St Richard of Chichester Church, Chichester

St Richard's Church
St Richard of Chichester Church
St Richard's Church is located in Chichester city centre
St Richard's Church
St Richard's Church
Location in Chichester
50°49′58″N 0°46′37″W / 50.8329°N 0.7770°W / 50.8329; -0.7770
OS grid referenceSU8622004416
LocationChichester, West Sussex
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationRoman Catholic
WebsiteStRichardsChichester.co.uk
History
StatusActive
DedicationRichard of Chichester
Consecrated21 March 1998
Architecture
Functional statusParish church
Heritage designationGrade II listed
Designated13 November 2007[1]
Architect(s)Tomei & Maxwell
Completed19 March 1958
Administration
ProvinceSouthwark
DioceseArundel and Brighton
DeaneryCathedral[2]

St Richard of Chichester Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Chichester, West Sussex, England. The church was built in 1958 and contains the largest scheme of stained glass by Gabriel Loire in the United Kingdom. The church is situated on Market Avenue on the corner of Cawley Road, next to St Richard's Catholic Primary School. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]

History

Interior

First church

Before 1855, Mass was said in a room in the Bedford Hotel on Southgate in Chichester. Funding for a new, permanent church was provided by the Countess of Newburgh. In 1855, a Gothic Revival church was built on the corner of Market Avenue and Southgate; it remained until 1958.[1]

Present church

On 19 March 1958, the present church was opened. It replaced the church on Market Avenue and Southgate. The architects were Lawrence Tomei (1910–1989) and John Maxwell. They also designed All Saints Church in Hersham. The builders were A. Booker and Son from Walberton.[3]

Inside the church is a continuous clerestory around the nave and transepts. The stained glass window scheme in the church was made by Gabriel Loire using the dalle de verre style in a complete figurative narrative design.[1] The Stations of the Cross that are oil paintings, the altarpiece, baptistry and the six angels in the Blessed Sacrament chapel were all designed by David O’Connell (1895–1976).[3]

Parish

The priests at St Richard of Chichester Church also serve Our Lady of the Assumption Church on Fairfield Road in Bosham, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Wilfrid's Church on Church Road in Selsey, and St Peter's Church on Church Road in East Wittering and as of 1 November 2021 they form a single parish: the Parish of Our Lady and the Saints of Sussex.[4][2]

St Richard of Chichester Church has three Sunday Masses at 6:00 pm on Saturday, and 9:30 am and 6:30 pm on Sunday. Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Bosham has one Sunday Mass at 11:30 am and St Peter's Church in East Wittering has one Sunday Mass at 9:00 am. Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Wilfrid's Church in Selsey has one Mass on Sunday at 11am.[5]

  • Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Bosham
    Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Bosham
  • St Peter's Church, East Wittering
    St Peter's Church, East Wittering
  • Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Wilfrid's Church, Selsey. A brick-built church with a small tower, taken from the road, against a blue sky.
    Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Wilfrid's Church, Selsey

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Roman Catholic Church of St Richard, Chichester from British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 15 February 2016
  2. ^ a b Parishes from Diocese of Arundel and Brighton. Retrieved 15 February 2016
  3. ^ a b Chichester – St Richard of Chichester from English Heritage. Retrieved 15 February 2016
  4. ^ "Home". Catholic Parish of Our Lady and the Saints of Sussex. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Home". Catholic Parish of Our Lady and the Saints of Sussex. Retrieved 20 November 2022.