The Holy Ghost, Yeovil

Introduction

The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost in Yeovil, together with its boundary walls and gateway, is listed at Grade II. The church was designed by Father (later Canon) AJC Scoles and built between 1894 and 1899. The church was opened and consecrated on 17 May 1899. The church is in a well-executed Gothic-Revival style.

History

The first Mass in Yeovil since the Reformation was celebrated on 13 November 1887 by Fr Badger from the Carmelite mission at Wincanton. The foundation stone was laid on 2 June 1897 by Bishop Brownlow, with Scoles as founder and Lady Arundell of Wardour as sponsor. In 1903 the care of the parish was taken over by the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales.

From September 1906 until November 1909, Yeovil was the Novitiate House of the MSFS. The detached parish hall to the rear of the church was added in c1956. In 1969 the altar rails and pulpit were dismantled, and in 1974 they were re-installed, the pulpit in smaller form against the N side of the sanctuary arch. In 1981 a plain new forward altar of Bath stone was added.

In the 1940s, the interior of the church was painted white. The 'Altar Servers' Mass' is celebrated on the feast of St Stephen and is always well attended by servers and parishioners.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is constructed of rock-faced Hamstone with freestone dressings under a red clay double-Roman tiled roof. The church has a five-bay nave, a sanctuary with a polygonal apse, E aisle and Lady Chapel, a sacristy to the W, and a NW tower. The upper sections of the buttresses have niches containing statues of saints added in stages since 1928. A tablet commemorates Canon Scoles and the opening of the church in 1899.

The carved pulpit of 1923 by G Raymond was re-configured and re-sited to its present position in 1974. The organ of 1928 is by George Osmond of Taunton. There are five stained glass windows in the apse, depicting the four Evangelists and an abstract design (centre). The rose window in the Lady Chapel depicts the Assumption.

A medieval stone panel depicting the Crucifixion, found near the Anglican church in 1854, was mounted on a stone column in front of the new church; since 1975 it has been relocated within the church and replaced with a replica. The architectural style is Early English. The nave side elevations have tall, two-light windows with plate tracery, continuous hoodmoulds, and buttresses with weathered offsets. The polygonal apse of the sanctuary is divided into five bays by buttresses, also with niches containing saints, and has a continuous hoodmould.

A tall moulded arch leads to the sanctuary, which has blind arcaded lower walls with sedilia and aumbry, and lancets above with nook-shafts. Altar rails of 1924, by G Raymond, were dismantled in 1969 and re-installed in 1974. A statue of St Joseph dates from 1923 and is by Raymond. The N windows of the nave depict the Holy Spirit, flanked by the arms of St Francis de Sales and a bishop. The other windows have modern, probably 1970s, antique glass with religious emblems.

Music and liturgy

A traditional choir has sung in the church for decades, formerly singing the mass and motets in four parts. Various settings of the Mass are sung monthly, for example the Schutte and Celtic mass. On special feasts the psalm is sung. A shared Advent service has included music from the traditional choir, the Keralan group, the Filipino community and the Polish music group. Another Mass centre was opened in 1948 at Larkhill on the western edge of Yeovil, with the first Mass offered in the chapel dedicated to St Francis de Sales on the Feast of Pentecost.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish requires six months notice for weddings. The parish offers the Anointing of the Sick on request, and asks parishioners to inform the clergy if they are going into hospital. The parish offers Baptisms by appointment. The parish priests regularly visit those in need, in care homes and in the nearby hospital, and will visit at home those unable to get to church.