St Edmund of Canterbury, Beckenham

Introduction

St Edmund of Canterbury in Beckenham is a large late Gothic Revival church built in 1937-8, designed by J. O’Hanlon Hughes, who also designed the furnishings and fittings. The church is locally listed and its tower has townscape value.

History

The mission was founded in 1891, with Fr W. H. Kirwan as first priest. On 27 October 1891, Bishop Butt laid the foundation stone for a church dedicated to the Transfiguration and St Benedict. The first part of the church was opened in March 1892, comprising the sanctuary and part of the nave, with an attached presbytery, designed by R. A. Boase in classical style. In 1920, Beckenham became an independent parish.

On 24 April 1927 a new temporary church dedicated to St Edmund of Canterbury was opened in Village Way. On 3 July 1937 the foundation stone was laid by Bishop Amigo and the church was opened in 1938. The clerk of works was a Mr Wornell, and the general contractors were Messrs M. J. Gleeson Ltd. In 1948-49 stained glass windows by John Trinick were added.

Further windows by Hardman Studios, who had designed the east and west windows of 1938, were added in 1946, 1965, 1969 and 1971. In 1975 the architects Francis Weal & Partners built a new parish hall opposite the church, replacing an old prefabricated hall. In the 1970s the altar was moved forward, the canopy and the altar rails removed, and the tabernacle stand moved to the southeast chapel. At some point before 1988, the font was moved to the sanctuary and the former baptistery at the southwest corner was converted into a library.

In 1988, the year of the church’s 50th anniversary, it was planned to replace the organ with a redundant one from an Anglican church in the Diocese of Bristol. A number of alterations were made for the Millennium during a reordering around 2000.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built on reinforced concrete foundations, with brown Dutch bricks in English bond and Clipsham stone dressings. Internally, the walls were constructed from sand-lime bricks up to a height of 7 feet. The roof of steel trusses is clad in a ceiling of fibrous plaster panels. The tower stands at the east end, featuring a pyramidal roof, gables, and a large pointed window on each side.

The plan is roughly rectangular, with a wide three-bay nave with passage aisles. The large west window depicts the Nativity (1938, designed by Patrick A. Feeny, Hardman Studios). The easternmost window in the north aisle shows Melchizedech (1948, John Trinick). The sanctuary is top lit by a skylight halfway up the tower.

The north wall has a Byzantine-style mosaic of Christ, with a more recent mosaic opposite showing a cross and the Host. Flight into Egypt (1946, Hardman Studios), given in memory of Felix Vernon Feehy and his wife Maria Germaine. The subject of the westernmost window is Christ carrying the Cross (Hardman Studios), in commemoration of Patrick John Byrne, parish priest 1934-60, who died in 1969. The first window from the west in the north aisle depicts the Virgin and St Bernadette, commemorating the ordination of Kevin Jean-Marie Donovan in 1965, by Hardman Studios.

The next window depicts the Good Samaritan, in memory of Francis Pratt, made by Hardman Studios in 1971. The next window shows St Edmund of Canterbury, designed by John Trinick in 1949.

The parish maintains several church choirs. Rosie’s Choir, an ecumenical community choir, leads the singing at many parish events.

Parish life

The parish has a baby and toddler group meeting every Monday in the Parish Hall. The parish has a team that organises and caters for parish events.

The parish has a First Holy Communion programme for children in Year 3 and above. The Catholic Women's League meets monthly. A group meets on Monday mornings during term time in the Hall. The parish has a group for those with physical disabilities.