Sacred Heart Parish
A brief history of our parish
The new Sacred Heart Parish was formed in 1974. The foundation stone was laid on Tuesday, September 24th of that year and the Church was officially blessed by the Bishop of Northampton, the Rt. Rev. Charles Grant in June 1976.
Designed by Mr Mathers, an architect working for Cheltenham firm Williams and Matthews, and built by local firm A Glenn and Sons Ltd, the Church cost a little over £100,000.
The interior of the Church is dominated by the striking paintings of the Stations of the Cross. These are the work of Martin Hughes, at the time a young artist from Cheltenham. He completed them in only four weeks, sometimes working through the night and even sleeping in the Church!
The benches in the Church were all made by a parishioner, Mr Alan Blenkinsop, a professional joiner.
Although the parish was only established in 1974, its Parish Priest, the Rev. F. Calnan SCJ, had been working in the area for the previous five years. He remained the Parish Priest until his death on 15th March 2014.
From 1st September 2015, Fr Jerry Manomey joined our parish and that of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour & St Anselm's, as Priest in Charge.
The Parish has two very well attended Masses, one on Saturdays and one on Sundays, daily Mass during the week, Eucharistic Adoration twice weekly and a variety of groups organised by parishioners.