St Laurence's Church, Cambridge

St. Laurence's
St. Laurence's Roman Catholic Church
Coordinates: 52°13′05″N 0°07′46″E / 52.218145°N 0.129572°E / 52.218145; 0.129572
Country United Kingdom
Denomination Roman Catholic
Website http://www.saintlaurence.org.uk/
Administration
Diocese Diocese of East Anglia
Clergy
Bishop(s) Alan Hopes
Priest(s) Rev Patrick Cleary

The Church of St. Laurence is a Roman Catholic parish church in Cambridge, UK. It is part of the Diocese of East Anglia within the Province of Westminster. It is part of the Cambridge Deanery and is one of the three parishes serving the city of Cambridge, the other two being Our Lady and the English Martyrs and St. Philip Howard.

History of the parish and church

The first permanent post Reformation Roman Catholic church in Cambridge was Our Lady and the English Martyrs opened and consecrated on 8 October 1890. The Roman Catholic population continued to grow and the opening of a Carmelite convent at 104-106 Chesterton Road in 1923 provided a new place of worship on the Northern side of the town.

In 1937 the Carmelite sisters moved to a quieter site at Waterbeach, into a building which, when vacated in the early 1970s, became the Waterbeach Lodge residential home for the elderly. Following the departure of the Carmelites from Cambridge, the need for a new parish gradually became apparent and within a year there was a significant donation of £250 towards establishing a new mass centre or church for Roman Catholics in Chesterton.[1]

In the years immediately after the Carmelite sisters left, masses were said in private houses and informal venues until a small corrugated iron church was erected on the High Street in Chesterton. In 1947 this became the new Parish of St Laurence's, with the presbytery for the parish priest located at 1 Ferry Lane.[2]

With the arrival of the Rev. Patrick Oates in 1951, efforts to fund raise and build a permanent church were accelerated.[3] On 8 March 1958 Bishop Parker laid the foundation stone on the Milton Road site and on 24 August 1958 the new church was formally blessed and dedicated.[4] The old corrugated iron church building was then moved to Fen Ditton, to become the church of St Vincent.

Architecture and appearance of the church

The interior of the church showing the altar and sanctuary area with statues and tapestry

St Laurence's is a modern church, built in brick and with an open layout so that all parts of the church can see the altar area.

The church has remained substantially unchanged since it was opened, with the exception of the removal of altar rails and the redesign of the altar following the Second Vatican Council. The porch was changed slightly around the time of the millennium, putting a glass roof on it to improve light. In the first decade of the twenty-first century a balcony was also constructed at the back of the church to increase capacity for the growing congregation.

Parish priests and clergy

Parish Priest Dates[5]
Rev Gerard Hulme 1947-1951
Rev Patrick Oates 1951-1968
Rev Norman Smith 1968-1969
Rev Liam Brady 1969-1972
Rev John Drury 1972-1977
Rev Richard Wilson 1977-1982
Rev Peter Wynekus 1982-1988
Rev Michael Griffin 1988-1996
Rev David Paul 1997-2011
Rev Patrick Cleary 2011-

In addition to parish priests the following additional priests have served the parish: Revs Peter Stoyle (1963-1964), Paul Hypher (1964-1967), Derrick Morgan (1967-1970), John Drury as curate (1970-1972), Timothy Russ (1972-1976), Francis Selman (1976-1979), Michael Vulliamy (1980-1982), Michael Ryan (1981-1983) and Joseph Farrell (1983-1986)

The parish has had the following permanent deacons: Rev Geoffrey Cook (1978-)

Parish statistics

The following table records the number of Baptisms (of children), Receptions (of adults) into the church, Marriages and the number attending Sunday Mass (as counted on the annual census Sunday).

Year Baptisms Receptions Marriages Estimated Roman
Catholic population 		Mass Attendance
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985[6] 39 0 15 3600 735
1990[7] 36 1 16 3000 505
1995[8] 40 3 8 1640 614
2000[9] 40 0 3 1640 580
2005[10] 50 7 10 2400 689
2010[11] 62 4 9 3250 706
2015

References

  1. ↑ Margaret Plumb, Chp 19 St Laurence's Church, in Nicholas Rogers (ed) Catholics in Cambridge, Gracewing 2003, ISBN 0852445687, 210-214, p.210
  2. ↑ Margaret Plumb, Chp 19 St Laurence's Church, in Nicholas Rogers (ed) Catholics in Cambridge, Gracewing 2003, ISBN 0852445687, 210-214, p.212
  3. ↑ St Laurence's Parish Information Page (retrieved 28 March 2013)
  4. ↑ Margaret Plumb, Chp 19 St Laurence's Church, in Nicholas Rogers (ed) Catholics in Cambridge, Gracewing 2003, ISBN 0852445687, 210-214, p.212
  5. ↑ The data for this table is taken from the annually published Diocese of East Anglia Year Book.
  6. ↑ Data taken from Gary Dowsey (Ed), East Anglia Diocesan Year Book 1987, Universe Publications Company Ltd, 1987, ISBN 0-949005-04-5, p.62-63
  7. ↑ Data taken from Gary Dowsey (Ed), East Anglia Diocesan Year Book 1992, Gabriel Communications Ltd, 1992, ISBN 0949005584 p.36-7
  8. ↑ Data taken from Paul Maddison (Ed), East Anglia Diocesan Year Book 1997, Mersey Mirror Ltd, 1997, ISBN 0-949005-58-4, p.44-45
  9. ↑ Data taken from John Warrington (Ed), Diocese of East Anglia 2002 Year Book and Ordo, Mersey Mirror Ltd, 2002, ISBN 0-949005-58-4, p.46-47
  10. ↑ Data taken from Mark Hackeson (Ed), Diocese of East Anglia 2007 Year Book and Ordo, Mersey Mirror Ltd, 2007, p.80-81
  11. ↑ Data taken from Mark Hackeson (Ed), Diocese of East Anglia 2012 Year Book and Ordo, Mersey Mirror Ltd, 2012, p.80-81
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