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St Agatha's Church
St Agatha's Church
	Façade
Religion
Affiliation	Catholic Church (since 2012); Previously; Traditional Anglican Communion (1994-2012); Church of England (1894-1954)
Rite	Anglican Use
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Parish Church
Leadership	Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham; Ordinary: The Revd Msgr Keith Newton; Rector: The Revd Msgr Robert Mercer
Location
Location	Landport, Portsmouth, England
Geographic coordinates	50°48′8.22″N 1°5′31.87″W / 50.8022833°N 1.0921861°W
Architecture
Architect(s)	Joseph Henry Ball
Style	Italianate Romanesque
General contractor	W. R. Light and Son of Southsea
Groundbreaking	1838
Completed	1894
Construction cost	£3,250
Website
	sagathasbasilica.com

St Agatha's Church is a parish church in the Landport district of Portsmouth. It is now affiliated to the Roman Catholic Church through the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. It is situated on the Marketway next to the Cascades Shopping Centre. It was built between 1893 and 1895 for the Church of England and is a Grade II* listed building.^[1]

History

Construction

Originally, the site had a small mission church situated in an area of extreme deprivation.^[2]^[3] The church was built because of the efforts of Father Robert William Radclyffe Dolling, an Irish Anglo-Catholic priest. He worked to alleviate the social ills of the area.^[4] At the same time he received donations from the residents of Old Portsmouth to build a new church.^[5] Construction began in 1893.^[6]

The formal opening of the church took place on 27 October 1895 with a ceremony involving mass being said at the old mission church followed by a procession to the new church,^[7] but the nature of the ritual led to a row with the Bishop of Winchester.^[8]

Establishment

Dolling's successor, Father Tremenheere, continued to decorate the interior until 1914 when another long-serving incumbent arrived. Work done during this time included the completion of the murals and the addition of a wooden pulpit.^[9] Tremenheere's successor, Father C. W. Coles, was to serve the parish through two world wars^[10] until 1954 when the last service was held. In 1964 the church's ladychapel was demolished to allow for road widening.^[6]

Traditional Anglican Communion

For the next 40 years it became a naval store until the Traditional Anglican Communion took it over for a form of worship very similar^[11] to that originally provided by Dolling. The church survived this time largely intact although the lady chapel was demolished in 1964.^[9]

Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

In 2012 the parish joined the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, a canonical structure established in 2011 for former Anglicans wishing to convert to Catholicism, while preserving elements of a "distinctive Anglican patrimony".^[12]

Present

The church is now also used for concerts. It has been described as a magnificent building,^[13] as having a sumptuous interior,^[14] and the "Cathedral of the car parks" in Portsmouth's shopping district.^[15]

Following the reception of the retired Bishop of Matabeleland, Robert Mercer, who worshipped at the church, into the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and other members of the church's clergy, St Agatha's began to be used as a place of worship for the ordinariate.^[16] Much of the church's interior furnishing has been sourced from redundant churches.^[6] The high altar is originally from Trinity church in Trinity Church Square via St Matthews in New Kent Road.^[6]

The church has one Sunday Mass at 11:00 am. It also has weekday Masses at 11:00 am on Monday, Friday and Saturday.^[16]

References

^ Church of St Agatha, Portsmouth from British Listed Buildings, retrieved 11 February 2015
^ "Portsea Island Churches" Lubbock, R.: Portsmouth City Council, 1969
^ Don't touch the holy Joe: Father Dolling’s battle for Landport and St Agatha’s church Bryant, R: Hampshire, Ragged Right, 1995 ISBN 1-898269-05-X
^ "The Life of Father Dolling" Osborne, C. E. pp. 60–207: London, Edward Arnold, 1903
^ "The life of Father Dolling" Osborne, C. E.: Nottingham, Arnold, 1903
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d O’Brien, Charles; Bailey, Bruce; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Lloyd, David W. (2018). The Buildings of England Hampshire: South. Yale University Press. pp. 460–463. ISBN 9780300225037.
^ Bryant, Roger (1995). Don’t touch the holy Joe: Father Dolling’s battle for Landport and St Agatha’s church. Ragged Right. p. 56. ISBN 1-898269-05-X.
^ "Ten years in a Portsmouth slum" Dolling, R. W. R.: London, Brown Langham, 1903
^ ^a ^b Bryant, Roger (1995). Don’t touch the holy Joe: Father Dolling’s battle for Landport and St Agatha’s church. Ragged Right. pp. 52–53. ISBN 1-898269-05-X.
^ War memorial
^ 1994-Traditional Anglican Communion
^ "History". S. Agatha's Church. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
^ Architectural Description
^ The Buildings of Hampshire & The Isle of Wight Pevsner, N. and Lloyd, D. W.: Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1967 ISBN 0-300-09606-2
^ Geograph image
^ ^a ^b Portsmouth Ordinariate Group from Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, retrieved 11 February 2015