Origins of the Catholic Church in
Wolverton:
1836-1860:
As early as 1836 Wolverton had been selected as
mid-point on the London-Birmingham railway line.
Wolverton was just a little village, but by 1860
it had become an important railway town, and
according to local historian Sir Frank Markham
it was thriving.
During its
development Catholics in Wolverton were served
by a Priest from Aylesbury, or they had to walk
to Weston Underwood for Sunday mass (nine miles
away).
By 1844
pastoral care was being extended by the church
at Weedon to 'Wolverton Station'.
People of
Wolverton petition the Bishop of Northampton, Dr
Amherst, for a resident parish priest. The
request was not only granted, but Wolverton was
established as a parish serving practically all
of Buckinghamshire north of Aylesbury, and parts
of Bedfordshire.
1864: Fr
Francis Cambours arrives in 1864, and within a
short time raises GBP1000 towards the
establishment of the 'Mission'.
1865: Fr
Blackman replaces Fr Cambours and builds
presbytery and church.
1867: Church
opened on Trinity Sunday 1867; although original
accounts refer to a school. Total cost was
GBP855. Eventually old organ (200 years old) was
acquired from Northampton Cathedral.
No clear reason
why St Francis de Sales (Patron of Writers and
Journalists) was chosen, but 1867 was the third
centenary of the saint's birth. St Francis de
Sales was noted for his preaching and mission
work.
1871:
Presbytery was built in 1871. A large amount of
the cost, between GBP200-300, was donated by
Sarah Dunn, the housekeeper to the priests
between 1865 and 1884.
1884: A
Society of St Vincent de Paul group (SVP) is set
up in Wolverton in 1884; a mere fifty years
after the original Paris group was formed by
Frederick Osanam (died 1853). The essence of the
society is to see Christ in those in need.
1902: Fr
Garnett installs new altar and screen. In the
screen are statues of St Gregory the Great, St
Peter, St Paul and St Thomas a Beckett. The
lower statues depict St Francis de Sales and St
Edmund the Martyr (Fr Garnett's patron saint).
Fr Garnett
begins the diaries that now have become a
tradition for parish priests to continue. These
diaries make up the archives of the parish.
1901-1902:
Clear indications of good relations with other
Christians in the parish diaries. Ecumenism
starts early in the parish.
1910-1930:
Entries in the parish diaries for the period of
the First World War mention only mass counts and
collections. There is little information about
how the war affected parishioners. But there is
a record of Fr Walker tending Catholics who were
among the Belgian refugees and the soldiers who
attended Easter celebrations in 1915.
1939-1945:
World War II took its toll, with Wolverton men
serving in many branches of the armed forces.
The local regiment, the Oxfordshire and
Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, played decisive
and heroic roles in the 1939 BEF landings and
the Dunkirk evacuation.
1948: New
stained glass windows installed as a memorial to
the parishioners killed on active service in the
Second World War. They were made by Catholic
artist Earnest R. Twining of Joseph Bell and
Son.
1973-1977:
Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception were
resident priests in Wolverton. They provided a
mission to the new city of Milton Keynes as it
was being developed. Wolverton served as the
Mother Church from which all the churches of
Milton Keynes were built.
1981: At last
the Church of St Francis de Sales is consecrated
by Bishop Charles Grant on Wednesday 23rd
September 1981. |
