Church of Blessed Hugh, Faringdon

Introduction

The Church of Blessed Hugh in Faringdon, within the Diocese of Portsmouth, began as a Congregational chapel built in 1840. The Catholic diocese later purchased the building, making it a chapel of ease for St George's and naming it the Church of Blessed Hugh Faringdon.

Architecture and furnishings

The church underwent refurbishment and re-ordering from April to November 2007, reopening on 4 November 2007. The building is constructed of cement-rendered rubble stone with ashlar dressings and minimal Gothic detail. The church features a slate roof and a low pitched crenellated gable. The porch is of projecting rusticated stone with a crenellated gable and trefoil panel.

Long leaded light lancets with wood Y-tracery and stone rusticated surrounds form the windows. The double doors are topped by a large fanlight. Rubble stone covers the sides and rear, where similar windows sit in brick surrounds.

Music and liturgy

The parish maintains a musical tradition with its own Mass setting, and most Masses are partially sung. The choir leads hymn singing without excluding the congregation, and choir members also serve as cantors for the responsorial psalm.

The 2026 music framework assigns cantors and responsibilities for choosing hymns and Mass settings. The parish keeps a list of hymns used at Masses over the past twelve months.

Parish life

The parish runs a children's liturgy during the Liturgy of the Word for children aged 5-11 in the church hall. Several parishioners host Ukrainian families displaced by the war, and several Ukrainian refugee families regularly attend Mass at Blessed Hugh. Several parishioners are involved in the Mustard Seed shop in Faringdon, and the parish has a Fairtrade stall several times a year. The parish works with the other churches in Faringdon for ecumenical services, including the Advent service and the sunrise service on Easter Day on Folly Hill.

The parish holds special collections for the Archdiocese of Bamenda in Cameroon, twinned with the Diocese of Portsmouth since 1974, and several parishioners have visited it. The RCIA group at Blessed Hugh Faringdon uses the Catechism of St Thomas Aquinas.

The parish holds an Advent cake sale that draws return visitors each year. Parish volunteers walk or run 200km each Lent. The church hall is available for hire, and tea and coffee are served there after Mass.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Preparation classes for Confirmation occur every other year, and 15 young people were confirmed in 2022. Eucharistic ministers can take the Blessed Sacrament to the housebound. Individual parishioners visit the sick and housebound. Lifts to Mass can be arranged for those unable to drive or use public transport.