Holy Ghost, Basingstoke

Introduction

Holy Ghost in Basingstoke, within the Diocese of Portsmouth, was built in 1902 by and for Canon A.J.C. Scoles. The church was consecrated in 1903 by Bishop John Cahill.

Architecture and furnishings

The church's paintings were restored in 1991-92. The church is built of dressed flint with ashlar dressings and some red brick, with a Roman tile roof. The church is in High Victorian Gothic style following the Early English style.

The altar is made of marble and contains relics of St James, St Stephen and St Bede. The bell tower contains the bell called John, sponsored by John Liddell of Sherfield Manor.

The Lady Chapel is gabled, with a statue of Madonna and child in a niche over the window, a gable cross, and pentafoil west and east windows. The bell tower has a chamfered plinth, quoined angles, moulded bands, a stair lit by single-light windows, louvred lights to the bell stage, a corbelled eaves band, and a slate spire with a slender cross. The sanctuary has a vaulted roof, and the nave has a compartmental roof with foliate capitals carrying vaults. In the Sanctuary and Lady Chapel, polished marble columns support decorative archivolts.

The church has polished stone altars and reredoses and, at the east end, a tabernacle for the cross. The church has a decoratively-carved stone font and pulpit from 1928. The church has decorative brass lanterns. One of the south nave windows contains a piece of early-mid 16th-century glass originally from the chapel at Vyne House, Basingstoke.

The large stone buttresses surrounding the building contain statues of the patron saints of the diocese and John the Baptist. Above the front door is a stone carving representing the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. The paintings on the ceiling above the altar show Jesus on his mother's knee, the seven spirits of the Old Testament and John the Baptist, surrounded by scrolls bearing the words of the hymn 'Come Holy Ghost, Creator come'. The Lady Chapel is decorated in blue and gold and contains a marble statue of Mary, with paintings of events in her life including the arrival of the wise men, the wedding at Cana and Mary's assumption.

Music and liturgy

Some Masses are reflective in nature without music, appreciated by those with sensory difficulties. The Lord's Flock are a charismatic community gathering for praise and worship on Saturday evenings.

Parish life

The St Bede’s and St Joseph’s SVP group aims to tackle poverty in all its forms, particularly by visiting the sick and the lonely. The SVP group supports its twinned SVP Conferences in Southern India. The parish supports the Basingstoke Food Bank, which provides emergency food for local people in crisis. The Knights of St Columba are a group of Catholic men who meet at St Bede’s monthly for prayer, faith-sharing, and fellowship.

The Catenian Association offers a social network providing support to members based on friendships built on a shared faith, with monthly meetings and a varied social programme involving wives and families. Feast Light Basingstoke is a weekly gathering of “messy” people sharing stories and watching recorded videos of the Feast, the live weekly gathering of the Light of Jesus Family. The parish has an active CAFOD network, the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales, and during Lent holds Lenten lunches in people’s homes and in the church hall to raise money for CAFOD.

The St Bede’s Flower Ladies decorate the churches with flowers for many occasions, including Christmas, Easter, First Holy Communion, and the diocesan Significant Wedding Anniversaries celebration. The parish runs a First Holy Communion programme every year with enrolment in the autumn. The confirmation programme for teenagers is run annually across North West Hampshire. Couples wishing to marry in the Catholic Church should notify the parish office at least one year before the proposed marriage date.

Regular events

The Bereavement Group organises an annual bereavement service and assists the priest during the blessing of graves at Worting Road cemetery every November. The Basingstoke African Caribbean Catholic Association (BACCA) meets every four to eight weeks in the North Basingstoke area and celebrates Black History month with a Mass in October.

Notable people and events

Canon A.J.C. Scoles, architect and patron, died in 1920 and was buried next to the Sanctuary; his tombstone is in the angle of the Lady Chapel and Sanctuary.