lodge, and in the ear is now in course of construction, designed by the ame architect in style to accord with the whole, a pacious presbytery or residence for five priests. 42 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. CRAYFORD. (S.) St. Mart or The Crats. —Until comparatively i very recent period, catholicity was at a very low ebb in this county, the “ garden of England; and that ir which the great apostle of our country landed. Foi some years previous to the erection of St. Mary’s, the Holy Sacrifice had been offered up, once in the month, in the house of Mr. Augustus Applegath, of Crayford, by the priests attached to the Woolwich mission. In July 1840, the Rev. Augustus Applegath, son of the above-named gentleman, was removed from Brighton, and instituted pastor of the new mission, In June 1842, the present chapel was erected on land adjoin¬ ing the house, by Mr. Applegath, having received very liberal assistance from the Yicar Apostolic of the dio¬ cese, the Right Rev. Bishop Griffiths. The chapel is seventy four feet long, by twenty wide, and is entered by a neat northern porch. At the west end, there is a walled recess, originally intended for the baptistery, and paved with encaustic tiles, but it as yet remains, we believe, without a permanent font. The sanctuary is separated from the body of the chapel by a transept, which on the south, leads to the two sacristies, and on the north contains the confessional, and stab’s leading to the pulpit. Opposite the altar there is a very commodious organ gallery, now con¬ taining a very fine toned harmonium. A presbytery and school house, built of Kentish rag CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 43 tone, was erected in 1853 ; and the chapel ground was it the same time enclosed with a handsome fence, oartly of stone, and of wood stained and varnished, vhe ample space around the chapel and presbytery 'ias been very carefully laid out and planted. The congregation of St. Mary’s though not very arge, is very scattered, but has been much decreased >y the late erection of “ Our Blessed Lady’s ” church it Chislehurst, which now provides for the numerous latholics of the picturesque villages of The Cray. In December 1854, the Rev. Augustus Applegath, oeing removed to Windsor, was succeeded by the pre¬ sent pastor, the Rev. Daniel Donovan. Since that leriod, the chapel and altar have been repainted, and decorated ; and a side altar erected in the sanctuary, ■sustaining an image of Our Blessed Lady. Some kind riends of this very poor mission, have, we understand, n part discharged a debt incurred by the erection of he long needed presbytery and school-house. We lave only to add that St. Mary’s is about two miles listant from both the Erith and Dartford stations of he North Kent Railway (both places being pleasantly illuded to in “Household Words”) ; and is about thir- een miles from the metropolis, on the more far-famed md much frequented Dover road. u CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. CROYDON. (S.) St. Mary’s. —Mass on Sundays at half-past 8, andl at 11, a.m. Vespers, with benediction at 5, p.m. OnJ week days Mass at 8 every day. Resident priest Rev. Alphonse David. Catholic population about six hun-| dred. The town of Croydon contains many relics of catho-1 lie ages. Adjoining the church is the ancient arclii- episcopal residence now used as a bleaching-house, and ] in the church itself are several magnificent marble] monuments of the former archbishops of Canterbury, j dressed in full pontificals. DEPTFORD. (S.) Church of the Assumption. —The first stone of this church was laid on the 22nd of June, 1844. A temporary chapel (the gift of the very Rev. Canon R. North) was provided here in 1843. This temporary building is now used foraschool, in which at present about two hundred and sixty children are in regular attendance. Deptford was formerly part of the Greenwich mission, but was erected into a separate mission in 1843 by the late Bishop Griffiths, the Rev. Wm. Marslake being ap¬ pointed the first pastor. The church is a plain struc¬ ture with lancet windows and open roof, wanting moreover a chancel to complete the design. The pres- CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 45 ytery was built in 1855, by the Rev. J. E. North. )eptford was made a missionary rectory in 1856, by le Right Rev. Bishop Grant, when the Rev. J. E. forth was appointed rector. A beautiful statue of Our Blessed Lady was placed i this church, and solemnly blessed by the bishop of le diocese, on the festival of the Immaculate Concep- on, 1855. His Holiness Pius IX, by an indult ated February 10, 1856, granted a special indulgence pplicable to this church. The congregation numbers about five thousand, the reater portion of whom are labourers. The boun- aries of this mission are—on the river from Commer- al dock to the river Ravensboume (otherwise Dept- rd creek), which separates Deptford mission from reenwich. South boundary—a line drawn below Irokely manor. The Brighton railway separates eptford and Peckham missions. The boundary of ent divides Deptford from Bermondsey mission. Ass, Sundays at 9 and 11. Week days at 9. Ves- prs, Sundays at 6. Holydays at 7. Rosary, Wed- :sday and Friday at half-past 7. Confessions, Thurs- tys and Saturdays from 6 till 10 p.m. Church opens ery evening, at half-past 7, for private devotions, len no public service. 46 CATOOLIC HAND-BOOK. EASTBOURNE. (S.) The mission of Eastbourne was doubtless coeval in its origin with the change of religion. Cowdray house in the parish of Eastbourne was the residence of lord Montague and from an early period in the reign o: Elizabeth, became the refuge of many of the clergj from the persecution of the time. Birkhead, the arch¬ priest constantly resided and ultimately died here It was here that he wrote the two affecting letters dated from “ my bed” which canon Tierney has printec in the nth volume of his Dodd’s history, pp. clx elxi ; and here it was that Dr. Smith, the bishop o Chalcedon, often found a home during the troubles and persecutions which assailed him previously to his leaving England in 1629. The chapel, of which the remains may be still distinguished among the ruins served for the joint accommodation of the family ant the catholics in the neighbourhood. It was, however destroyed in the fire which consumed the rest of thi edifice in September 1793; and either then, or per haps a little earlier, the small tenement in the village at present used as a chapel, was appropriated to the services of religion. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 47 EAST HENDRED. (S.) This small, but venerable old chapel, is at least of the thirteenth century, as documents in the possession of the Eyston family, to whom it belongs, refer to it as I far back as that date. The chaplain, before the “ Re¬ formation,” was styled “ Rector Sti. Amandiet Sti. Joan - nis Baptist a:” and had a parsonage house, glebe, and tytlie. From the beginning of the reformation, until ! the year 1687, the chapel was converted into a wood ; house, for the sake of preserving it from destruction. On the 30th of March, 1687, George Eyston, Esq. : began the repairs, and on the 17th of September, of j the same year, the whole was finished. The old stone altar having crumbled away, was replaced by another of wood, and on September 24th, 1687, Father Pacifi- cus, alias Philip Price, a Franciscan Friar, who, then lived in the family, and was afterwards twice provincial of his order, blessed the altar stone. The following day, seven priests said Mass in it, viz., Mr. Price, Messrs. Prosser and Evans, secular priests, Mr. Francis Hildersby, S.J., Mr. Anthony, alias Francis Young, Mr. Weston, and Mr. Hardwick; the three last were Franciscan Friars. Sir Henry More, Bart, of Fawley, and his family, Sir John Courson, Bart, and his first lady, Mr. John Massey, then Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, Mr. Robert Charnock, felloiv of Magdalen, ! Mr. John Augustin, Bernard, Fellow of Brazenose, 43 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. and several catholic laymen of distinction, were present The following year the altar was privileged by Bull The chapel was open to all. The B. Sacrament wa constantly kept in it, with a lamp always burning, am Mass was daily said, until December 11, 1688, whei the Prince of Orange, passing with his army, over tht Golden mile, a road near Hendred, known by tha name till this day, the chapel was entered by some o the soldiers, -who broke the lamp, tore down the Jesu! Maria from the altar, drank out of the chalice, anc then went their way, carrying along with them tht sanctus bell, and an old suit of vestments, with which they dressed up a mawkin, -which they burnt upon 8 bonfire on their arrival in Oxford. From that time Mass ceased till June 24th, 1689, since which time the chapel has been generally used for divine service. Mass on Sundays and Holy days at 10, afternoon service at 8. On weekdays, Mass at half-past 8. The congregation at present numbers about three- hundred, almost exclusively English, and chiefly agri¬ cultural. The Eyston family have preserved their right to the ladye chapel, in the old village church, as the burial place of their family, and keep it railed off from the rest of the building, and locked. Through the late Mrs. Eyston, the sons of Charles Eyston, Esq., J.P., are the direct descend¬ ants, and chief representatives of the great and good Sir Thomas More, the Martyr. The drinking cup of Sir Thomas, and the staff of Bishop Fisher (one of the CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 49 greatest and wisest prelates of England’s church), are imongst the relics still preserved by the Eyston family, ft is an old tradition, that Queen Elizabeth answered me of her courtiers, who, with a view probably to the Hendred Estates, wished to attract her unfavourable notice to the family as recusants, “ Oh ! leave them alone, eave them alone, the Devil will never take the trouble to goto Hendred to fetch them.” Near Hendred was the old Mission of Wiiatcombe, dose to Fawley. The More family, of the latter place, [having become extinct—the last two members were nuns—the property was sold, and the mission was dis¬ continued. The Hendred priest used to hold stations there, whilst there were any Catholics to be attended to. It would be exceedingly desirable to re-establish this mission— not indeed at Whatcombe, which is only a farm house, but at the old town of Wantage, the birthplace of Alfred the Great. A mission there is much needed. It is one of the strongholds of Pusey- !ism. It was at one time hoped that the late Mr. Bastaid, who held a large property in the neighbourhood, would lo for Wantage, what Mr. Bowyer has done for Abing- ion. A Puseyite convent was built by the present mcumbent, but the community was gradually reduced, chiefly by “ defections to Rome,” until it dwindled to three “sisters,” one of whom died, the second became i catholic, and the third ran away. No attempt has Since been made to form another community, t! In Milton House, the seat of John Basil Barrett, 50 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. Esq., J.P., there is a handsome domestic chapel, in the windows of which may be seen fragments of very old stained glass, saved from the vandalism of former times. In the family vault of Milton Church, belonging to the Barrett family, repose the remains of the venerable Bishop Challoner. He was the intimate friend of the family, and used occasionally to spend some days at Milton House. Milton is part of the Hendred mission, and is three miles from Abingdon. FARM STREET. (W.) THB CHURCH OF THE IM1IACULATE CONCEPTION. This church, situated close to Berkeley square, is one of the most highly decorated and complete churches in the metropolis. The style is gothic of the third period. The dimensions are as follows: length of nave one hundred and thirty-six feet, width twenty- eight feet, width across the transept is sixty feet. The height of the chancel internally is fifty-five feet. It is constructed to hold one thousand persons. It is pro¬ posed to add at some future time, to the already im¬ posing entrance in Farm street, a tower and spire, one hundred and sixty feet high. The high altar and great east -window are considered to be most beau¬ tiful specimens (of workmanship. They are the joint production of the late Mr Pugin and Messrs. Scholes^ (the architect) and Wailes. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 51 In addition to a Madonna and child there is also a beautiful statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Con¬ ception. The latter is. appropriately coloured and gilt, and is placed upon a marble shaft and carved stone pedestal against the pillar of the chancel arch, opposite to the pulpit. The height of the image is upwards of five feet. The organ is a large and splendid instru¬ ment, built by Hill. The selection of music at this church is of the very best ecclesiastical character. Magnificent compositions are frequently sung, with a finish and execution rarely excelled. The first stone was laid by the late Rev. Randall Lythgoe, S.J., on the feast of St. Ignatius, in 1844, and the church was opened in the year following. FULHAM. (W.) St. Thomas op Cantekbcry. —This church is a gothic structure, consisting of nave, chancel, and two aisles, having a tower at the north-west corner, and a sacristy and cloister on the north side, communicating with the rectory. The entrance to the church is by the great western door, and by a porch on the south. The high altar at the east end of the church is of a very appro¬ priate design, with richly-carved reredos, above which is a noble window of remarkably good proportions. The windows are of geometric tracery, and when filled with stained glass, will show to greater advantage. At CATHOLIC HAND-HOOK. the end of the north and south aisles are chapels, one being the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament—the other the chapel of our Lady. Near the chancel arch, on the north side, is a Pulpit of Caen stone, with figures of Saints richly carved and gilt on the front, and having a very light and elegant appearance. The aisles, as well as the nave and chancel have open pitched roofs. The church is lit by night by two coro¬ nas suspended from the roof of the nave, and tall plain gas-burners in the aisles. The stalls and seats are of a substantial kind, the latter being low and open, and the former neatly carved and of the best oak. At the north-east corner of the church, is a spacious organ chamber, in which is a very fine organ, of powerful compass. The baptistery is under the tower. The font of stone harmonizes with the general design of the church. The noble tower of stone with its enriched carvings, surmounted by a beautiful spire; the spacious burial ground enclosed by a stone wall, and the com¬ modious schools at the western end; the adjoining stone-built rectory, with its mullioned windows, seem to realize the picture of perfection attained by country parishes in past ages. The first stone of this chnrch was laid by the late beloved and venerable Bishop Griffiths, Vicar Apostolic of the London district on the 16th of June, 1847. It was solemnly opened on the 30th of May, 1848. The first incumbent was the Rev. T. T. Ferguson, D.D., who remained in charge of this new mission until the CATHOLIC HANDBOOK. 53 5tli of October, 1856, when, being compelled to retire on account of ill health, he was succeeded by the very Kev. John Morris, Canon of Northampton, who had previously held the distinguished post of vice Eector of the English College at Rome. Long may the catholics of Fulham have the benefit of the spiritual supervision of this erudite and exemplary ecclesiastic. Fulham is situated about three miles from Charing Cross. Omni- i busses from the City and west-end depart for Fulham j every few minutes. GRAVESEND. fS.) ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. This spacious church is delightfully situated in Milton Road, an elevated part of the town of Gravesend, It was formerly a proprietary chapel belonging to Mr. Blew, a clergyman of the Establishment, from whom it was purchased in July, 1851. The purchase, which included the organ, a very good instrument, and other accessories of divine service, was mainly brought about by a munificent gift of £2,000, from Mr. L. Raphael. The necessary alterations to adapt it for catholic wor¬ ship having been effected, it was solemnly opened as a catholic church by the Bishop of Southwark on October 30th, 1851, on which occasion His Eminence Cardinal Wiseman, Archbishop of Westminster, preached. The church is a large and handsome gothic erection, built 54 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. in 1838. It contains one thousand two hundred sit¬ tings, and is one hundred and twelve feet long, by fifty- two feet wide. The sanctuary is in the form of an apse. The hell tower, or rather turret, contains two bells. A small chapel had been previously in existence in Windmill street, which was originally opened by a Polish exiled priest in 1S40, in which year there was a resident catholic population of about eighty, now in¬ creased to some hundreds. Previous to 1840, there had not been any catholic chapel or church in the town of Gravesend since the miscalled reformation. GREENWICH. (S.) CHURCH OF OUR LADTE STAR OF THE SEA. This magnificent church is beautifully situated on Croom’s Hill, in the upper part of the town of Green¬ wich, and on the edge of the park. Seen from the river, or from the adjacent railway, it forms one of the most prominent objects of the landscape, and affords a proof that the ancient taste in the selection of sites, of which old English ecclesiastical edifices furnish such numerous examples, has not deserted all the church builders of modern days. The building consists of a nave Avith clerestory, tAVO aisles and chancel, AAnth tower and spire. It is constructed of Kentish rag stone, with the mouldings of the AvindoAA r s and door- CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 55 ays executed in Caen stone, which is also the pre- filing material of the interior. The style of architec- ire adopted is the second pointed or ornate variety, le tracery of the windows and foliage of the pillars illowing the best models of this order. It will seat wen hundred persons, but is capable of containing early double that number. The nave is seventy-five et long, the width, including the aisles, being forty-five ?et; the chancel is thirty-two feet long, and twenty :et wide. The principal doorway (which is sur¬ mounted by a figure of the Blessed Virgin, in a niche rith canopy) is at the western end under the spire, he nave is divided from the aisles on each side by six relies, supported on hexagon columns of polished Pur- eck marble, and from the chancel by a lofty and oldly designed arch under which is placed the rood- ireen. The workmanship of the sanctuary is very aborate, the altar being solid, and the panels of le front carved with groups of the Annunciation, Tsitation, and Coronation of the Blessed Virgin. The ibernacle, from Messrs. Hardmans’ manufactory, is of le most costly description. A splendid window, with nine lancet-lights and an legantly designed rose in the upper compartment, sur- lounts the altar, and is filled with stained glass, repre- enting, among other subjects, the Angelic Salutation, ae Birth of Our Saviour, the Adoration of the Magi, nd the Assumption. To the right of the altar is the lapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and to the left that of 56 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. St. Joseph, each having appropriate chromatic decoratioi the prevailing colours gold and red on a white groun< Tlie ceilings are of cedar and mahogany, bearin monograms of the Blessed Virgin’s name and title: springing from cornices richly carved, with the mottoe “ Ave Maria, Stella Maris” involved in foliage. Th height of the tower and spire is one hundred and fift feet. Mr. Wardell, of Hampstead, was the architect o the fabric; the stained glass and other decorations o the interior are by Hardman of Birmingham. This beautiful church was begun by pensioners ii Greenwich Hospital. All they had was one shilling ; week, yet out of that small sum they had laid by theij solitary coppers, and cast them into the treasury. Tht name of the first rector, the much esteemed Canon North, will ever be remembered in connexion with the Church. His exertions in obtaining funds for the pro¬ per establishment of catholicity in Greenwich, can be better imagined than described. GUILDFORD. (S.) The county town of Guildford has at present only a temporary chapel, rented under the earl of Lovelace, lord-lieutenant of the county ol Surrey, by a late con¬ vert, John E. Hutchins, Esq., late M.P. for Lymington. The building, which is in High street, and consists of 4 S* Io«pJjy» id(m« IIbusps, Rraoh Green, XUmmmnutl) €:e£tei unb*; Vt)c S uiminten9«nc« «jf t!)e Dimtois of H)« ftqcb l?o «2 Society- CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 57 large room serving as a cliapel and rooms beneath dmirably adapted for schools, was opened in August, 856, the bishop of the diocese having solemnly blessed he work on the 3rd of that month. The Rev. Joseph iidden is the officiating priest, having also charge of he neighbouring mission at Sutton place. It is hoped hat in a few years a new church may be the fruit of he present humble but hopeful beginning. Mass is aid on Sundays at 11 o’clock. HAM. (S.) St. Mart’s Chapel, Ham, Surrey. —Ham is situ- ited near the river Thames, and is nearly equally listant from Richmond and Kingston. The chapel, ilthough very convenient, is a temporary one, attached o Beaufort house. It is duly registered as a place of worship, and there is a separate entrance for the tublic. HAMMERSMITH. (W.) CHURCH of the most holt trinity, presbytery, AND ALMS-HOUSES. This church was solemnly opened on the 26th iuly, 1853, the foundation stone having been laid on Hay 8th, 1851. It is built of stone, and affords ac- ummodation for a large number of worshippers. Pre- 58 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. vious to its erection, the faithful used to meet in a “ upper chamber ” of an old mission house in the neigh bourhood. The piesent church is about one hundrei and twenty feet long, by sixty-five wide. It consists c nave, two aisles, and a third aisle forming a chape of tlie Blessed Sacrament (first used on Maund Thursday, 1854), a spacious chancel, chapel of tb Blessed Virgin, two sacristies, three confessionals, am a baptistery, formed in the lower stage of the tower and groined in Caen stone. All the east windows ii the church are filled with stained glass by Hardman that in the large window of the chancel representing the history of the Passion of Our Lord. A chambe) in the epistle side of the chancel was intended by th( architect for the organ, hut it is now used as a chapel of St. Paul, and the organ is in a gallery at the west end. In the chancel is a beautiful brass to the memory of the founder, representing a priest vested for Mass, with a chalice and Host. The external appearance ol this church derives an additional interest from its con¬ tiguity to the scarcely less beautiful alms-houses of St. Joseph, the first stone of which was laid by the present duchess of Norfolk, on the 28th May, 1851. The alms-houses are built in a style to correspond with the church, and form together with it a spacious quad¬ rangle. They provide accommodation for forty aged persons. The presbytery, or clergy-house, is com¬ menced, and will communicate with the church by a I cloister. Want of means, however, prevents its com- CATHOLIC IIAND-BOOK. 59 i 'letion, and the same reason prevents the addition of he spire to the tower of the church. Mr. Wardell pas the architect for the whole of these buildings, he church was projected, built, and completed to its iresent state by the late Rev. Joseph Butt, who died ieptemher 27th, 1854. He was succeeded by the resent incumbent the Rev. D. O’Keefe. HAMPSTEAD. (W.) St. Mary’s. —This mission was founded by the late enerable abbe Morel, and the chapel opened about the ear 1815. It was built under his auspices, and opened y the Right Rev. Dr. Poynter. The building will ontain about three hundred, and is in the style of our chapels ” of the last century—except the front next he road, which, about three years ago, showing symp- ons of a “falling sickness,” Mr. Wardell was en- aged to prescribe for it, and he added the present •ont, which not only forms a complete buttress and ecurity to the other, but is also of ecclesiastical cha- acter. It is in the Italian style, and we think happily, )r any attempt to gothicise the old would be ludi- rously out of place. There is a handsome doric door¬ way and entablature in the entrance ; over which is niche with a full-size figure, in Caen stone, of the ilessed Virgin, and the whole is finished with a charac- sristic bell gable. It reminds one of the way-side chapels 60 CATHOLIC nAND-BOOK. of Italy, and is certainly tlie best that could be don with the old front. Li March, 1857, a stone altar-toml designed by Mr. Warded, was erected by subscriptio to the memory of the abbe Morel. It is richly sculp tured, and has a recumbent portrait effigy of the piou founder of the mission. HACKNEY. (W) St. John the Baptist. —Atemporary chapel former! existed in London Lane, opposite St. Thomas’s Square which in 1848 was closed, upon the opening in tha year of the present remarkably neat gothic edifice The church of St. John was built from Mr. Wardell’ designs. It is of decorated gothic architecture, ant comprises nave, chancel, north aisle, and sacristy Preparations are made in the south wall for the addi tion of the southern aisle, which is much wanted, ant will be carried out as soon as means can be found fo it. The church is built of stone, and affords accommo dation for about 400 worshippers. It is about seventy five feet long, by thirty-three wide. It has an excellen rood screen and elaborately carved stone altar—and al the windows of the chancel are filled with stained glass by Ward and Nixon. There is a bell-cot and spire a the west end of the church, the bell- cot being corbellec out from the west wall on angel corbels, and the spirt rising to the height of about sixty-five feet. The tota cost of this church was £2,000. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 61 A beautiful brass was placed, in 1856, in the chancel, over the resting-place of the founder and first rector, the Rev. J. Lecuona, who died in 1855. It is a very fine specimen of workmanship. Mr. Lecuona was a Spanish catholic missionary. He was an ecclesiastic of profound learning and great piety. Among his pub¬ lished works is a very able pamphlet in reply to some writings of Dr. Pusey, in which the pretensions of the Doctor and his adherents are severely criticised. The present rector of the church is the Rev. J. P. Kaye. HAN WELL. (W.) St. Augustine. —This is a temporary chapel, in a separate part of Clifden Lodge, the residence of a be¬ nevolent lady, who has offered a site for a new church, if funds can be obtained. It serves for the Ealing and Hanwell portion of the flock committed to the charge of the Rev. J. Bonus, B.D., of Acton and Turnliam Green. — HASTINGS. (S.) ST. leonard’s-on-sea. All Souls’. —This mission was established by the late Rev. J. Jones, and there is now attached to it a spacious convent and training schools. The religious, 62 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. are of the society of the Holy Child Jesus, and they have a school for the education of young ladies of the higher classes, as well as a training school for teachers and a poor school attached. There is a large church commenced, but which has for some years been at a stand-still; the other buildings are very spacious, but quite devoid of architectural pretensions. Some addi¬ tions to the training schools are however now being made, from Mr. Wardell’s designs, which promise much better things. HERTFORD. (W.) There is a mission here, at present, temporarily served from S. Edmund’s College, Old Hall Green, Ware. HORSHAM. (S.) The chapel was formed by Charles, Duke of Norfolk, and opened by Bishop Poynter, as a substitute for the ancient chapel at Roughey House, two miles from Horsham—an estate which the Duke had purchased from the Weston family, of Sutton Place, near Guildford, the ancient patrons of the Roughey mission. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 68 HYDE, NORTH, NEAR HOUNSLOW. (W.) St. Mart’s Chdrch. —This church, in connection ■with St. Mary’s orphanage, was opened on the festival of Corpus Christi, 1854, by His Eminence, the Cardi¬ nal Archbishop of Westminster, who preached on the occasion. The church is gothic, consisting of a nave, chancel, south porch, sacristy, organ loft, and bell turret, with gilt cross over the western entrance. It has a very good chancel arch, and the proportions are altogether very good. On each side of the chancel are recesses for chapels, containing statues of Our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph. The church is lighted by means of triplet lancet windows. It is near the Southall station of the Great Western Railway, and is therefore easily accessible from town. HOLLOWAY. (W.) chapeC of the angel guardians. Holloway is an outlying district of the extensive rectorate of Islington. In the year 1854, in order to provide more effectually for the spiritual benefit of his flock, the Very Rev. Canon Oakeley, Rector of Isling¬ ton, established a mission, at No. 5, Albany Place. In I the course of a few months, the resident congregation largely increasing, it was found necessary to procure more commodious premises, and accordingly a tempo¬ rary chapel was fitted up at No. 19, Cornwall Place. 64 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. The chapel consists, for the present, of the whole of the ground-floor of the house, and an addition of some con¬ siderable extent erected in the garden at the back of the house. The interior is fitted up with considerable taste, and has a very neat appearance. The convent of Fran¬ ciscan Nuns is at No. 18, Cornwall Terrace, and there being a screened communication between the chapel and convent, the inmates of the convent are enabled to hear Mass in their choir, which is, of course, enclosed, so as not to be within view of the congregation. The first resident priest was the Rev. Mr. Dale, now of Tottenham. He was succeeded, for a time, by a Spanish ecclesiastic. The present clergyman is the Rev. Father Podolski, who was chaplain to the Polish Legion, during the Crimean campaign. He is also chaplain to the Franciscan convent, the nuns of which exclusively devote themselves to education, particularly of the poor. Canon Oakeley, in whose rectorate this chapel is situ¬ ated, takes great interest in this locality, and it is to be hoped that from the beginning already made, a spacious church and schools will ere long arise. The chapel was opened by Canon Maguire, Vicar General, on Monday, June 11, 1855. This district mission may be said to have grown out of a school¬ room, which had been opened the previous year by the munificence of the countess of Shrewsbury and other benefactors. The fine-toned chapel bell is the gift of J. Mears, Esq. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 65 THE HYDE. Retreat of St. Joseph. —The order of Passionist Fathers was first introduced into England in 1846, chiefly at the instigation of Cardinal Wiseman, who was at that time coadjutor to Dr. Walsh. Their first house was opened at Stone, in Staffordshire ; the second, near Stroud, in Gloucestershire; and, in 1848, Father Dominic succeeded in procuring Poplar house, West end, Hampstead, Cardinal Wiseman, then Vicar Apostolic of the London district, having expressed a strong desire to have an establishment in the neigh¬ bourhood of London, where the Fathers would be of great service in giving retreats and missions. Mass was first offered in this house by Father Dominic, on the Sunday within the octave of the Ascension. On April 15th, 1849, Father Dominic visited the village of Hyde for the first time, and there celebrated Mass. This distinguished Father died on August 27th, 1849. His loss was most severely felt, tie was succeeded as Pro-Provincial by Father Ignatius of St. Paul. The Fathers took up their abode at The Hyde on December 15th, 1849. In the following year, a piece of ground was purchased, and the foundation stone of the present building laid on the 19th of Jan. 1852. The plans, as originally designed, were however not carried out, owing to various circumstances. The temporary chapel was subsequently enlarged, and solemnly opened on the festival of St. Augustine in 1853. There are three 66 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. altars—the high altar, dedicated to St. Joseph, and two side altars, one in honour of Our Lady of Dolours, and the other to Blessed Paul of the Cross. A relic of the blessed founder was graciously presented to the church in October, 1853. In the following year the premises were further improved, and an additional building erected. St Joseph’s Retreat is about half a mile from the Edgware Road, on the left hand coming from London. It is a very retired and secluded spot. INGATESTONE HALL. St. Erconwald. —Ingatestone Hall came into the possession of the Petre family at the suppression of religious houses in the reign of Henry VIH. Its chapel is a small building, with a gallery over the entrance, situated in the middle of the present front of the edifice. It could accommodate about one hundred and fifty in the body and gallery, and many more in a space that adjoins the gallery, but where the sanctuary cannot be seen. The interior is very neat; with something approaching to richness, from the marbling and gilding in the sanctuary. The chapel underwent considerable decoration in 1852; on the first of Septem¬ ber in which year, after a brief interval, it was re-opened by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. The patron is St. Erconwald, Bishop of London, and founder of the Abbey of Barking, to the Abbess of which the CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 67 [all and its lands belonged. The head of the Petre mil y having ever been true to the catholic faith, and aving always owned the Hall, and at different times jsided there, there has been a continuance of catholic orship in its little chapel, which is in itself of pecu- ar and painful interest. In a projection of the south •ont of the hall a “ priest’s hiding-place ” was dis- ivered in the autumn of 1855. A recent publication* ives the following particulars of it:—“ The entrance > this secret chamber is from a small room attached ) what was probably the host’s bed-room, on the liddle floor. In the south-east corner the floor boards ere found to be decayed : on their removal, another lyer of loose boards was observed to cover a hole or ’ap, about two feet square. A ladder, perhaps two enturies old, remained beneath. The existence of this 3cret asylum must have been familiar to the heads of re family for several generations : indeed, evidence of ris is afforded by a packing-case, directed 4 for the light Honble. the Lady Petre, at Ingatestone Hall, in Essex.” The wood is much decayed, and the style of ie writing firm and antiquated. The Petre family left ae Hall between the years 1770 and 1780. The hiding- lace measures fourteen feet in length, two feet one ich in width, and ten feet in height. Its floor-level |J the natural ground line : the floor is spread with nine iches of remarkably dry sand, so as to exclude damp * Twenty-two of the Churches of Essex, Architecturally Described and j lustrated. By George Buckler. 68 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. or moisture. A cursory examination of the sai brought to light a few bones, small enough to be tho of a bird; and, in all probability, the remains of foi supplied to some unfortunate occupant during confin ment. The state of the law rendered these hidinj places necessary: for, late in the sixteenth centur and early in the seventeenth, the celebration Mass in this country was strictly forbidden. It w; illegal to use the chapel. The priest therefore celebrat* Mass secretly in a chamber, opening from which was hiding-place, to which he could retreat in time < danger, and where also the vestments, altar-fumitun missal, crucifix, and sacred vessels, were kept in trunk.” The Rev. Mr. Page, mentioned in “ Challoner Missionary Priests,” was chaplain to lady Petre at th: place, before his execution at Chelmsford. The Re\ Mr. Manning, a century since, wrote his well know “ Discourses ” when pastor at Ingatestone Hall. Bisho' Berrington, of the Midland district, and his brothe Thomas, were formerly of the number of its chaplains The Very Rev. Canon Last, Secretary to the Chapte of Westminster, is the present deservedly respectec pastor. There is also an alms-row here for four men am eight women, founded in the reign of Philip and Mary by Sir William Petre, and endowed by him and bj his heirs since. There is a little oratory in the alms- row, where Mass is occasionally said by the priest o Ingatestone Hall, who is master of the corporation under letters patent The oratory is dedicated to St, CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 69 lilberga, sister to St. Erconwald, and first abbess of Mary’s, Barking. Ingatestone Hall mission has :cently been erected into a missionary rectorate, and imprises Southend, Shoebury, and all Rochford Hun- led. There is a station at Ingatestone, on the Eastern ranties line, twenty-three miles from London The untry around is very undulating, beautiful and :althy. ISLEWORTH. (W.) CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND ST. BRIDGET. This church, of which the Right Rev. Monsignor r eld is the rector, is situated in Shrewsbury Place, was endowed by property in trust, for the support ' a resident clergyman, by the Shrewsbury family, at me former period, when they had a mansion on the te of the present mission premises. It appears that is residence was broken up, and the property sold, or herwise disposed of, with the exception of what was en and there conveyed in trust for ever for the sup- >rt of the mission. This must have happened a long ne ago, as no one now resident in Isleworth ,n remember it, and as the last resident clergyman, e Rev. Anthony Wareing, lived here forty-five years, jid died in the spring of 1855. Few, if any, can remem- :r his taking charge of the mission. The baptismal 70 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. register dates as far back as the year 1675. The pi mises consisted of a small chapel, about forty feet lo | by sixteen wide, badly constructed and scantily su plied. Mr Wareing died early in 1855, and t' duties of the mission were for a time discharged by t Rev. S. Faenza, and at midsummer Monsignor We was appointed missionary rector. On arriving he: he found the new rectory premises all but falling ii: ruins, and a sad want of chapel and altar furnitm He immediately made arrangements for the erection a chapel, which is so contrived that the old chap forms the sanctuary of the new one. It has late been decorated, in a very chaste and handsor manner, by Messrs. Ross and Son, of Du street, Manchester square. The size of the chap is sixty feet long by thirty wide, and with : two galleries will accommodate three hundred ai sixty persons. An organ is still wanting. Monsign Weld completed a good work, commenced by M Faenza; viz., the establishment of a boys’ schot; It is taught by a certificated master, and attended 1 about fifty boys, who, three years ago, were either the streets or in protestant schools, through want of catholic school in the neighbourhood. This school, f, the present, is held in the church, but proper buildin will be erected as soon as a convenient site can be o tained. About sixteen years ago, a community of Nur “ Faithful Companions of Jesus,” bought the premise called “ Gumley House,” with its extensive ground! CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 71 ecI opened a boarding-school for young ladies. They Ive built a school-room on their premises for the poor pis of the mission, to whom they give instruction ; so tit the mission is provided gratuitously with a girls’ siool for the poor. The services are, on Sundays, ]gh Mass and sermon at 11 o’clock ; vespers, benedic- tn and sermon at 6 t? o’clock. On Tuesdays and bursdays, Mass at 9 o’clock. ISLINGTON. (W.) St. John the Evangelist. The style of this church is Anglo-Norman ; the ground plan, that of the Basilica of St. Clement, at Borne. It was built under the direction of Mr. Scoles. The founda¬ tion-stone was laid by the Right Rev. Dr. Griffiths, Y.A. L.D., on the 27th of September, 1841, and the church was completed in 1843. The following are the dimensions on the outside. Length, one- THE evangelist, Islington, hundred and forty-four i 72 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. feet, six inches; -width, seventy-feet. The height of eai of the two spires (not yet carried up) will be one hundri and thirty feet. The height to the cross, on the apex the pediment, is seventy-eight feet. The front elevatio at the eastern end, consists of a central compartment, tl whole width of the nave, flanked by two towers, eat fifteen feet square, terminating with spires. The princ pal entrance is formed by a noble semicircular archwa above which are three semi-circular headed windows over these is a beautiful catherine-wheel window, ar the whole is surmounted by a lofty pediment, who: apex is crowned with a beautifully perforated cros The whole of the decorations are of stone; the othi parts are constructed of red brick, which is found 1 harmonise well with the stone-work, and to endure tl smoke of London and the inclemency of the weath better than other kind of brick-work. Entering by tl large doors, in the street facade, we have before us a uninterrupted sweep of one hundred and thirty-seve feet, 6 inches. The height to the ridge is about sevent feet, and the clear width between the main walls fort feet. The range of windows in the clerestory is i perfect keeping with the whole structure—bold, higl raised, uniform, and very impressive. The side chapel opening into the great nave by characteristic Nor man archways, have an imposing effect. The chancel; very bold, and, with its lights high-raised as those of tl clerestory, has all the dignity which befits it. Tl archway over the sanctuary, from its extreme altitude CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 73 ind exquisite workmanship, has a noble appearance, fhere will be a gallery over the entrance doors, but no lide galleries, and consequently no columns to obstruct he view of the altar. The stone pulpit is also placed o as to avoid any obstruction. It is built out from he south wall, and is approached by a flight of steps eading only from the inner sacristy. Altogether, it may ;afely be said that space and convenience have been {studied throughout the whole of the design. There ire three side chapels. The chapel of the Most Holy {Sacrament is beautifully decorated, the walls being sainted in the Lombardo style, from the designs of Mr. Bullmer. The other chapels are dedicated to Our Blessed Lady, and to St. Francis of Assisi. The confes¬ sionals are on the south side of the church. They are most perfectly arranged, the priests’ entrance being from the inner sacristy. There are a number of paint¬ ings in this church, five of which (copied by himself) from celebrated master-pieces, have been presented by Mr. Kenelm Digby. Directly under the chancel is a crypt, or mortuary chapel, but this, as well as the spa¬ cious cemetery adjoining the church, is now no longer used. The rectory house is on the south side of the church, and there is a cloistered communication to the sacristy, as well as a communication to the eastern end. St. John’s church is celebrated for its musical services. It has been very truly stated, that “ in this church, all the parts of the Mass and Vespers are sung with every practical attention to rubrical accuracy.” H 74 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. KENSINGTON. (W.) St. Mary Abbots.—This chapel is situate in Hol¬ land street, close to the principal street in Kensington It is a plain unpretending edifice, the cross upon its front being the only feature to distinguish it from ar ordinary dissenting meeting-house. Its interior has ar air of remarkable neatness. The building itself is at oblong square, built north and south, and capable o accommodating about three hundred persons. It is lit by three windows at the northern end, and one win¬ dow at the eastern and western sides. It is devoid o ornament, except at the south end, where the altar L‘ raised between two pilasters. The body of the chape is fitted with low open seats, and at the northern enc is a spacious gallery. Notwithstanding the catholii parish of Kensington has been diminished in size, bj the assignment of a parish to the Oratory at Brompton the accommodation is miserably deficient for the catho¬ lics of this locality, and a spacious church is muct needed. In tracing the origin of the mission at Kensington it is necessary to look back to the early times of tbt French revolution, when the French clergy poured intc England from every part of France, and located them¬ selves in parts of the country where a catholic priest had neither been seen or known for centuries, nor at a catholic priest would they have dared to appear These good and venerable men were received by al CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 75 classes, and of every religious denomination; rich and Door, welcomed them to share their means, in bestow¬ ing which, they were rewarded an hundred-fold by receiving from their lips the truths of salvation, and in eery many instances being themselves fed with the bread of life. About this time some French Jesuits opened a school at Kensington house, where the very few catholics then residing in Kensington were per¬ mitted to hear Mass; these consisted of only three families, and a very few individuals. About 1806, this establishment was broken up, but still some few of the clergy remained, and Mass was continued to be offered; when Mr. Kendall and Sir. Richard Gillow, who formed two of the families above named, were using their most earnest endeavours to secure the means and continu¬ ance of catholic worship by establishing a regular mis¬ sion, and each contributed liberally towards the erec¬ tion of a chapel, and suitable residence for a priest. Mr. Kendall, in the first instance, gave £200, with many requisites for the altar. Mr. Richard Gillow, from his own purse, and contributions among his friends, realized £500, and also the present altar-piece, which is said to be valuable. A lease of the ground was now purchased, and the chapel built and opened. The Rev. Gilles Yielle was the first priest established here, and his house, which was erected at the same time with the chapel, was furnished for him, neatly and respectably ; he was much beloved and respected. He gave lessons in French, which assisted towards his 7 6 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. maintenance, and what was deficient in this, was made up by his willing little flock. The wine and candles for the altar were furnished jointly by Mr. Kendall and Mr. Gillow. Mr Yielle died on the 27th of August 1823, and lies buried in the old church yard, as neai as possible to the end of the garden wall belonging to the chapel house. He was succeeded by the Rev. Dominic Le Houx, in whose time the poor schools were established ; he did otherwise much good, and w r as a worthy, zealous priest. He lived to see a numerous and increasing congregation, and the chapel enlarged by the depth of the present sanctuary. He died January 4th, 1840, aged 75, leaving the Rev. William Bugden, (who had for some time assisted him in his pastoral duties,) his successor. This reverend gentleman also took an interest in the schools; he was a kind and liberal benefactor to the poor boys, many of whom owe their establishment in life to him, and to his exertions. He died August 17th, 1851, aged 42. He was suc¬ ceeded by the Rev. Charles Woollett, the present pas¬ tor, whose exertions for renovating the chapel, &c., have been very great, and the congregation are much indebted to him for the sacrifices he has made, both of time, health, and his own personal property, towards; improving the premises and rendering them more suited to an increasing congregation, which when assembled must excite both admiration and gratitude towards the : Dispenser of all blessings, to witness how much the small grain of good seed so humbly sown, has increased* CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 77 and tine former little chapel, then almost empty, now enlarged and filled by devont suppliants forming alto¬ gether a numerous congregation. KENTISH TOWN. (W.) A Mission was opened here (somewhat irregularly), in the year 1846. A chapel was built in 1847, and a school-room attached to it. In June, 1854, the chapel was, however, closed by order of the diocesan. From this time for several months the Passionist Fathers from The Hyde, served this place. In Septem¬ ber 1854, the present pastor, (Rev. R. Swift,) was ap¬ pointed. Fora space of fifteen months, the congrega¬ tion were compelled to put up with two small rooms, capable of holding about one hundred persons. In December, 1855, a piece of freehold ground was pur¬ chased, (funds being provided by the Cardinal Arch¬ bishop of Westminster,) and three cottages which stood upon the land have been converted into a temporary chapel, capable of affording accommodation for about two hundred persons. It is dedicated to Our Blessed Lady the Help of Christians. It is also used for the schools (mixed). It is situated in Fortess place, Junction road, Kentish Town, an excellent site for a spacious church, which is much needed here. The zealous pastor has already appealed for funds, and it is satisfactory to know that several contributions have 78 CATHOI.IC HAND-BOOR. been received, or promised, towards effecting this de¬ sirable object. The services on Sundays are, two Masses, at 8 and 11 o’clock, with sermon at the latter. Catechism and Instruction at 3 o’clock, and evening service with sermon at 7 o’clock. On Week-days there is Mass at 8 o’clock, and devotions and instruction on several evenings in the week. KINGSTON. (S.) St. Raphael’s Church. —This church was opened for public worship in September, 1850. It is delight¬ fully situated on the banks of the Thames, within halt a mile of the ancient town of Kingston, in Surrey, and in the rapidly increasing railway village of Surbiton, twelve miles from London. It is built in the Lom- bardic style of architecture, and was a noble offering of Alexander Raphael, deceased, formerly M.P. for St. Albans. It is built of Bath stone, and consists of western tower, nave, aisles, chancel, founder’s tribune, and sacristy, and is flanked on either side by a priest’s. 1 house and schools. The dimensions of the church are as follows :—tower, sixteen feet square ; nave and aisles, forty-five by forty-four, and forty-three high; and chancel, 22 ; making the total internal length, eighty-' three feet. The tower is surmounted by a low roof and large gilt cross, which is nearly eighty feet above the ground; it contains a clock, which rings the CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 79 1 Angelus,” at the proper hours. The church is entered >y the tower, which is separated from the nave by ,n open screen of iron-work. Above, on the first stage, Is the organ gallery, which contains a fine instrument, >y Bishop. The nave is divided from the aisles by tillars and arches of Portland stone, above which rises L clerestory lit with triplets. The roofs are of timber, ipen to the ceiling. The floor is laid with red and vhite tiles of hexagonal form. The nave only is Hied with low open benches, and the separation of the exes is observed as in the olden time. A bench runs ound the aisle walls. At the west end of the north isle is the font. This, as well as the altar, pulpit, and loly-water stoups, are formed of Sicilian marble, and re of a very simple construction. The confessional tands at the west end of the south aisle. Elegant tandards for wax candles are fixed between the arches n the nave. The chancel is raised one step above the lave, has low communion rails, and plain oaken sedilia eats for acolyths. The floor is composed of Italian narble. Open screens on each side separate from the ounder’s tribune on the south, and sacristy on the lorth. The whole of the windows of the church are tartly stained in a floriated pattern. The three east windows of the chancel contain figures of Our Divine 1 redeemer, His Blessed Mother, and St. Raphael. The atter figure is erect, and occupies the centre window, vliile the two former are represented kneeling, at the ide windows, the effect of which arrangement is strik- 80 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. ingly bad. Beneath the chancel a vault is constructe( and east of the church a small burial ground is lai out, with a large iron cross in the centre. KINGSLAND. (W.) CHURCH OF OUR LADY AND SAINT JOSEPH. This church was solemnly opened on the 29th c September, 1856, the festival of St. Michael, by H: Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop, in the presence c the Lord Bishop of Nottingham, (who sang the hig Mass) and other distinguished personages. The dis trict assigned to it is partly taken from Hackney an Islington, between which parishes Kingsland is situ ated. Mass was first offered up in Kingsland, in th house of Mr. Thomas Kelly, a catholic gentleman, wh subsequently fitted up a temporary chapel upon hi premises, and afterwards materially assisted the ex cellent Fathers of Charity in providing the presen church. It is situate in the Tottenham road, near th Kingsland main road. The presbytery, which adjoin the church, fronts the Culford road. The church is . spacious brick edifice. It was originally built fo manufacturing purposes, but was converted to its pre sent holy purpose under the judicious management c: Mr. Wardell. Externally it has not much pretension to beauty or ecclesiastical character. It is, however CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 81 pacious and reasonably convenient. Two crosses sur- Dount tlie apex of the roof, at the east and west ends. Jnderneath the church are spacious and convenient chool-rooms, and the church and presbytery are en- losed by a stone wall. The church accommodates bout six hundred people, and the schools about five mndred children. The division of the chancel from the body of the hurch is formed of a flight of steps of considerable levation, and on each side is a screened enclosure— he one used for the organ chamber and choir, and the ither for the sacristy. At the western ends of these nclosures are the side altars. The high altar is rranged strictly in accordance with the requirements of he Synod, and has an admirable baldachino, reredos, ,nd frontal. The principal feature is the reredos, and his is divided into three compartments, containing )ictures, nearly life size, on a gold ground. The sub- ect in the centre compartment is Our Blessed Lord, lolding in his right hand the Sacred Host; in the rthers, is a figure of St. Augustin of Hippo and St. i'homas Aquinas. The roof immediately over the church is deco- ated by being divided into panels of a blue ground vith borders, and with the monograms of Our Lord nd the Blessed Virgin, alternated. The decorations if the chancel, by Mr. Barff, are most successful. 82 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS. (W.) St. Anselm’s*. —At the commencement of the reigi of King James II., the Franciscans took a lease of th. premises and chapel in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. When tin news reached London that the prince of Orange ka( effected his landing at Brixham, early in November 1688, their establishment was threatened by the Lon don mob. Bishop Leyburn, at the express order o King James II., ordered the Franciscans, on the loti November, to retire; and on the next day they de camped and provided for their own safety, at a loss, say their provincial, F. John Cross, of upwards of £3,000 The chapel was subsequently placed under the protec tion of the Sardinian ambassador, but no pulpit wa permitted. A Mr. Franklin became a convert to thi church here in 1722. He afterwards was ordained at Lisbon, and then came back to the English mission The Gordon “no-popery” riots of 1780, commenced with the demolition of this chapel. It was afterward rebuilt as it now exists. In April, 1853, one of th present chaplains wrote of the place as follows “ Ten or a dozen years ago, it was decidedly the ug liest and most inconvenient chapel in the district Poor Pugin called it a dirty, ugly old barracks. Dur * Opposite the church (in which Nollekens, the Sculptor, was baptised ii 1737,) lived Benjamin Franklin, when employed as a journeyman printer, a Watts’s office, in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. He paid rent two shillings per week — Cunningham. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 83 lg the last six years about £1,700, have been spent in ecessary repairs and alterations.” These alterations rere principally effected in 1851, when a new gallery nd two hundred and fifty-two additional sittings rere provided. This church has one of the finest rgans (recently erected,) to be met with in any place if worship in London. Some years ago this was one f the most fashionable, but now it is one of the poor- st churches in the metropolis. MANCHESTER SQUARE. (W.) st. james’s church, Spanish place. This church was erected about the year 1792, nder the superintendence, and in a great measure at be expense, of the Right Rev. Dr. Hussey. It was uring a series of years supported by, and was under be immediate protection of, the Spanish government, t has been much improved and enlarged in later years, nd is a very fair specimen of Italian architecture. The y the late Mr. Pugin, and solemnly opened in 1840. t was one of Mr. Pugin’s earliest works, and forms a onspicuous and pleasing object from the neighbouring ailway. The windows are all of stained glass, each ontaining the figure of a saint. The walls have been istefully decorated, and polychrome has also been applied in the decoration of the sanctuary. 'he pulpit is of stone, and the font is also of the same material, but of greater interest, inasmuch as it has een converted to its present use out of the capital of ne of the columns of the ancient abbey. The floor of he nave is also laid with portions of tesselated pave- ient dug up out of the ruins of the old abbey. At ae western end of the church is a gallery containing a ery fine organ with a diapered front. The site of the :hurch was happily secured, to the great joy of all itholics, by Mr. Wheble, a catholic gentleman of ierkshire, whose generosity is proverbial. Reading bbey was one of the most celebrated Benedictine reli- ious houses of England. Many of its abbots and lonks were famous for their learning. The abbots ere mitred, and had a seat in parliament. The first bbot was Hugh Prior who became Bishop of Rouen, he last abbot was Hugh Farringdon, and he, together ith two of the monks were hanged and quartered at leading for their allegiance to God’s church, in Nov. 539, seven months after the dissolution of the abbey and he robbery of its possessions, by the tyrannical Henry III, the father of the English “reformation.” The 108 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. abbey had lasted above 400 years, (under tbirty-om abbots,) the source of great blessings to the neighbour hood. It had been consecrated in 1164 by St. Thorua: of Canterbury, and it is a singular coincidence that tin modern catholic church now occupying a portion of it site was also consecrated by Thomas, bishop o Olena, the late much beloved Dr. Griffiths. The re establishment of the catholic religion may be traced her as in so many other instances, in England, by Divin. providence to the effect of the French Revolution. J number of French emigrant priests were provided witl a mansion in the neighbourhood, as an asylum in tin hour of their distress, and thus afforded the few strag gling catholics an opportunity of hearing Mass. Sub sequently, a very humble chapel was provided ii Reading, which served as a place of worship till tin opening of the present church, from which time canoi Ringrose has been the devoted Pastor of this town There is a domestic chapel at “ The Park, Maple durham,” the residence of M. Blount, Esq., abou three miles from this place; but this, although so nea to Reading, is in the diocese of Birmingham. REIGATE. (S). It was after an interval of many years, that th Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, was once again offered i the neighbourhood of Reigate. A Catholic famil CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 109 ived till forty years since, near Murstham, but there i no record that there was an altar in their house. In the year 1851, Mass was for the first time restored, y the Rev. Dr. Manning, at Prudell Court, the esidence of his brother, Mr. Charles James Manning, n whose return with his family from Italy, in 1853, ras established; and opened an oratory there and ince that period, within the space of less than three ears, the Holy Sacrifice has been offered by the bishop f the diocese, and nearly thirty different priests. The istablishment of this mission is a proof of how much [light be done for religion, with even small beginnings, nd, it is to be hoped, will prove an incentive to others i build at least an altar, where perhaps they are nable, at once, to erect a church or place the mission n a proper footing. During the harvest season, umbers of poor catholics seek employment in the ountry, and it was with no common pleasure that the ious originator of this mission rode from place to place lieking them out, and finding that the poor, desolate atliolics received with joy the announcement, that ear them was then to be found an altar and a priest, ince that period a regular mission has been estab- shed, about three miles distant, at Redhill, near the iation of the Brighton and South-Eastern lines of lilway, by Lady Mostyn. That excellent lady is evoting herself with unbounded energy and charity, lready the congregation numbers one hundred and fty or more, and the good Abbe Reinaud, by his 110 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. and indefatigable exertions, has given consolation t many a troubled mind, and cheerfulness to the desolat hearth ; at present the chapel is an outbuilding in Lad Mostyn’s grounds, and though temporary, is carefully an nicely fitted, and the altar beautifully dressed and care for. This is the second time Lady Mostyn has establishe a mission. The beautiful church at Mortlake, is chief! owing to her piety, and the special devotion of certai members of her family. May God in his own good tim irant that another such may raise its spire, to be seen b the many thousands who pass that spot. There are thos in the faith who seldom pass, save uncovered and wit! reverence, the light which burns in the sanctuary of tha lovely chapel; as of yore in better days, the marine lowered sail as he passed in his frail bark the darl bluff headland surmounted by the votive chapel; am may God in His providence also grant that that excel lent lady may receive in his own good time, for he love of Him, and charity to His creatures, a mor abiding and sure reward and crown, than their gratitud. can offer or their praise bestow. RICHMOND. (S.) The present small and unadorned church was buil about thirty years ago, at the sole expense of om benefactor, a Miss Doughty, and, incredible as it rna; appear, it is said that the architects and builders amon< CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. Ill lem contrived to spend upon it the enormous sum of ’24,000; producing as a result the present meagre ihurch and presbytery, worth perhaps one-eighth of i le money, and unprovided at that time with either bell, Irgan, or gallery. There was previously a very small, and of course ioor chapel in Richmond, but it was removed to make oom for the present one. The pulpit of the old chapel vas sold among other materials, and bought by the proprietor of a dissenting chapel at Ham, which in its urn (adjoining and attached to Miss Clarke’s new Establishment for young ladies), is converted into a mission chapel (see Ham), under the Very Rev. Canon oldstock, so that the old pulpit, has once more reverted to its legitimate use. The present incumbent >f Richmond (the Rev. Mr. Bagshaw) is making great efforts to raise funds for enlarging and decorating his church. Among other contemplated improvements, may be mentioned a new sanctuary, organ, and gallery. ROMFORD. (W.) This church, dedicated to St. Edward the Con¬ fessor, was consecrated by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, on the 6th day of May, 1856. Its solemn 'opening took place two days afterwards. It is owing to |the pious generosity of Lord Petre, that the catholics of 112 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. this locality now possess this handsome church. His Lordship not only gave the land, but erected and en¬ dowed the church at his own sole expense. The church is a very good specimen of a village church, in the (gothic) style of the thirteenth century. It has an open waggon roof and a stone altar, beautifully sculptured. Images of Our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph, stand on the two sides of the chancel arch. Mr. Nicholls was the architect. The church is served by the Rev. J. B. Colonib, one of the Marist Fathers. ROMNEY TERRACE. (W.) St. Mart’s.— For many years a few catholics ol distinction had resided at Westminster, yet but little could be accomplished till between fifty and sixty years ago, towards the establishment of a chapel. In 1792, a chapel was opened in York street, Queen square, which was with difficulty supported until 1799, in which year it was finally closed. Another attempt was made in 1803, and a chapel was announced in Great Smith Street, under the auspices of the chaplains at¬ tached to the Neapolitan embassy, and for a short time incalculable benefits were rendered to the forlorn and impoverished catholic population. Pecuniary resources were however soon wanting, for in 1806 this excellent undertaking fell to the ground. After some time, a temporary chapel was engaged in Dartmour street— a successful appeal was made to the catholic public, so that money was raised, and on Sunday, the 21st of CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 113 November, 1813, anew catholic church was solemnly opened in Romney terrace. The congregation were at this time almost exclusively poor labouring people, and the erection of this chapel was principally the result of the persevering zeal of the Rev. W. Hurst,* then stationed at Westminster. In 1852 it underwent considerable improvement, the chapel being greatly enlarged by bringing out the building to the full extent of the street, and erecting a spacious gallery. The exterior is of classical design, having a Grecian portico, and the interior is well- arranged and neatly and appropriately decorated, but the church is by no means adequate to the wants of this ■locality, there being eight thousand catholics in this district, the church barely accommodating one thousand persons. A sculpture representing the Annunciation, in alto relievo, by Mr. Phyffers, is well executed. The Sanctuary has been elaborately decorated by Mr. Bul- mer. St. Mary’s is now a parish church, the pastoral charge being entrusted to the Jesuit Fathers. A most eligible site has been procured at Westmin¬ ster for a new church and presbytery, plans for which are in course of preparation by Mr. W. W. Wardell, of Parliament street. * This zealous priest published a translation of Venerable Bede’s History. He had filled the post of Professor of Theology at the English College of Valladolid, in Spain, but after establishing the above mission, he was sent to the West Indies. He died at Trinidad, in 1823. 114 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. KOSOMAN STREET, UPPER, (W.) SS. PETER AND PAUL, CLERKENTYELL. The Clerkenvell, or Saffron Hill Mission as it was first called, was established in 1843, by the late Rev. J. Hearne, and Mass was first said in the room of a house, No. 1, Leicester Place, Saffron Hill, now occu¬ pied by the members of the Metropolitan Young Men’s Society. These premises continued to be used until 1847, when fortunately the purchase for £2,300 of the lease, for eighty-nine years, of a spacious baptist chapel in upper Rosoman Street, was the means of providing better accommodation for the catholics of this thickly populated neighbourhood. The present building is by no means unattractive in its exterior, and a cross sur¬ mounts the apex of the pediment. It has a grecian front, and the interior is capable of accommodating upwards of a thousand people. There are two side altars — of the Most Holy Sacrament, and of the Blessed Virgin, in addition to the high altar; and the sanctuary has been decorated with much taste. Under the ju¬ dicious supervision of the Rev. J. Kyne, the present pastor, the church has been much improved, and in 1856, advantage was taken of the necessity of repairs, to reduce the size of the galleries and provide open seats, and in other ways to adapt the building more to the requirements of a catholic place of worship. The first priests attached to this mission, were Spanish ecclessiastics, the Rev. Fathers Herera and Farria. The CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 115 lev. P. McClean was the next pastor, assisted by the lev. C. Woollett, now of Kensington. On the death f Mr. McClean, in 1850, the present zealous and idefatigable pastor, the Rev. J. Kyne, succeeded, and ) him, under God, are the catholics of Clerkenwell eeply indebted for the blessings they enjoy, in now ossessing three chapels and six priests (Rosomon Itreet, Baldwins Gardens, and Saffron Hill), where efore they had only one chapel, and two priests. ROTHERHITHE. (S). This is a station which, it is hoped, will soon resolve iself into a self-supporting mission. Mass is said at Stroud Cottage, Trinity road, as a temporary arrange- aent, the mission being served from Bermondsey, by he excellent priests of which church, this new mission, a the extreme limits of their district, was opened a few ears ago. Mass on Sunday at half-past 10, Afternoon ervice at 3. SAFFRON HILL, GREAT. (W.) CHURCH OF THE HOLY FAMILY. This church is situated near to the New Victoria treet, in which locality there is a large catholic popu- ation. It is a pleasing edifice, in the gothic style. It las, at present, no chancel or aisles, consisting only of 116 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. nave, the altar occupying a recess at the western end. There is an open wooden roof, and the exterior presents a fine window, and a well-proportioned belfry, or small tower and spire. The total cost was upwards of £2,000, the greater part of which was raised by the untiring exertions of the Rev. J. Kyne, the excellent parish priest of Clerkenwell, in whose district this neighbour¬ hood was comprised. It is now a separate mission. There is a small presbytery attached, as well as a school-room. The church was solemnly opened on the festival of SS. Peter and Paul in 1854, by the Cardinal Archbishop, who officiated at the first High Mass, and also preached the first sermon delivered within its walls. This district is unquestionably one of the poorest in the metropolis. SHEERNESS. (S.) This mission commenced in 1821. It originated in a laudable desire, on the part of a considerable num¬ ber of Irish labourers, employed in the construction of the present dock-yard. Their zeal was something even beyond the well-known generosity of the Irish race. One of them even raised some money to make a beginning, by mortgaging some little cottages, &c. Almost the whole of the present chapel was built by the poor congregation themselves, who gave to it their extra time and labour, and often prolonged them to a CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 117 itc hour at night. Their exertions were warmly econded and approved by the then Vicar Apostolic Right Rev. Dr. Poynter), who frequently visited heerness, to encourage them, but what contributed in [ great measure, by divine grace, to bring their work o a successful issue, was the generosity of the then ontractor, Sir Edward Bankes, who having purchased irge landed property in the Island, granted on very ivourable terms, a lease (renewable), of the site of the aapel. During his lifetime, he received only a nominal ient, and his son, the late Delamere Banks, Esq., enerously consented to the same terms. Since his eath, ten or twelve years ago, the annual rent has been 16. Prior to 1821, the priest at Chatham, (the Abbe almon) visited here occasionally. On the opening of le mission, the Rev. Mr. O’Malley settled here. He was Mowed by the Rev. Mr. Mahoney, who in turn was suc- eeded by the present clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Conway, .’he congregation has always consisted of shipwrights nd labourers in government employment; for many iears, it has also included a number of soldiers, and of ailors, till the recent appointment of a naval chaplain, 'he present services are, Mass for the soldiers, (special ervice) at 9^. Mass at 9. Evening service at 3. ermon at each of the three services. A school is kept ere also. The naval chaplain, Rev. H. Lea, has irvice on board the Clyde, every Sunday morning t9*. 118 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. SLINDON HOUSE. (S.) Of Slindon House it may be truly remarked, that it is a place of no inconsiderable interest. By Henry I., it was originally granted to St. Anselm, and as an appurtenance of the See of Canterbury, became the favorite summer residence of the Archbishop, until finally alienated by Cranmer, in an exchange between himself and Henry VIH. Here St. Thomas often sought retirement and relaxation ; here Cardinal Langton died. Here St. Edmund and St. Richard, then his chancellor, frequently lived; and here, in a room formed immediately under the roof, the offices of religion have continued to be performed through all the changes and persecutions of successive ages. This room is still the chapel of the congregation, whose present pastor is the Rev. John Sheehan. SOHO. (W.) St. Patrick’s Church. —This spacious church is not remarkable in any particular to warrant an extend¬ ed notice. Its external appearance is as unchurchlike as could possibly be imagined; but whatever could be done to give it a devotional aspect in the interior, has certainly been done. It is, however, to be hoped that the immense congregation, and the zealous clergy who minister to their wants, will before long possess a CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 119 :hurch still more commodious, and more worthy to bear the name of the great Apostle of Ireland. Such a oroject has been long talked of, and will doubtless be realised before long. The present building was for¬ merly used for balls and promenade concerts, by the residents of the then more fashionable, than at the present, locality of Soho. In 1792, it was converted into a chapel, and solemnly opened on the 13th of September, in that year. SOMERS TOWN. (W.) This church is dedicated to St. Aloysius, and is situate in Clarendon Square. It was erected in 1808, by the Abbe Carron, whose numerous works of charity will long be remembered. For more than half a cen¬ tury, a venerable priest, the Rev. J. Nerinckx, officiated as senior Chaplain, and as a memorial of his unremitting works of piety and love, a handsome monumental tablet was erected on the 5th of April, 1856. It is nearly seven feet high, of gothic design, carved in Caen stone, and richly ornamented. It is placed immediately out¬ side the railings of the sanctuary, at the gospel side of the altar, the spot where the aged and worthy priest always knelt, and upon it is inscribed the following, in [ illuminated letters — “In Memory of the Venerable and Saintly John Nerinckx, born at Nenore, in Bel¬ gium, August, 1776: Pastor of the Church of St. 120 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. * Aloysius, Somers Town, and Founder of the School! attached to the same: who after Fifty-four Years of Faithful Service in the Priesthood, was called t( his Lord on the 21st of December, 1855. On his Soul Sweet Jesus have Mercy.” With the Rev. gen¬ tleman’s life, the history of this mission is closely united, He joined the Abbe Carron in January, 1800, having succeeded in escaping from Cayenne, where he hac been sent by the French Republicans. He was ordained in Charlton street, near Clarendon square, by the emigrant Bishop of Avranches. On the Abbe Carron’s return to France, in 1815, Mr. Nerinck succeeded to the charge of the Somers Town mission, which he held for the long space of time already men¬ tioned. In 1822 he commenced the erection of the schools, now occupied by the good nuns of the order of the Faithful Companions of Jesus. The church underwent considerable repairs anc decorations in the year 1850—the altar and sanctuary being decorated in the elaborate arabesque style. The projecting pillars on either side of the altar are embel¬ lished with well-executed paintings, in compartments, representing the Blessed Virgin and our Saviour, anc St. Aloysius and St. Philomena. X' ST ANNE’S CHURCH AND MONASTERY OF OUR LADY OF GOOD HOPE. SPITALFIELL)? CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 121 SPITALFIELDS. (W) St. Anne’s Church. —This beautiful church, built by the Marist Fathers, and opened on the Festival of the Nativity of Our Lady, in the year 1855, is dedicated in honour of St. Anne. The event was celebrated with more than usual splendour. His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster officiated and preached. His Grace the Archbishop of Audi, then Bishop of Amiens, the Bishops of Southwark and Troy, and other distinguished ecclesiastics were also present. The plan of this church is cruciform, having chancel, two chapels, I nave, aisles, transepts, porch, and choir over the prin¬ cipal entrance lobby. The chancel, spire, and transepts are not yet completed as shown in the engraving. Nine confessionals are built in the thickness of the aisle walls, and it possesses a spacious sacristy. The church communicates with the monastery of the Fathers by a short cloister. The style of the church is that which was prevalent in England towards the end of the thirteenth century, being late early-English; and the materials used in its construction are Kentish ragstone hr the facing, with exterior dressings of Bath stone, tnd those of the interior of Caen stone. The ength of the church inside, when finished, will be. >ne hundred and sixty-two feet, and the transepts linety-two feet long ; the width of the church sixty-two feet; the nave sixty-two feet; the tower and spire, vhich will rise from the intersection of the nave and ihancel with the transepts, will be two hundred and M 122 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. thirty feet in height. The nave and aisles are divided from each other by rows of ornamental columns and arches, very rich in deep mouldings, and have massive open timber roofs, resting on stone corbels, those for the nave roof representing angels playing on musical instruments. The chancel, chapels, and tower, are to be groined with Caen stone. The lobby at the principal entrance, and the porch have also stone groined ceilings. The nave and aisles only are finished at present. The altar end, from the nature of the ground, could not be placed to the east, but stands about south-west; con¬ sequently the principal entrance is to the north-east. The leading features at this end of the church consist of a rose window, eighteen feet in diameter; the principal entrance, with very deeply recessed arch mouldings, mixed -with a large quantity of stone, which is left rough for carving, and fourteen niches, which it is proposed to fill with figures of St. Anne, the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, the Evangelists, the Doctors of the Church, &c. The top niche contains a figure of Our Lord. Mr. Gilbert Blount was the architect. The origin of this now important parish and mission cannot be better described than in the words of the most eminent Prelate under whose Episcopate the catholic religion has made such immense strides in the metropolis. In his sermon on the occasion of the opening services, His Eminence Cardinal Wiseman said— CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 123 “ I cannot forget the beginning of these great things, how through the pious zeal of one priest,* now re¬ moved into another, diocese, there was opened a poor mission in the adjoining school, and how little it was thought that any good that could be done would exceed the compass of one or two missionaries’ labour. But it would be unjust to forget one to whom so much is due, and to whom 1 trust the first memorial of any sort that shall be raised here to commemorate the piety of man shall be dedicated, a stranger to this land, a foreigner who came to spend a few days or weeks amongst us, and whom Providence guided here to see the destitution of the poor and their want of means to serve their God. A man he was with a strong, vigorous, and active mind, whom nothing could deter, but with a heart as soft and gentle as a child’s; for he could not speak of the poor of his district without a tri¬ butary tear. Though a foreigner, he asked leave to settle down here, to see if some good could not be done. I speak of that most virtuous and admirable priest, the Bev. Joseph Qdiblier.')’ Seeing that nothing was to be done without powerful assistance, and knowing that there was in his city of Lyons, in France, a body of Ecclesiastics who were always ready to run to the succour of the destitute, he not only wrote to them and negotiated with them to come here, but * The Rev. Robert Hodgson. | Priest of the Arch-diocese of Lyons, and formerly the Superior of the Great Seminary of Montreal in Canada. 124 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. lie went over and entreated them, and obtained at last the efficient aid of these zealous labours. It is well that you who belong to this place, and who, I am sure, are grateful to God for every blessing you receive through the ministry of these exemplary priests, should know the answer that was returned, when they were requested to undertake a mission in London. The answer was in the form of a question : “ Is it to un¬ dertake a mission among the poor, or among the rich, that we are invited ? ” The answer was : “ It is among the poorest of the poor.” “ Then we accept.”* They would not have come if we had asked them to un¬ dertake one of the richer missions, at the other ex¬ tremity of the city. And we owe not only this to that good man of whom I have spoken, but we owe some¬ thing, nay, a great deal more; we owe the establishment of the Female Orphanage entirely to his vigorous ex¬ ertions ; as he likewise brought over from France that community of Religious who so zealously, and charit¬ ably conduct it. 1 fear it was that zeal, that devotedness, that self-sacrifice, that denial of so many comforts to which he had been accustomed, that undermined his vigorous health, and brought him to the premature grave, which now forms a mound in the cemetery of Issy, a place to which more than one has gone in pilgrimage to pray for rest 01 his soul.” It is but an act ofjustice to mention, that even before * These are the words of the Very Rev. John Colin, First Superior-General of the Society of Mary and its Founder. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 125 the first mission was established, the poor children were gathered together and instructed by pious laymen, one of whom recited the Rosary, inciting the poor to acts of devotion, and in other ways strengthening their faith. This was not forgotten on the realisation of their fondest hopes, and a testimonial presented to Mr. F. Napper on the occasion, duly records his services in the cause of religion and the poor. STRATFORD. (W.) SS. PATRICK AND VINCENT DE PAUL’S. The mission of Stratford is one of the most ancient of all the missions in the East of the metropolis. Its existence dates back as far as 1788, there being parochial registers existing from that period. This mission seems to have been begun probably through the favour of some friend, or through the establishment of a school at the still picturesque hamlet of Plaistow, two miles from Stratford. The chapel was afterwards removed to West Ham, on the very site of where must have stood the altar of the church of the Old Abbey of West Ham, some ruins of which existed till within a few years ago. Some persons can still remember having to mount the ladder which led to the humble barn-chapel of this period. In 1815, the present chapel was built by the Rev. Mr. Chevrallais, a French priest of the 126 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. Order of St. Vincent de Paul, with two small school¬ rooms and the adjoining presbytery. The catholic population belonging to this parish is estimated at 3,000. In point of fact, the parish comprises five or six different hamlets or localities, scattered round ihe present chapel, at distances of from two to six miles. It includes, besides, Stratford and West Ham, Forest Gate, Ilford, Barking, Wall End, Plaistow, North Woolwich, the new town springing up round the Victoria Docks, together with Bromley in Middlesex, Old Ford and Bow. There are schools for boys and girls at Stratford, another school at Plaistow, and a third, through the munificence of Lord Petre, at Barking. Owing to the Eastern Counties Bailway, a new town has risen in Stratford, and there is great want of a new church and a great increase in the number of schools. Many of our readers will cordially join in ex¬ pressing a hope, that the present energetic Incumbent, the Rev. Mr. McQuoin will soon be enabled to accom¬ plish these desirable objects. ST. ALBAN’S. (W.) At present there is no mission in this town, hallowed as it is by many catholic reminiscences. The noble abbey church is a glorious specimen of what was effected during the ages of faith. Nicholas Breakspere, a monk of this abbey, became Pope, under the title of Adrian IV. ' r. ' '' ' CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 127 WESTMINSTER ROAD. (S.) St. George’s Cathedral, Southwark.— This mag¬ nificent cathedral church (^designed, however, by Pugin for a parish church, and not for a cathedral,) is now the seat of the Bishop of Southwark, who chose this edifice for the mother church of his diocese, not only on account at its extent, being the largest catholic bhurch erected in this country since the so-called Refor¬ mation, but also for its convenient situation as well as for the reason that it was dedicated to the great patron saint of England, who also was selected as one of the patrons of the diocese. The style is that of the deco¬ rated or middle pointed, the windows (of which there are forty-nine) being remarkable for their correct geo¬ metrical tracery. There are three principal doorways, viz :—the great tower entrance, and the doors in the right and left aisles, together with twenty-one smaller doorways. The internal length is two hundred iand forty feet by seventy, which is divided into a nave with a tower at one extremity, and a spacious chancel and sanctuary at the other, and aisles on each side. On the right and left of the choir are chapels of the Most Holy Sacrament, and of the Blessed Virgin. There are several other chantry chapels, two of which are perhaps the most perfect specimens of carved masonry of modern times. A noble arch, eleven feet thick and forty feet high, opens the tower to the nave. In the tower a splendid organ by Bishop and Son, is 128 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. so placed as not to obstruct the view of the great win¬ dow, which is filled with beautiful painted glass, con¬ taining representations of St. George, St. Edward, and other English Saints. The great eastern window is also filled with painted glass, so also are those of the chapels, and one or two of the window's in the aisles. A magnificent Corona luds is suspended from the roof of the nave. The baptistery is enclosed by a low open screen, in which an octagonal font, of most beautiful design, is raised on an octagon platform of stone. The pulpit is of stone exquisitely carved, and almost unri¬ valled in England. It is supported by marble shafts. Opposite to the baptistery is a splendid bronze crucifix, said to have been designed by Michael Angelo, which stands eleven feet high. It formerly belonged to Na¬ poleon I. The rood screen which separates the nave from the chancel, is a double one of stone, supporting a rood loft, and is composed of open arches resting on marble shafts. The great rood is an original work of the fifteenth century, of great beauty. The image of Our Lord is from the chisel of the celebrated M. Durlet, of Antwerp, the images of Our Lady, and of St. John, having been carved in England. The loft is ascended by two staircases, which are terminated by pinnacled and crocketed turrets, in cvhich are hung the Sanctus and Angelus bells. The chancel is forty feet in length. The high altar is of Caen stone, surmounted by a slab of marble. The reredos is elaborately carved, having niches filled with images of angels and S.S. Peter and ST. GEORGE'S GATilEDRAL; FONT. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 129 ’aul. Connecting the cathedral with the bishop’s alace adjoining, is a spacious cloister, and the sacris- ies are particularly lofty and spacious. The founda- ion stone was laid on the 26th May, 1841. The olemn dedication took place on the 4th of July, 848, a clay ever to be remembered by the catho- ics of the metropolis. On that joyous occasion kousands of the laity filled the vast edifice, and while wo hundred and thirty of the secular clergy were pre- ent, every one of the great religious Orders were repre- ented. Bishops from Germany, France, Ireland and Scotland, Wales, Australia, arrived to join with the English prelates in their thanksgiving for the happy went. The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster then Yicar Apostolic of the London District), preached tt the morning service, and the right Rev. Bishop Gillis if Edinburgh at the afternoon service. On the establish- nent of the Hierarchy, this church Avas the scene of the consecration of several of the new bishops, and during he time that His Eminence of Westminster was also Administrator Apostolic of this diocese, this church was lis temporary seat, which was of course relinquished iy His Eminence on the arrival from Rome (where he lad been consecrated) of the present illustrious and lious occupant of the see, the Right Rev. Dr. Grant, it is but right that we should place upon record the tame of him who has been, under Divine Providence, the chief instrument in the erection of St. Georges, ’his is the present Provost, the Very Rev. T.Doyle, D.D., 130 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. who, in the words of a publication* from which we havegathered mostof the foregoing particulars, “through the space of ten long laborious years, in spite of the greatest difficulties and obstacles in his way, devoted himself most generously to the great work; making many journies through England and a great part ol Europe to solicit the alms of the Faithful, and obtaining strength and encouragement at the shrine of the Apostles to persevere in its accomplishment.” St George’s will, in itself, be a monument to the good Provost, and it is to be hoped that he may yet be spared to witness, by the generosity of the Faithful, the addition of the tower and spire, which is much wanted, to complete the design of this noble cathedral. Wandsworth, Webb street, Clapham, Norwood, and Peckliam, have all been carved out of the catholic parish of St. George since 1846, yet the baptisms at St. George’s in 1855 amounted to 738, the exact number when not one of these five flourishing missions was in existence. In the year 1789, when the baptismal register of St. George’s commenced, the entries were only 75. The catholic reminiscences of this locality are as fol¬ lows :—In 1788, the mission was opened in the room of a house in Bandy-leg walk, near Guildford street. Subsequently, as numbers increased, a new building was commenced in the London road, not far from the! present cathedral, and on St. Patrick’s day, 1793, it was opened by Bishop Douglas, the dedication sermon being * “A complete description of St, George’s Cathedral, by G, White,” ST. GEORGE'S CATHEDRAL : r'-LPIT. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 131 reached by the celebrated Father O’Leary. This milding was used by the congregation until the opening if the present church, which is erected on the very pot (then called St. George’s Fields) where, in 1780, iiord George Gordon preached his vile crusade against he catholic religion, and from which spot he set forth nth 60,000 rioters, to destroy that faith by force of ,rms, and reduce to ashes the chapels and dwellings of he catholics in the metropolis. “ Deus noster in ccelo: mnia qucecumque voluit, fecit." “Magnum opera Domini ST. JOHN’S WOOD. CHURCH 01' OUR LADY. The erection of this church was commenced in 1834, ,nd it was solemnly opened on the 9th of February, .836, during the government of the London district by lishop Bramston—the entire expense was defrayed by wo ladies of the name of Gallini, who also liberally ndowed it. The church is a gothic cruciform struc- ure in the early English style, with lancet windows of he twelfth or early part of the thirteenth century. Jiese are filled with stained glass, principally as aemorial windows. There is a chancel with high altar, ,nd there are also two side altars, all of which are arved in stone and much admired. The organ is a fine nstrument by Bishop, erected in 1835. The church s spacious and well-arranged, lofty and imposing in its 132 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. general appearance—there are no galleries, but th church holds with ease about seven hundred per sons. The figure of the church is that of a Greek cross the transepts forming two dwelling-houses, one occupiei by the officiating clergy, and the other at present occu pied by a catholic family. These, at some future time can be thrown into the church, and thus afford increaset accommodation. St.John’s Wood District contains abovi five thousand catholics. It was formerly comprised ii the Spanish place district. The first priest appointee to the charge of the church of Our Lady was the Ver} Rev. J. O’Neal, who had previously been attached t< the Bermondsey mission. The Very Rev. gentleinar (now one of the Canons of Westminster, and Vicar- General) has continued up to the present time as tht Rector of this church. CHAPELRY OF SUTTON IN WOKING. (S.) It appears from a rescript of bishop Wainfleet, of Winchester, dated at his palace of Wolvesey, 13th of April, 1464, that at least as far back as 1382, the tything of Sutton formed a chapelry subordinate in some respects to the parish of Woking, and to the Augustinian priory of Newark, two miles distant, on the banks of the Wey, to the north. The chaplain had the right to baptise, to bury, &c., and to claim a sti¬ pend of £ 14 a year, three hundred and fifty years ago, NORTH FRONT OF SUTTON PLACE, 3 MILES NORTH FROM CUILDFORD. BUILT A. D. 152 7 . CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. • 133 from tlie vicarage of Woking. The exact site of the original chapel of Sutton is not known with certainty. Twenty-five years ago, the Rev. Joseph Sidden discover¬ ed massy stone foundation wall, running east and west underground, in his garden at Vine Cottage, which ad¬ joins to what is still called the Manor-field, where stood, as is well known, the original Manor-house of Sutton, on the spot now marked by a clump of birch trees- Vine Cottage, the birthplace, and now for the third time the abode of Mr. Sidden, who, after an interval of fifteen years, has began his second chaplaincy at Sutton, is at the western extremity of the park, a quarter of a mile from the mansion. Near it is Pomona, formerly the residence of the benevolent Lady Lucy Stuart, of the noble family of Traquair, who, until her death in 1830, was in many ways a benefactress to the Sutton mission. Pomona, before its purchase by the Webbe Westons of Sutton, was the seat of the Jenkins’ family, one of whom wrote the “ Treatise on Auricular Confession.” The first manor house of Sutton, which stood at the west-end of the park, was beginning to decay, three hundred and fifty years ago, and, together with large estates attached to it, was bequeathed to her grandson, King Henry VIII., then just mounting the throne, by the royal Countess of Richmond, who died at Woking, on the feast of SS. Peter and Paul, in 1509. Sutton, as we learn from Doomsday-book, (“ Eexhabet Sudton, c j-c.”), was, eight hundred years ago, the personal property of the Sainted King Edward the N 134 CATI10LIC HAND-BOOK. Confessor, who owned also the manor and house at Woking, which has given its name to one of the Hundreds of the Countv of Surrey. The well that gave water to the old Sutton house of St. Edward, still remains in the manor field, close to the birch trees which were planted by order of John Webbe Weston, Esq., of Sutton place, purposely to mark the venerable spot when, as the present chaplain witnessed, he re¬ moved the last remains of the old house fifty-five years ago. Mr. Sidden also remembers that the last persons who dwelt on the spot, were seven emigrant French clergvmen, generously harboured there by the lord of jhe manor, Mr. Weston, at the first French revolution. The present noble and interesting mansion of Sutton place was built in 1527, by Sir Richard Weston, Kt, gentleman of the bedchamber to the King, from whom he received the manor of Sutton, &c , in recompense of faithful services. At the birth of English protestantism some years later, the Weston family nobly stood true to the faith of God’s church, and gloriously perpetuated in patience the primitive Christian worship at Sutton, throughout those two dark centuries, when the human power of persecuting protestant governments armed with fines, and dungeons, and racks, and quartering knives and halters, exercised a bloody legal tyranny over those faithful Englishmen who thought it reasonable to recognise the truth of God in the concordant uni¬ versal teaching of the great body of united Christen¬ dom, rather than in the various self-contradictory, CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK 135 and ever-changing notions, and interpretations of any description of protestants, whether those dissenting from the new parliamentary establishment, or those pretending to derive unity of doctrine from a richly- paid connection with it. The Westons of Sutton, like the great body of the catholic nobility and gentry, because they gave to God what belongs to God, were for that very reason, the more faithful in giving to Cassar what belongs to Caesar Of this even the per¬ secuting Queen Elizabeth was well aware; and often did she confide herself and national interests to catholic loyalty and patriotism. At the beginning of June, 1592, in one of her royal progresses to Portsmouth, the queen became for two days and nights, the honored and feasted guest of the catholic Westons, at Sutton Place. It is worthy of note, that soon after the queen’s departure, a fire broke out and consumed the interior of the east-wing, leaving only the walls, which show the charred oak timbers, to the present day. This wing remained as the fire left it, for more than one hundred years, when, in the reign of queen Anne, John Weston, Esq., formed in its upper portion, a gallery one hundred and fifty feet long, measured from the old full-length painting of Elizabeth, at the head of the spacious stair¬ case, to the northern extremity of this wing, where now hangs the great bell sounded for catholic worship, bearing on it, embossed, the date of its casting, 1530, three years before the separation of England from the centre of Christian unity'. The chaplain now 136 CATHOLIC HAXD-BOOK. keeps the keys of the east-wing : and about one hundred feet of the length of the gallery, is used for chapel pur¬ poses. The beautiful framework of the noble old win¬ dows still remains to shed light on the expressive cere¬ monial of the old religion of England. The bell rung at the elevation is inscribed “ Sit nomen Domini bene¬ diction. a.d., 1556,”—when Cardinal Pole rvas arch¬ bishop of Canterbury. It bears also the inscription “ Lof God van al.” Pait of the ancient processional Cross of Sutton chapelry in Catholic times, still remains in the keeping of the chaplain; also a very interesting ancient Relic chest, with its lock, &c., it bears inscrip¬ tions, and has been elegantly adorned with red and gold ; and contains what is described as a portion of the body of St. William, archbishop of York, nephew of king Stephen ; also a portion of the body of Cuthbert Maine, the first priest who with cheerful and humble piety generously suffered death for the Catholic faith, in the persecution of Elizabeth’s reign, &c. The present chaplain remembers that his father, about the year 1805 at the time of some alterations in the mansion, found in what appeared to be solid wall, a small secret chamber, supposed to have sheltered the hunted chaplains of Sut¬ ton, when the house was, as usual in those persecuting times, beset and searched by the mercenary agents of i the penal laws. For more than fifty years past, there has been preserved in the shrubbery the prostrate trunk of what w r as once a large old mulberry tree, which stood at the eastern side of the mansion, overshadowing the CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 137 spot where, as local tradition was certainly telling more than eighty years ago, the bodies of the Sutton missio¬ nary priests who had lived and died in disguise or con¬ cealment were brought.out at night to receive the rites of catholic burial. The Westons in times past have been in many ways the benefactors of the country that persecuted them for conscience’s sake. From Flanders, whither they had gone in youth, to seek that schooling and university education which persecuting laws denied them at home, they introduced into England the use of locks on navigable canals ; likewise the growth of white clover grass and other improvements in agriculture about the year 1650. In an old number of the Gentleman’s Magazine towards the middle of the last century, may be found a curious account of a Visit to Sutton place, written by the talented poetess, Miss Seward of Lichfield, the friend of Dr. Johnson. She expressly describes the long gallery which is now the chapel—- “ Rich ivyed windows shedding solemn light, O’er the long gallery walked by many a sprite.” The remains of Newark priory, on the banks of the Wey, visible from Vine cottage, dedicated to God un¬ der the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of St. Thomas of Canterbury, at the close of the 12th century, well deserves a visit. So likewise do the chapels of St. Martha and St. Catharine, and much more the in¬ spiring remains of Waverley abbey all easily accessible from Sutton; and all within its present much extended chapelry, or rather missionary district. Thomas Mon- 138 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. ington Weston Esq., of Sarnesfield-court, Hereford¬ shire, is now lord of the manor of Sutton. He has this spring begun to repair the chapel, with a view to its speed) - re-opening. In the meantime Mass is said at Vine cottage at 9 o’clock on all Sundays and Holy- days. The last prior of the English branch of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, was a Weston of Sutton: he sat in the House of Lords untill the dissolution of his Order under Henry VIII. On this account at the restoration of the Order under Pope Gregory XVI, by the Emperor of Austria, the late Captain John Weston of Sutton place, was honoured with the Knightly Cross of Malta. He died at the siege of Komorn leaving Sutton first to his uncle of Sarnesfield-court, and after him to his cousin Captain Salvin, of the West York Hides, a worthy son of the excellent family of Croxdale Hall, Durham. The present Lord of the Manor of Sutton became the first catholic High-Sheriff of Herefordshire after the Emancipation Act. TOTTENHAM. (W.) Tottenham and Edmonton have been noted for more than a century, for the number of their lodging houses for poor travellers, particularly for those from Ireland. They were also, after the French revolution, the residence of many of the French emigrants; yet it CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 139 was not until the latter end of the year 1793, that there was any catholic chapel in either of these places. About that period, tire Abbe Cheireux, afterwards Bishop of Boston, in America, and finally Archbishop of Bordeaux, and a Cardinal, being a tutor in a protestant family in Tottenham, applied for, and imme¬ diately obtained permission of the then Bight Kev. Vicar Apostolic of the London District, to engage a room in order that his exiled countrymen, and the poor Irish catholics might have every opportunity of attend¬ ing to their religious duties. Fixing for that purpose upon a house in Queen Street, Tottenham Terrace, he regularly attended to the duties of a zealous missioner until his departure for America, in 1796. The Abbe Filiaires succeeded him, but dying in 1801, the Abbe Salmon officiated in his place. Leaving however for Chatham, after remaining only for a few months, the Abbe le Tellier became his successor. Finding the room too small and unsafe for the congregation, the Abbe le Tellier erected at his own expense, a larger chapel house, &c., lower down in Queen Street. From about the year 1818, the catholics were unfortunately left without any local means of attending to their duties, the chapel having by some means been alienated from the possession of the faithful. At length, in the year 1826, the late pious and charitable Baroness de Mon¬ tesquieu, seconding the views of the Right Bev. Dr Poynter, generously resolved to erect a chapel at her own expense. Purchasing for this purpose, a piece of 140 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. freehold ground in Chapel place, White Hart Lane the present chapel was immediately commenced, am solemnly opened on the 6th of May, 1827. From tlia year, till the summer of 1856, the late Rev. T. H Ewart, who died on the 29 th of March, 1857, had tin pastoral charge of this mission. After twenty-nine years’ service, he however resigned, and was succeedec by the Rev. J. H. Dale. A beautiful organ was erected by subscription, to commemorate the services rendered to religion by Mr. Ewart, and as the inscrip¬ tion upon it testifies as a token of personal regard. The building is a plain structure, forty feet in length, and twenty-five in breadth. TUNBRIDGE WELLS. (S.) St. Augustine’s. —This church is situate in the Grosvenor Road. It was opened in 1837. In 1852 it underwent considerable alteration, and was decorated with some taste. The adjoining schools were erected in 1852. This mission was established about the year 1816. For some time Mass was said at the private residence of Air. Halting, to whom is justly due the great merit of having fostered in its infancy this now prosperous mission. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 141 TURN 1IAM GREEN. (W.) St. Mary’s. —This chapel is but an old cottage, with a number of wooden additions; hut although it presents an uncouth exterior, the inside is exceedingly devotional, and so well economised, that there appears to be wanting no single piece of furnituie, no appurte¬ nance which a parish church could require. There is the chancel, the baptistery, the altar of Our Blessed Lady, the image of St. Joseph, the Way of the Cross, the confessional, the little organ, and a light open screen, separating the body of the chapel from the chancel, surmounted by a miniature rood, haying the ki Magnificat ” emblazoned along the top. The altar is remarkable for its neatness, and there is a spirit of reality, solidity, and simple beauty, throughout this place. This is after all only a temporary building. Plans have been prepared by Mr. E. Pugin, for the erection of a magnificent gothic church, for this neigh¬ bourhood, Acton, Ealing, &c., which it is hoped before long, will be commenced. The present chapel is capable of containing about two hundred and fifty persons. _ WALTHAM. (W.) Waltham, situated on the high road to Cambridge, about six miles from Tottenham, and twelve from London, is a place of considerable catholic interest. It had formerly a magnificent Augustinian Monastery, 142 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK* some fragments of which yet remain. There are a number of catholics now residing in this place, and also at E:.field, and for their spiritual benefit the Rev Mr. Dale, the resident priest at Tottenham, has recent!} established a mission or station. Through the kind assistance of a catholic gentleman, a well ventilated room, capable of accommodating a hundred persons, has been fitted up, and mass and a sermon is now given at stated times. May this humble commencement lead to more glorious results. Walthamstow, (w.) St. Geokge’s. —This, though used now temporarily for a chapel, was built for, and will ultimately be appropriated to the school. It consists of a spacious room, with an open roof and bell-cot. The school is capable of holding about one hundred children, and attached to it, is the school-masters’ house, with a very characteristic open wooden porch. The whole building is carried out, both in a substantial and ornamental manner, and is built in rag-stone, with Caen-stone windows, doors, &c. Mr. Warded was the architect. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 143 WANDSWORTH. (S.) Wandsworth, (or Wandleworth), derives its name :'rom the river ‘ Wandle,’ on which it is situated. It lontains a population of about ten thousand souls, a ionsiderable portion of which is composed of merchants who, having their houses of business in London, avail ihemselves of the advantages of the railway, to live in die healthy air of this suburb of the metropolis. The oatholics of the Wandsworth mission, who are at least four hundred in number, were obliged originally to obtain spiritual aid and consolation from Hammer¬ smith and Chelsea, being upwards of four miles dis¬ tant from either place. A catholic family having Pome to reside at Wimbledon, they obtained the privilege of a private chapel, with the provision that the catholics in the immediate neighbourhood should have the benefit of the chaplain’s ministrations. This permission was granted to the family in question, by the much beloved and venerable Dr. Griffiths, Y.A L.D. But as the little chapel, which was kindly thrown open to the Faithful, was soon found to be in- jsufficient for their . accommodation, there followed an attempt to establish a mission at Wandsworth, as being the central point between Wimbledon, Putney, Battersea, and Clapham. This good work was first taken in hand by the Rev. Don. Claudia Lopez, a Spanish priest, whose zeal and abilities are fondly cherished by the old members of the mission, even to 144 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. this day. But the attempt failed at the time for want of means, and shortly afterwards the good priest retired from this scene of his missionary labours. The energy however, of the “ little flock, ” which he left behind him with regret, tvere not damped by this untoward event, and they determined, if possible, to obtain a successor, by respectfully intimating to their dear bishop the need which they had of a priest, and their r-eadiness to support him to the best of their ability. Numerous meetings were held for this purpose, and one in the “ Mitre Tavern,” at Tooting, at which the much lamented late F. Lucas, Esq., M.P, attended, and greatly urged forward the desired object. The exertions of the good catholics of Wandsworth were speedily blessed by Almighty God. They had the happiness of seeing Father Hodgson come to labour for them, and to the stenuous efforts of this zealous and self-sacrificing priest, Wandsworth is indebted for the foundation of its mission. His memory will be long held in benediction by the catholics of Wandsworth. Shortly after the opening of the mission by Father Hodgson, the Rev. Dr. De Lima came to it, in the capacity of chaplain to the family already mentioned. His first thoughts were, how to build a chapel at Wandsworth, as the Holy Sacrifice had hitherto been offered in the upper room of a Public House, which is still to be pointed out, and even this favour was obtained with considerable difficulty. The Rev. Dr. De Lima commenced a fund for this purpose. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 145 This state of things continued till Dr. De Lima was succeeded by the Eev. J. Bower, now at Cowes, Isle of Wight, whose exertions, backed by the liberal and munificent gifts of Bishop Griffiths, enabled him to purchase a large piece of ground at Wandsworth, and to build thereon the present chapel, which is a part of a design prepared by the late A. Welby Pugin, Esq. The Chaplaincy, on which the Rev. Mr. Bower mainly depended for his support, failed him after a time, and he found himself beset with great difficulties. Still he nobly struggled on in his poverty for a long time, in the cause of the mission, and it was not till his health was completely broken, that he withdrew from here to another scene of mis¬ sionary labour. The Rev. J. Bower was succeeded at Wandsworth, by the Rev. Denis Sheahan, who toiled for upwards of a year for this mission, with a zeal truly apostolic. That good priest then removed to Clapham, to open a mission there. From Clapham he set out as Chaplain to the English Army in the East, taking with him the benediction of Bishop Grant, who always loved him most tenderly. We need hardly remind our readers of Mr. Sheahan’s fate. He met with a holy and enviable death in the Crimea, whilst engaged in giving the spiritual consolations of the sacraments, to our wounded and dying catholic soldiers. The Wandsworth mission was next confided to the care of the Rev. P. Flannery, now at Webb Street, Southwark, whose efforts succeeded in re-opening the o 146 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. School, which, through force of circumstances, had been discontinued for some time, and which now bids fair to be of great spiritual and worldly utility to the poor catholic children of the neighbourhood. To the Rev. P. Flannery succeeded the Rev. D. Brosnan, the present resident priest at Wandsworth. When the latter entered upon the duties of this mission, the prospect, humanly speaking, was gloomy enough. For the previous three or four years, the support of the priest had been thrown in great measure upon the hands of the bishop, so that there was even talk of having Wandsworth served from one of the adjacent missions. But at this particular juncture, the good Providence of Almighty God still watched over the interests of his poor people in this neighbourhood, and mindful of their former holy exertions, continued to them the great blessing of a resident priest. This, Almighty God did by inspiring it into the heart of a pious and illustrious convert to take up her abode at Wimbledon, to whom a chaplaincy was granted by the present bishop of Southwark, on the same conditions as had been before observed in a similar case. The Rev. Daniel Brosnan, who was appointed chaplain on the occasion, began at once to labour for the scattered catholics of this locality, and he had the happiness to reap the benefit of his labours, in witnessing the approach of several persons to the sacraments, who had neglected them for years. The private chapel remained open to the faithful for twelve months, when circumstances CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 147 occurred which led to its close. This was greatly to be regretted. But the good and pious convert already mentioned, knowing the needy state of the Wandsworth mission, and how absolutely it depended upon external support, has continued to aid it up to the present time, in a most liberal manner, and has kindly promised to do so for as long a term, as the conveniency of her means will permit. Thus this mission is still enabled to have its own pastor, and is making considerable progress, taking into account the circumstances under which it is placed. At onetime, Wandsworth promised to be one of our most flourishing missions, from its central position, but the advent of the Redemtorist Fathers to Clapham, and the establishment of missions at Mortlake, Mitcham, &c., have been to some extent the means of throwing it back, as far as its capacity for self-support is concerned. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the number of catholics increases, and the mission promises in time to support itself. As things are however at present, it cannot be denied that its state is precarious. This it would be desirable to remedy as soon as possible. One way of doing so —perhaps the most effectual—would be to have a house built for the resident priest, which would save him from being under a heavy rental, as is the case at present. And this could the more easily be done, as there is ample room for a house on the free ground in which the chapel stands. Until some such plan as this be devised and carried out, the state of 148 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. the mission must continue precarious, and prove a source of anxious care both to the pastor and his bishop. WARWICK STREET. (W.) Church of the Assumption. —During the days of persecution and distress, this building was under the protection of the Bavarian government, which support¬ ed gratuitous schools in this country, at a time when the peual enactments were enforced with sanguinary sever¬ ity. The old chapel was destroyed by the Gordon protestant rioters in 1780, after which it was rebuilt partly as it now exists. The exterior is a plain brick front similar to the majority of the older methodist con¬ venticles.* The interior has, however, been greatly im¬ proved, new open seats fixed, the cumbrous galleries curtailed in their proportions, and the sanctuary and altar decorated with very considerable taste. An altar piece of the Assumption, by the renowned sculptor, Mr. J. Carew, adds greatly to the beauty and propriety of the high altar. WEBB STREET. (S.J St. Mary’s. —The present temporary chapel is a plain brick structure, not originally built as a place of wor¬ ship. Its near proximity to the South-eastern railway CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 149 is a great drawback, and besides its size is very inade¬ quate for the wants of the mission. Strenuous exer¬ tions are being made to provide a new church, as the present building must shortly be given up. The mission had its origin in 1847, when a portion of the St. George’s district was allotted to it. It was in¬ augurated by the Very Eev. Father Ignatius, and Fathe-r Hodgson, whose labours have been signally blessed in the establishment of new missions, also served the mission for some time. The Eev. E. G. MacMullen, B.D. formerly of the University of Oxford, and now of St. Mary’s Chelsea, was one of the earliest priests attached to the Webb-street Mission. It is now served by Father Lawrence and the Eev,. J. Flannery. WEST GEINSTEAD. (S.) This mission dates back at least from the year 1744. The chapel is in the heart of a secluded agricultural district, nine miles from a railway station. The priest’s house where the chapel now is, was given to the church under bishop Challoner about 1755, by the last of the Carylls, whose pleasing portrait, painted in his youth, adorns the priest’s parlour. Before the old mansion of the Caryll family in West Grinstead park was pulled down, by the father of the present aged Sir Charles Burrell, Bart., its domestic chapel had long been the seat of catholic worship for the neigh- 150 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. bourhood. It stood within the park, close to the copse, now surrounded by a moat. Sir Charles told the Rev. Joseph Sidden, that the Ionic pillars now or¬ namenting the door-way of the chapel-house, once served the same purpose at the mansion of the Carylls, having been given for their present use by the former baronet, his father. Pope was a visitor of the Carylls: his oak is still conspicuous in the park, not far from the chapel house. There he sat and wrote, “This verse to Caryll, Muse! is due.” Knapp castle, about a mile distant, under the Carylls in the reign of. James I., had been the seat of religion. Here, near the ruined tower, about the year 1770, was found a massy gold ring, on the inside of which was inscribed in Saxon charac¬ ters, the expressive motto “ Joye sans fyn.” Under the altar of the present chapel, was preserved three years ago, and no doubt is still preserved, a very edifying autograph letter written from his dungeon in Newgate, November 1643, by Father Arthur Bell, O. S. F., to his Provincial, not many days before he suffered death for conscience sake, under the penal laws of protestant England. Father Bell was hung, disembowelled and quartered for being a priest, De¬ cember 11 tli, 1643. The chapel porch entrance from the public road was built in 1 852, by the Rev. J. Sidden, who begs the prayers of all that enter by it. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK, 151 WEYBRIDGE. (S.) St. Charles Borromeo.—The mission at Wey- bridge is a continuation of a mission that formerly existed at Woburn Farm, the present seat of the Honourable Locke King, M.P., and distant from Weybridge about a mile. Woburn Farm was origi¬ nally the seat of the Southcotes, an ancient catholic family. Mr. Philip Southcote, the last male heir, died in 1758, his widow, Mrs. Bridget Southcote, lived until 1783. The family then being quite extinct, the estate descended to the then Lord Petre. No documents relative to the Woburn mission had been preserved at Woburn, prior to the year 1750, at which time it was served by the Dominican friars, and as it is cer- . tain from other sources that the Southcote family were always catholic from the time of the “ reformation,” and that the Dominicans had many monasteries and parishes in Surrey, we may safely infer that they were the only chaplains at Woburn since the reformation. At the dissolution of the monasteries in England, the Dominicans took refuge in Flanders, and established a monastery in the village of Bornham in that country, whence the mission at Woburn with other Dominican missions, were constantly supplied with missionary priests during nearly three hundred years. The only Dominican Fathers, missionaries at Woburn, whose names have been there preserved, are Father Bene- dictus Short, who was there fifty years (from 1750 to 152 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 1800); Father Joseph Caestryck, who succeeded him from 1800 to 1815 ; and Father Peter Pius Potier, who served from 1815 to 1835. Sir John St. Aubin, a kind and liberal protestant resided many years at Woburn during the time of Father Caestryck, and to his honour be it said, lie gave full permission for the continuance of the catholic service, and caused a large room at the lower Lodge to be constructed as a chapel. The exact date when the chapel was removed from the Mansion is not known. The estate was sold and fell into the hands of a protestant gentleman, and no provision having been made for the continuance of the chapel, the Rev. Father Potier found it necessary to remove to Weybridge, where, during nineteen years, he continued to say Mass and perform all other reli¬ gious duties in a private house in the village. His health, with age, declining, he wished to retire to his convent, and accordingly with the consent of his superior, he resigned the mission into the hands of the Bishop, the late Right Rev. Dr. Bramston. By this time a chapel had been erected at the sole cost of the late James Taylor, Esq., of Islington and Wey¬ bridge, upon part of his estate at the latter place. It was blessed and opened by Bishop Bramston on the 4th of November 1836, and dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo. The form is a Grecian cross with a dome over the centre, the altar and sanctuary forming a tower. There is also a mortuary chapel of the same form and size under it, which is private. The remains CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 153 of the late King Louis Philippe, repose there. The lirst missionary priest established at the chapel of St. Charles Borromeo was the late Canon Thomas Bow¬ man (of Bermondsey,) .who remained five years. He was succeeded by the late Rev. John Welch, who remained upwards of ten years, until his death in 1850. The next in succession was the Rev. R. Hodgson, who remained until 1854, when he left at the death of Canon Darabrine, to take charge of his establishment at Woolhampton. The present respected Incumbent hi the Rev. John Macdonald. During the incumbency of Mr. Hodgson, a small mission was established by that gentleman at Sunbury, Middlesex. —This mission was composed of about two hundred of the very poorest Irish la¬ bourers, and others whom Mr. Hodgson attended. The Jesuit Novices from Old Windsor kindly catechise there twice a week, and this little interesting flock are now served and Mass said there every second Sunday by the Rev. John Macdonald. WINDSOR. (S.) ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, CLEWER GREEN. Some description of this mission will be interesting, inasmuch as it is the one nearest to the residence of the English monarchs—that magnificent castle, erected 154 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. in catholic times, and containing, as it does, abundant proof of the ancient regard for religion, in the noble collegiate chapel of St. George, the great patron of England. Eton college, too, not far distant from Windsor, shows what our catholic ancestors could accomplisli in the ages of faith. Alas! that these noble monuments of piety should be so perverted from their original use. It is not surprising that the influence of the English sovereign should prevent the catholic religion being professed for many years in this locality. Indeed, from the so-called Reformation till the commencement of the present century, there ap¬ pears to have been, as far as we can discover, no pro¬ vision tor the spiritual wants of the few surviving catholics. The first approach to a better state of things was, according to tradition, very early in the nine¬ teenth century, when the Holy Sacrifice was occasion¬ ally offered up in the house of Lady Man nock at Dat- chet about a mile fiom Windsor. About the year 1810, John Riley, Esq., of Hastings House, Hastings, gave up a room in his house at Windsor, and Divine service was performed there till some time after his death, which occurred in 1817. When the lease of this house expired, then the priest, the Abbe Duclos, French Professor at Eton, said Mass at his own resi¬ dence, hut even this was done quietly, and almost surreptitiously, for fear of giving offence to the autho¬ rities. Eventually, Mr. William F. Riley, of Forest Hill, the only son of Mr. John Riley, not being able to CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 155 procure a site in Windsor, built the present chapel on his own property at Clewer Green, partly at his own expense, and partly from funds left for that purpose by his father. The chapel of St. John the Baptist, opened in 1826, is a mile out of the town, and although small, is generally able to accommodate the congregation. The sanctuary presents an elegant and chaste appearance. The chapel contains a small gallery and organ. In 1844, on the occasion of King Louis Philippe’s visit to England, a tribune was added. This tribune is occu¬ pied by the patron and his family, but is always gene¬ rously relinquished by them in favour of catholic royal, or illustrious visitors to the English royal family. Over the tribune and sacristy, a room was erected, which now serves for the parish school. The chapel stands on a spacious and ornamental piece of land, and adjoining it is a very commodious presbytery. The mission is endowed. It has been served by the Rev. Charles Comberbach, who, in 1830, was succeeded by the Rev. John F. Wilkinson. At the close of 1854, Mr. Wilkinson was removed to another part of the diocese, when he was succeeded by the present exemplary chaplain and pastor, the Eev. Augustus Applegath. 156 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. WITH AM. (W.) CHURCH OF THE HOLT FAMILY. This church was erected and solemnly opened by the Cardinal Archbishop in the latter end of 1851, the foundation stone having been laid in the month of May, in that year, by Ilis Eminence. It is situated near to a station of the Eastern Counties Railway, and is there¬ fore easily accessible from London. The church which has sittings for about two hundred people, is an elegant little building, with all the feeling of one of our old churches—all that quiet unpretentious beauty which arises from a truthful carrying out of the purpose for which the building was intended. There are no affected variations from uniformity—nothing ugly and useless, to shmv the designer could be original: but where a break was required, there we have one. There is no tower to take up the room, nor obstruct the view inside by its massive piers, but a portion breaks out from the general view at the west end, containing the principal door, and two light windows above ; and after two sets off runs up into a simple gable bell turret, crowned with a pretty cross. The north side of the nave is divided into six compartments by buttresses, and in each compartment is a single lancet window; beyond this is the sacristy and its porch. The south side is the same as the north, but the second compartment is occupied by the porch. At the east end is a triplet window with geometric tracery which lights the chancel, CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 157 and an open umber hammer beam roof covers the nave and chancel in one span. The dimensions of the church are—whole length, seventy feet; nave fifty-five feet, by twenty-two ; chancel, fifteen feet, by fourteen; sacristy, twelve feet by twelve. It is built of the blue Kentish rag, with dressings of Caen stone. WOOLHAMPTON. (S.) St. Mary’s.—This is a chapel attached to the col¬ legiate school of St. Mary, under the direction of the Very Rev. Canon Crookall, D.D. It was opened in the year 1848. The Rev. R. S. Hodgson is the Vice- President of St. Mary’s. The mission of Newbury is served from Woolhampton. Canon Dambrine, who died in June, 1855, had the pastoral charge of this place for twenty-five years. When first he came to the mission, the chapel was a miserable place, and his residence a still more wretched hovel. The present church was erected by his untiring zeal and the other capacious buildings, capable of accommo¬ dating 140 boys, at the school which he established. Newbury mission, and a girls’ school there, were also founded by him. P 158 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. WOOLWICH. (S.) This is a very handsome gothic church dedicated to St. Peter, and built from the designs of Mr. A. W. Pugin. It is situated within a few minutes’ walk of the North Kent railway. A chapel had previously existed here, since 1815. In 1841, the Board of Ordnance having granted in perpetuity a piece of ground one hundred and twenty feet in width, and two hundred feet in length for the site, the church was commenced, and solemnly opened on the 26th October, 1843, when the Right Rev. Dr. Morris, bishop of Troy preached. The style of architecture is decorated, of the period of Edward I. The principal portion is built of brick, hut the doorways, windows, arches, wreathing of but¬ tresses, pillars, &c., are of stone. The extreme length of the church is one hundred and forty feet, by sixty- two feet, and the height of the tower and spire (when completed) one hundred and fifty feet. There are three altars, and the chancel is divided from the nave by a rood screen. The font is in the north western corner of the west aisle. There is an image of St. Peter, over the entrance door, and another of Our Blessed Lady at the west end of the building. The western window is a very fine one, its extent being twenty-four feet by sixteen. All the windows are of different tracery, the roof forms an arch to the top of the building. The grand entrance is on the south-western side of the door. The sacristy is on the north side, and communi- CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 159 cates with the presbytery by a cloister. There are low open benches, and the church affords accommodation for about two thousand persons. RELIGIOUS HOUSES, &c. In the dioceses of Westminster and Southwark, there are eisht religious houses of men, viz.—the Passionist Fathers at the Hyde; the Fathers of the Oratory at Brompton ; the Marist Fathers at Spitalfields; Brothers of Poor Schools at Hammersmith, and Brothers of Mercy at Hammersmith ; the Redemptorist Fathers at Clapham ; the Christian Brothers at Clapham ; and the Capuchin Friars at Peckham. The convents of religious women in the same two dioceses are twenty-seven in number. Of these, three are situate at Hammersmith, viz.—the Sisters of the order of St. Benedict, of the Good Shepherd, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. The convent at New Hall is of the order of the Holy Sepulchre. There are three convents of the order of “Faithful Companions of Jesus.” These are situate at Isleworth, Somers Town, and Hampstead. There are five convents of Sisters of Mercy, viz.—those of Bermondsey, Blandford square, Brighton, Chelsea, and Great Ormond street. At the latter establishment the sisters tend the inmates of St. Elizabeth’s hospital, founded in 1856, chiefly through 160 CATHOLIC HAXD-BO.'K. the munificence of His Eminence Cardinal Wiseman, Lord Campden, and other charitable personages. There are two convents of the Order of the Holy Child Jesus, viz:—at 5, Bentinck street, Manchester square, and at St. Leonard’s on Sea. The convent in Broad street Buildings, (St. Mary’s, Moorfields’ district) is of the Ursuline Order. That at Holloway, is of the Order of St. Francis. A convent of the Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Compassion, is situate at 10, Lower Grove, Brompton. There are three convents of the Order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Ken¬ sington, Westminster and Greenwich. Handmaids of Jesus and Mary, at Spitalfields, Order of the Sacred Heart at Boehampton, Order of Our Lady of the Orphans at Norwood, Order of Our Lady at Clapham, Order of the Sisters of Christian Retreat at Ken- nington, and a Sisterhood of Charity at Greenwich. There are alms-houses for decayed catholics at Ham¬ mersmith, Chelsea, and Ingatestone, and Orphanages for Girls at Norwood and Kenniugton, and for Boys at North Hyde, and Somer’s Town. We append a few particulars of some of the prin¬ cipal Religious establishments. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 161 BENEDICTINE CONVENT, HAMMERSMITH. Tradition says that this house was a convent, even before the Reformation. In 1685, it was purchased by Mrs. Francis Bedingfield, Superioress of a community which had been invited over from Munich, by Ca¬ therine of Braganza, consort of Charles II. The nuns established a school for young ladies, which flourished till the time of the French revolution : but at that period the community had so much decreased, that only three members remained. The English Benedictine Nuns of Dunkirk, who in 1793, had been expelled from their convent by the French revolutionists, obtained leave, after eighteen months’ imprisonment, to return to England, which they effected in May 1795 ; and it was agreed with the ladies of the former establishment, that they should set¬ tle in the Hammersmith Convent; where they, also, have ever since kept a school. The house is very spacious: at the back is a large court, surrounded on three sides by a covered walk, beyond which are extensive gardens. The chapel which was formerly a public one, was erected by George Gillow, Esq., in 1812, is large and handsome : the lower part now forms the nun’s choir. The pensioners occupy pews between the choir and sanctuary. The altar- piece is considered a fine one : it represents the cruci¬ fixion ; and the sanctuary is adorned with statues of Our Lady and of St. Joseph. This chapel underwent 162 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. great alteration in 1853, when in consequence of the erection of the new church at Brook Green, it ceased to be open to the public. The nun’s former choir, and the sittings for the young ladies which were in a gallery above, where they were out of sight of the congregation, has now been partitioned off, and forms a spacious Chapter-room. CONVENT OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR, HAMMERSMITH. The Order of the Little Sisters of the Poor, was introduced into England in April, 1851, and has for its object the clothing, feeding, and providing for the most destitute, infirm, and aged of Christ’s poor. A large number of needy afflicted old women constantly enjoy the comforts of a home under the care of the Sisters, who, in order to provide for their numerous wants (for the Convent has no funds), become themselves beggars, not alone for money, but likewise for food and clothes. Daily may some of them be seen passing through the streets of London, in their little pony-cart, and visiting such houses as they have permission to go to, to receive scraps of meat, broken bread, cold vegetables, or any other articles that can be spared, which they afterwards prepare for their poor and themselves. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 163 ST. EDWARD’S CONVENT, BLANDFORD SQUARE. This foundation owes its existence to the zealous exertions of the late Rev. John Hearne, of the Sardi¬ nian Chapel, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and his brother the Rev. Edward Hearne, of Warwick Street chapel. Towards the end of the year 1841, they formed the project of establishing a community of the Sisters of Mercy in the Lincoln’s Inn Fields district—and in the spring of 1842, six ladies (from London), who were willing to devote themselves to the proposed good work, entered the Novitiate of the Mother House, Baggot Street, Dublin, as Postulants, and after a short proba¬ tion received the white veil as Novices. A seventh postulant for the new foundation joined them soon after. At the end of two years (viz., in 1844), the six sisters made their vows, and received the black veil from His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Mur¬ ray, Archbishop of Dublin. On the following day they set out for London, accompanied by the Rev. Messrs. Hearne—a Superioress from the Mother House, who was to remain with the infant community for a year, one professed lay Sister, and a novice (the seventh sister belonging to the foundation). A house in Queen Square, Bloomsbury, had been taken, and furnished for the Sisters, by the Rev. Messrs. Hearne and several kind friends; and the day after their arrival, they were visited by the Right Rev. Dr. Griffiths, who blessed the house, and dedicated it to St. Edward, King and 164 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. Confessor. (August 2nd, 1844. is the foundation day). The Community remained in Queen Square, till the lease (of seven years) had expiied; their chief duties while the'e being the "Visitation of the Sick Poor, and the Instvuction of adults. Bat having no means of carrying out the oiber two objects of the Institute, viz. “the Education of Poor Childien,” and “ the Protection of Distressed Women of Good Character,” they were most anxious to build a Convent with schools and a House of Mercy attached to it. In 1849, the ground on which the preseat Coaveat of St. Edward stands, was selected as an e'igible site for the building required; and the Sisters having opened a subscription list and obtained sufficient funds to begin with, the erections were commenced, early in 1850, from designs by Mr. Gilbert Blount. In July, 1851, the Community removed from Queen Square to their present Convent (fialf of which only is as yet erected.) Two Schools (attached to the convent) were opened in the October following—one for iufants, the other for the senior children. Within the last two years, a third School has been opened. These three Schoolrooms enable the Sisters to receive about four hundred chil¬ dren. Those who attend, pay one penny per week, as in the National Schools in Ireland. The largest School room is still in use as a temporary chapel; when the Sisters shall be enabled to build the church, they will receive at least two hundred more children in this room. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 165 THE HOUSE OF MERCY. The House of Mercy (also attached to the Convent) is for the admission and protection^of young women of good character, who are intended for service, or who may be for a time out of place. Girls of fourteen or fifteen, usually remain in the House of Mercy for two years, till trained for service; and those who have already been in service, till they are provided by the Sisters with suitable situations. While in the House, they are employed (according to their abilities) in house-work, needle-work, washing, ironing, &c. &c. There is an extensive Laundry attached to the House of Mercy, the profitsarising from which form the prin¬ cipal support of this Institution. There are at present upwards of sixty young women in the House of Mercy, who are fed, lodged, and partially clothed by the cha¬ rity. They pay, on entrance, five shillings, and no limited time is fixed for their stay. There are in the House of Mercy four large dormi¬ tories, an infirmary, work rooms, lavatory, parlours for visitors, a large wash house, ironing room, drying room, mangling room, packing room, &c., &c ; in fine, this portion of the building is most complete, except for the dining hall, which is intended to be under the church when built. The House of Mercy was raised in 1853, at the sole expense of a most generous benefactor (J. Pagliano, Esq.), and was dedicated (by his particular request) to “ Our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph.” 1G6 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. if. For the fittings-up and furniture of this establishment, the Sisters are indebted to subscribers. Since the opening of the House of Mercy in 1854, the Sisters have gradually (as funds would permit) added to the ** number of inmates received. The House was built for sixty, but there are generally about sixty-five in it now. Four hundred have been admitted since it was opened, and good situations provided for all who have proved themselves deserving of recommendation. The number of St. Edward’s Community is at pre¬ sent twenty-four; viz., sixteen Choir Professed Sisters, four Professed Lay Sisters, two Novices, and two Pos- tulan's. J ST. JOSEPH’S, CHELSEA. t i St. Joseph’s Convent of Our Lady of Mercy, is situ-l ate in Cadogan street, Chelsea. It comprises a long range of buildings quite in the convent style, and was founded by the late Joseph Knight, Esq., formerly of Chelsea : it was opened in the Spring of 1845. The large schools on the premises (the parochial schools), conducted by the Sisters of Mercy and the Christian! Brothers, are attended by from six to eight hun- dred children. The Sisters of Mercy are also daily engaged in the visitation of the sick poor of the locality; also in the religious instruction of adults, and the other works of mercy peculiar to their institute. The Order CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 167 if Mercy is similar in its labours to that of the insti¬ tute of the Sisters of Charity in France, though as yet perhaps more limited in their sphere of action. There ire now, however, many convents of this Order, not only in England and in Ireland (where it was founded nearly thirty years ago), but also in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and other distant parts of the world. MONASTERY OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD. FORMERLY BEAUCHAMP LODGE, HAMMERSMITH. Founded in the year of Our Lord 1841, from Angers. The Congregation of our Lady of Charity, for the Reformation of Penitent Women, was commenced in the town of Caen, in the province of Normandy, 1641, by the Rev. Pere Jean Baptist Edens, of the Order of Jesus and Mary. After ten years of trial, and delays, which were greatly increased by the death of the Bishop of Bayeux, in May, 1647, the zealous priest succeeded beyond his expectations in obtaining from the new prelate letters authorising the Institution, and which permitted the fourth Yow, the labor for the conversion of these poor souls. The day the letters were put into the hands of the Rev. P. Edens, was the 8th of Feb. 1651, on which the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Mary was kept in the Diocese. This holy man had placed the congregation under the special protection of 168 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. the I. H. of her whom he loved so much, and she thus obtained for him his desired object by the formal sanc¬ tion of the Bishop. The New Order was confirmed by His Holiness Pope Alexander VII. Jan. 1666, and again by Pope Innocent XI. The congregation observes the 20th day of October as the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and that of the 8th of February as that of the Blessed Virgin, for which a special office has been appointed, and the feasts observed with the greatest solemnity. This devotion was especially appointed by the fervor of the holy Founder, to be, as it were, the soul of the Institute, to animate all the actions of those who should enter into it. The erection of a branch of this congregation into a Generalat took place in the year 1835, and was granted by His Holiness Pope Gregory XVI., in the fifteenth year of his pontificate, to the Superior of the House at Angers, in the Department of Maine et Loire. The title “ Of the Good Shepherd ” was added to “ The Daughters of Our Lady of Charity.” Since the year 1835 the foundations made from Angers have multi¬ plied to fifty-four in number, twenty-seven in France, twelve in Belgium Germany and Italy, five in Africa and Jerusalem, two in Asia, five in America, two in England, one in Scotland, and one in Ireland. By a decree dated July 21, 1855, the said congrega¬ tion of the Generalat has been, by His Holiness Pope Pius IXth, divided into provinces. The Convent of Hammersmith is the Provincial House for Great Britain CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 169 and Ireland. This grant will facilitate the means of extending the congregation, and will enable those who are zealous to labour for the salvation of souls, to enter the Institute without leaving their country. The House is being enlarged for this purpose. The Penitentiary has already been so far enlarged as to accommodate one hundred young women. The most desirable addition to be made now, is to arrange for the second object of the Order by having a “ Class of Preser¬ vation ; ” but this requires much pecuniary aid before it can be effected. “ The Good Shepherd ” has had many kind friends—it has been fondly cherished as the “ Home of the lost child ”—many blessings were drawn down upon it by her whose name will be long revered as the “Mother Foundress,” having been sent from the Genii Monastery of Angers, in the year 1840, to found this house, and this under the most trying circum¬ stances. Her superior mind, her courage, and sweetness of manners, attracted all who saw her, and made them friends of that work of mercy in which she was engaged ; some of these friends are still mindful of the wants of the poor penitents—many have been called out of this world, or otherwise withdrawn. The Estab¬ lishment is now feeling the loss, and unfortunately, an error has crept into the minds of some, that those wants no longer exist, which, a few years past so efficaciously obtained relief from the charity of those who united themselves in the great work of the conversion of the most destitute. May God grant that this mistake may Q 170 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. be rectified, or some poor souls may feel the sad effect. The past charity of those whose names are not only in the Book of Life, but also in that of the Good Shepherd, will be for ever in remembrance, and they ■will now have the consolation of learning that a prospect is open for the extension of this work of mercy. The co-operation of the Faithful is needed ; as the Saviour of the world, now, as in his own time, often calls those to labour for the great object of the salvation of souls, who have no worldly wealth. This leaves the secular a meritorious means of working with those who are secluded from the world, to labour in the pastures of the Good Shepherd. DEUS LAUDETUR. REFORMATORY SCHOOL, BLYTH HOUSE, BROOK GREEN, HAMMERSMITH. (W.) Under the patronage of His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, and immediate direction of the Very Rev. Dr. Manning. Committee :—The Duke of Norfolk, Lord Petre, Lord Edward Howard, the Count de Torre Diaz, the Hon. Chas. Langdale, Sir R. Gerard, Bart., T. W. Allies, Esq., Rev. J. M. Glenie, Very Rev. Canon O’Neal, Very Rev. F. Faber, D.D., Rev. J. Bamber, Rev. R. G. Macmullen, Rev. J. Kyne, Rev. W. Hutchison, Very Rev. H. E. Manning, D.D. CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK, 171 Under the management of the Brothers of Mercy, founded by the Right Rev. Monsignore Scheppers, private Chamberlain of the Holy Father and Canon ’of Malines, who conducts similar establishments for youth and adults, in Belgium, at Vilvorde, Ghent, Alost, and St. Hubert, and by Special Commission of the Holy Father in Rome, and the Papal States at Santa Babina, St. Michaele, Termini, Minerva, and Perugia. Their rules of management are now submitted for the approval of the Holy See. Established under thel7 & 18 Viet., c. 86, for the Reformation of Youthful Offenders of the Catholic Religion, who have been convicted before a magistrate of contraventions of the law, and certified by the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the 10th day of October, 1855. This establishment, the first of its nature approved by Government, was ready for the reception of fifty boys at the time of its approval but the first boy was not directed to be sent to the Institution until Feb., 1856. Its principal object is to reform by religious, moral and industrial training, this class of children, who from the extreme poverty and depressed social state of the catholic population of this country fall year after year under the sentence of the law, and who were previously placed by legal sentence in reformatory schools where no security could be taken for their religious education. There is reason to believe that, in London alone, no less than from four hundred to five hundred catholic boys are committed every year. The only means of 172 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. averting tliis great and imminent danger, and the evils to which these poor boys were thus exposed, was the prompt establishment of a Catholic Reformatory School under the provisions of the law as now in operation. The Brothers of Mercy, to whose care and direction the boys are entrusted, have generously devoted them¬ selves, not only to instruct and educate, hut also to provide for the support of these hitherto neglected young children, and adolescents. The whole work of establishing a Catholic Reforma¬ tory School in the county of Middlesex was a new and un¬ tried experiment, every step had to be made for the first time, and difficulties greater and more numerous than any know hut those who had to overcome them, were to he met and cleared away. These have been we trust all removed, and we may now' hope for a gradual and firm extension of a reformatory system for catholic children; there needs now only the means of extending a work of which the system and organization have been fully established. Since their arrival in this country the management of four English institutions have been offered, but to their deep regret, for want of sufficient members, the community have been obliged to decline them; repeated applications have also been made during the past year for them to undertake reformatory establishments in Ireland, Austria, and America. It is much to be desired that by the charitable con¬ tributions of those w'ho are interested in this great -work CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. 113 of mercy, means might be found to erect a suitable building to accommodate three or four hundred boys on a more capacious and adequate site in the country, to which the Reformatory School may then be trans¬ ferred, and where already sufficient land has been obtained for exercising the boys in agriculture. ROEHAMPTON. (S.) CONVENT OF 1 HE SACRED HEART OF JESUS. This is altogether a most valuable and extensive establishment. It is principally for the education of young ladies, and the house and spacious and magnifi¬ cent grounds, afford the amplest advantages for such a purpose. The house was formerly the residence of Lord Ellenborough, and the grounds are laid out in the most elegant manner. Architecturally there is not much to boast of. The edifice has but little pretensions beyond size, and the chapel is, we believe, a design of Mr. WardeH's, spoilt by the modifications of his employers. ST. MARY’S TRAINING COLLEGE. (W.) This admirable Institution was founded in 1850, and is supported partly by subscriptions and Government grants. 114 CATHOLIC HAND-BOOK. Its object is to train masters for Catholic poor schools. The present accommodation is limited to fifty students. The College is conducted by the “ Brothers of the Mother of God and St. Joseph of Poor Schools.”— Principal, Rev. J. M. Glenie—"Vice-Principal, Rev. T. J. Capel. finis. London • Printed by HFNKY TEUI.ON. 1, Liverpool Street, MoorfleMn. V