“Was it Pugin’s genius at its best?” Father O’Donoghue wondered, as he acquired the Caen stone high altar. We’re standing before St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Dulwich, a place where faith, art, and history intertwine.
St. Thomas More Catholic Church stands as a testament to faith and community spirit in East Dulwich. Its story is woven with dedication. It reflects resilience through war and revival.
Joseph Goldie designed St. Thomas More Catholic Church in 1929. The church suffered war damage and was restored in 1953. Later, in 1970, a lady chapel was added. Patrick Pye created the stained glass. Freda Skinner crafted the Madonna and Child statue in the Lady Chapel.
The reredos and altar come from the former chapel of the Jesuit college. It was located in Hales Place near Canterbury, Kent. This gives the church a unique historical depth.
In 1879, the Franciscans from Peckham started saying Mass. They used the house of Mrs. Lucy Taylor. The site in Lordship Lane became available. The Franciscans turned a house into a monastery. They converted stables into a church. Mass was first said there on Whit Sunday 1879. A school opened on the site in 1882.
Downside Abbey’s Benedictines took over the parish. Abbott Terence Snow planned a Catholic community. He built small houses but debt forced their sale.
Dom Meinhard Fulton wanted a new church. In 1907, a site was leased from the Dulwich Estate. The presbytery was completed by 1908. The church was not completed on time.
The First World War halted development. In 1923, Downside handed the parish back to the diocese. Father James O’Donoghue took over.
Negotiations led to a new site. Work began in 1927. The church opened on May 29, 1929. It was named St. Thomas More in May 1935.
During the Second World War, the church suffered bomb damage. Mass moved to St Anthony’s church. Post-war restoration was slow. The first Mass was said in the restored church on February 15, 1953.
Father John Kenny succeeded Father O’Donoghue. He improved the church including the Sacred Heart Chapel. The Knights of St Columba funded the new Lady Chapel. Mass attendance rose significantly.
Work began on a new school in 1963. The school opened in 1964. The parish institutions were revived. A football pools scheme started to raise funds.
The John Paul Centre opened in 1985. In 1989, a new organ was acquired. A Parish Forum was established around 2005.
Joseph Goldie designed the church in a late Gothic Revival style. The altar and reredos are from Hales Place. The church occupies a prominent location in East Dulwich.
The west front features a large window over the entrance. A stone crucifix is built into the gable. The interior has a wide nave. Transept chapels give off the eastern bays. A chancel arch separates the nave from the sanctuary.
The high altar and reredos dominate the east wall. Figures of saints frame panels under Gothic canopies. The alabaster tabernacle incorporates a Pelican in her Piety.
St. Thomas More Church stands not just as a building, but as a living chronicle. It reflects the enduring spirit of its community. It echoes the whispers of its past. Every stone and stained-glass panel tells a story of faith. It tells of resilience and artistic devotion.