St. Tarcisius

Introduction

The church is in Perpendicular style, built of Bargate coursed stone rubble with Bath stone dressings and tiled roof.

History

Rev John McKenna was appointed as first Mission Priest at Camberley in 1874. Lady Southwell gave the London Road site for a permanent church in 1879. An iron church was erected on the school site in 1884. The new church and three altars were consecrated on 26 June 1926 by Bishop W F Brown, bishop of Pella.

The East stained glass windows were erected on 29 March 1935. Canon Twomey, first Parish Priest of Camberley and first Chaplain of RMC Sandhurst, was ordained 23 June 1901 and died 14 April 1950 aged 74. Reverend Canon Patrick Twomey served as priest 1906-1950. In 1888, the Priest's House was built, and later the Iron church was moved alongside it. Reverend Alexander McAuliffe served as priest from 1895 to 1896.

Architecture and furnishings

The church comprises a west tower with porch underneath and baptistery to the side, four bay nave with north aisle, lower two bay chancel and transepts with side chapels. The west tower of three stages has a crenellated parapet and arched and louvred windows to the bell chamber. The nave has a pitch pine arched braced roof with kingposts and an arcade of Bath stone pointed arches supported on octagonal columns. The chancel has a barrel-vaulted pitch pine roof, carved white alabaster altar rail and carved Beer stone reredos with six canopies above Catholic saints and martyrs.

Many stained glass windows are by Paul Woodroffe (1875-1954). The church has an octagonal carved stone pulpit and an octagonal stone font, and the original oak pews survive. The south chapel has a carved reredos and the north Lady Chapel has triple arches and a stone reredos depicting the Virgin and Child and angels.

The High Altar is in memory of Mr Allan MacDonnell, his wife and son Hugh. The tower is 50 feet high and the internal length of the church is 96 feet. The transepts have larger Bath stone arches on columns and a wooden gallery is in the north transept. The stone used is Bargate or Godalming stone, and the reredos is Beer stone from South Devon.

The chancel reredos has six canopies above Catholic saints and martyrs, including St Tarcisius, St Pancras, St Augustine, St Patrick, St George and St Sebastian. Marble memorial tablets are inside the porch.

Parish life

The parish is a member of Churches Together in Camberley, which aims to build better relationships between different parts of the community, different nationalities, and different churches. The parish runs Alpha, its primary course for inviting guests seeking to become Catholic Christians, and part of its sacramental programme for adults seeking Baptism and/or Confirmation.

The parish has a Children's Liturgy ministry with leaders for St Tarcisius. The parish has a Guild of St Stephen altar server ministry. The parish has a Prayer Ministry including Rosary and Adoration. The parish has an RCIA Adult Formation ministry.

The parish has a Sacramental Ministry with a Baptism ministry leader. The parish has a Finance and Property ministry with a parish finance committee chair, treasurer, and finance committee members. The parish has a Senior Leadership Team. Sycamore is an informal course about the Christian faith given in a Catholic context, exploring its relevance for life.

Visiting

The church is often open for private prayer, with availability checked on the events page. Public Masses are streamed live on YouTube. The parish calendar lists Mass Times, Adoration, Prayer meetings and Courses.