St George and St Teresa

Introduction

After the fire, Father Watts planned a permanent church; the lowest tender of £4,449 was accepted in December 1934 and the foundation stone was blessed on 4th March 1935.

History

In 1905, John Hardman obtained permission from Bishop Ilsley to erect a temporary chapel called 'Holy Cross' in the field next to his house in Dorridge. In 1914, a group of lay Catholics asked Canon Williams whether his curate, Fr Stanbridge, would say an early Mass in Dorridge; an attic room opposite the station was rented and the first Mass was celebrated there in November 1915. On February 23rd 1934, the church caught fire and most of the contents, including the altar, were destroyed; only the chalice and monstrance were saved.

The solemn opening of the church took place in November 1935 with a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by Monsignor Cronin. A Lady Chapel was built and parishioners paid for the window behind the High Altar as a memorial to the First World War. Money was borrowed to repair and enlarge the church as numbers grew, and bench renting was used to find the repayments. In 1927, £700 debt was remitted by the Archdiocese of Birmingham, and the church was further enlarged with work on the presbytery. A group of Mini Vinnies based in St George & St Teresa’s school undertakes its own Vincentian initiatives and supports some of the adult activities.

Architecture and furnishings

An extension to the church was completed in 1977, with a new sanctuary at the west end and a small Lady Chapel on the opposite side; the old Lady Chapel became the Narthex. The temporary church stood on a brick foundation, measured twenty feet by forty, and cost £302 for the building and foundations, with a total cost of £1,000 for land and building. The Church Hall, built in the 1930s, served as a secular school for a while and housed evacuees during the Second World War.

Visiting

A pilgrimage to the Shrine of the English Martyrs at Tyburn, including Mass at Westminster Cathedral, took place in September 2005. The Parish Centre provides a large multi-purpose hall with kitchen facilities, a conference room with flexible layout, and toilets including baby-changing and disabled facilities. The church has a Piety Stall.