St. Joseph, Leyton

Introduction

The Church was built at a cost of £8000 by subscription as a peace memorial for the First World War.

History

The first baptism registered in the Parish records is by Father Thomas Ryan, who baptised infant George Furnell on November 1, 1881. Originally part of the Westminster diocese, the parish became part of the new diocese of Brentwood in March 1917. Father O’Neill was appointed to take charge of the mission at Leyton in July 1916, served as Parish Priest from 1918, and died in 1951. Father O’Neill started fundraising in 1919 and all debt on the building was cleared by 1930.

The Repository was started in 1947 and expanded into the present shop in 1972. The Parish newsletter has been published weekly since 1965, and our first Parish Directory was first published in 2002.

The church was built in Grange Park Road because the site included a large house, originally built in 1860 as a farmhouse and much expanded by 1914, suitable as a presbytery until demolished in 1999. Men – aged 16 to 60 – from the Parish served in both World Wars and some did not return, commemorated by a plaque in Our Lady’s chapel.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built around a steel frame. The tower’s plinth and door surround are of stone, and the west window has five lights of equal height below a tiled arch, with herringbone brickwork between the continuous mullions. The tower’s tapering appearance – suggesting similarities with Lutyens’s Cenotaph in Whitehall – is created by the curving screen walls of the side aisles and the narrower parapet above the entablature. The interior was originally decorated in an Italianate style.

The removal of the organ increased the amount of natural light in the church and revealed more readily the detailed, high-quality stained glass of the church tower. The keystone of the window’s arch is part of the corbel for a niche with a statue of St Joseph.

Parish life

The last Mayor of Leyton (1964-65), Terence Messenger, was a Catholic, and an inaugural Civic Mass was celebrated at Saint Joseph Church in April 1964. During the summer in the 1930s Belgian and French priests helped out in the Parish, and in the 1960s Swiss priests – seeking to improve their English before going out to Zimbabwe – worked in the parish.

The parish runs a Baptism Course held every three months, with dates posted in the Church Newsletter. The parish arranges an annual First Holy Communion programme. The parish includes a weekly 'We pray for the Sick in our Parish' section in its newsletter. A Transfiguration Painting Project is planned to mark the parish centenary.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Confirmation is celebrated every year on Pentecost Sunday for those in Year 10 and above, with a minimum requirement of weekly Sunday Mass attendance. Weddings take place by appointment with one of the priests, with at least six months' notice required, and longer if marrying abroad. Parishioners are asked to notify one of the priests of any sick person in the parish, especially if they wish to receive Holy Communion. Patients entering hospital can request a visit from a Catholic priest by indicating that their details be passed to the Catholic Chaplain on admission.