St. Thomas Aquinas, Fenny Stratford

Introduction

J. S. Comper supplied the designs from which Saint Thomas Aquinas in Fenny Stratford was built in 1956. Seating 208, Saint Thomas Aquinas opened on 14 June 1956 after its foundation stone had been laid on 26 June 1955. Wire-cut Fletton brick, dressings of concrete or reconstituted stone, and a plain tile roof give Saint Thomas Aquinas its simplified modern Gothic form. Saint Thomas Aquinas never received the westward extension for which it was designed, an extension that would have doubled its size.

Architecture and furnishings

A Lady Chapel lies to the south of Saint Thomas Aquinas and a sacristy to the north, with a canted apsidal sanctuary and a short nave of three bays that is half the intended length. Paired lancets with Y-tracery mark the apse of Saint Thomas Aquinas, four-light windows mark the Lady Chapel south wall and adjoining lean-to, and the nave and Lady Chapel east windows are triple lancets under a flat lintel with a hoodmould. To the east of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the slightly later presbytery connects to the sacristy through a low flat-roofed link.

Conceived as temporary, the west end wall of Saint Thomas Aquinas is entirely plain. White painted brick forms the internal walls of Saint Thomas Aquinas, whose truncated design gives a broad, short nave. Between the bays of Saint Thomas Aquinas a rafter and purlin roof sits on large unmoulded transverse brick arches that are externally buttressed; those brick arches were chosen because they cost less than the reinforced concrete arches originally intended. Left of the chancel arch at Saint Thomas Aquinas, a lower doorway leads to the sacristy, while unmoulded arched openings lead to the apse and Lady Chapel.

Over the north doorway from the apse of Saint Thomas Aquinas into the sacristy sits a large three-light window, and the apse roof is a collar rafter roof with soulaces. Over the site of the former high altar in Saint Thomas Aquinas, the tester is probably a Comper design. August Spath’s small pipe organ stands by the entrance to the Lady Chapel at Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Parish life

Catholic men belonging to the Knights of Saint Columba support the parish. Appointed by the parish priest, a finance committee meets three times a year to oversee parish finances. A representative from Bedford comes to the Saint Thomas Aquinas meeting room to assist the parish Italian community. Parishioners clean the church on a rota that comes round about once every five weeks.

Five teams of volunteers count the collections. SEPO, whose name means hope, is the parish society that supports the Comboni Missionary Sisters in Mongu, Western Province, Zambia. The parish takes part in Churches Together in Bletchley and in ecumenical events.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Boys and girls who have made their First Holy Communion may take up altar serving. The bishop celebrates a Mass of Confirmation in the parish on a date he agrees, and meeting space limits the number of places.

Couples marrying in the parish usually give six months' notice, one partner must be a baptised Catholic, a previous marriage may prevent the wedding, and they must attend Marriage Care's Preparing Together course. Babies of families living outside the parish boundary are baptised if the family attends Mass in Bletchley every weekend. People going into hospital are asked to say they are Catholic and would like a visit, the town's priests share emergency cover, and the sacrament of the sick can be arranged beforehand.

Visiting

Meeting fortnightly in the All Saints meeting room, the local Society of Saint Vincent de Paul conference visits people, gives spiritual and financial help, and recycles furniture and goods. A parish visit co-ordinator arranges visits to many parishioners. Visitors park in the small Walnut Drive car park or on the roadside, where there are no disabled bays, and on Saturday nights and Sundays the neighbouring Oxford House dentist allows use of its car park off Aylesbury Street.