St Edward the Confessor, Romford

Introduction

Daniel Cubitt Nicholls, a London-based architect, designed the church. The church was consecrated on 6th May 1856.

History

Cardinal Wiseman, first Archbishop of Westminster, dedicated the church in May 1856. The church replaced a temporary building that had stood on the site since 1854. In 1917, a gallery was added to the west end of the chancel. In 1934, the North Chapel was added, the west gallery was rebuilt, and the current church hall to the west of the church was probably added.

The original altar remains, although it was superseded by a free-standing altar placed in front of it during a reordering in the 1990s. In 1961, the church school was closed and eventually converted to a social club, which was extensively remodelled and extended at the end of the twentieth century.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of coursed ragstone with a red tiled roof and Bath stone dressings, and it has a chapel of yellow brick laid in English bond. The nave has four bays with two-tier buttresses and windows with plate-tracery of double-lancets beneath a roundel. The east window has geometric tracery with triple-lights and three roundels, with carved heads of St Edward and St Agnes at the springing points of the arch. The west end has a rose window over two double shouldered arched windows with small trefoil arches in the porch and gallery stair tower.

The church has a steep gabled roof with a central wooden belfry topped by a splayed-foot spire, small dormers at the west end, hipped and half-hipped roofs to the porch, and Latin gable crosses. The chapel has windows in a more elaborate Decorated style, a door set in a Tudor arch, and a pitched roof with a flat-roofed vestry. The interior has a diagonally-boarded, timber scissors-truss roof to both the nave and chancel, with a panelled wooden gallery at the west end of the nave. The church has an ornate stone reredos with a pinnacled canopy over scenes of the Nativity and Deposition, flanked by figures of St Edward the Confessor and St Agnes by Boulton and Harris.

The stained glass in the east window dates from 1885 and depicts scenes from the life of St Edward, by Hardman and Co of Birmingham. The geometric design of red and black floor tiles to the nave and chancel is of late twentieth-century date. The sanctuary contains an aumbry with carved foliate decoration and a plain piscina, both set in foiled arches.

Music and liturgy

As a Fair Trade Church, the parish uses Fair Trade Communion wine at Mass. After serving for a year, the parish's altar servers are enrolled as members of the Guild of St Stephen. The parish has more than 25 altar servers, the youngest being 8 years old.

Parish life

The St Vincent de Paul Society supports parishioners in great need with clothing, food and furniture, and reaches out to older members. The parish supports Cafod, focusing on charitable giving during the Cafod Fast Day twice a year. The Flower Arranging team, known as 'The Petals', creates floral decorations for liturgical seasons.

The parish has Beavers, Cubs and Scouts groups accredited by the Scouting Association, active in council-wide and parish activities. A long-established group for mothers and expectant mothers meets sometimes in person, sometimes online, with prayer, reflection and social time.

A Parish Pastoral Council meets approximately four times a year, with members representing different parts of parish life. The parish is part of the Stewards of the Gospel programme, working in partnership with Corpus Christi, Collier Row; Holy Redeemer and St Dominic's, Harold Hill and Harold Wood; and Christ the Eternal High Priest, Gidea Park.

A Parish Partnership Youth Co-Ordinator also serves the local parishes of Collier Row, Harold Hill and Gidea Park. The parish has a long standing Finance Committee. A Parish Pastoral Forum existed from 2018 to 2019, set up alongside the Stewards Programme.

Regular events

The parish holds a Living Rosary throughout the year, with parishioners signing up for specific dates. The parish holds an annual Christmas Bazaar in early December.