SS Gregory & Augustine

Introduction

The land and money to build the church were donated by Mr Charles Robertson, a convert of Brighton and Begbroke. Ernest Newton, a member of the Arts and Crafts movement, designed the church.

History

The first public Mass was celebrated in the church on Sunday 14 April 1912. The priest with the energy to match Charles Robertson's vision was Canon, later Monsignor, and later still briefly Bishop, Michael Glancey. Fr Arthur Sammons was appointed the first parish priest of St Gregory and St Augustine's, as revealed in a letter dated 12 March 1912.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is rendered brick with a Cumberland slate roof with gabled ends. The church has a nave with a gallery at the west end over a narthex entered on the south side. The interior has a plaster tunnel-vault ceiling with moulded tie-beams and wall plate. At the east end is a baldachino with panels of Spanish leather and a carved wooden canopy.

The church has a wooden and lead-clad octagonal cupola on the ridge near the east end. The church has a first class relic of St Gregory the Great, the primary patron of the church.

The church has a relic of St Gregory's bone obtained from Rome, venerated in the parish. The celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass resumed at St Gregory's in 2005 after a break of approximately 40 years.

A large extension, probably parish rooms, was added at the east end later in the twentieth century. The east gable-end features a 4-light ground floor window and a large 6-light gallery window with segmental arch head, tile hoodmould and cill, plus a diamond-shaped brick ventilator and small stone cross on the gable. The church has 4-light north and south side windows, all with leaded panes. On the west end of the south side is a porch with splayed ashlar sides corbelled at top, supporting a canopy roof and simple boarded double doors with leaded lights.

The interior is remarkably complete with fine simple joinery. Under the west-end gallery is a panelled and glazed screen with a tall wooden balustrade above. The church has a wooden Communion rail and sedilia.

The side chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima; it was formerly a wooden confessional. A special extension was built on the other side of the nave to house the confessional more securely. The panels of the High Altar illustrate a paternal and wise St Gregory and a trepidatious but brave St Augustine.

Music and liturgy

Sung Masses in the Extraordinary Form are offered on important feast days, and occasionally High Masses with priest, deacon and sub-deacon. Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament always takes place in the Traditional Latin form. Masses on first Thursdays and Fridays are celebrated in the Extraordinary Form, first Saturdays in the Ordinary Form. Blessed Chalk is distributed on the Feast of the Epiphany and used to write the initials of the Three Kings and the date around the lintel of one's house.

Blessed Candles are distributed at Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification, and are taken home and burnt to invoke a blessing. Throats are blessed with special candles on the Feast of St Blaise.

Parish life

The parish gives support to pro-life organizations including SPUC, LIFE, Right to Life, the Good Counsel Network, Care Not Killing, and the March for Life. The Confraternity of the Rosary has been established in the parish for many decades.