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The Roman Catholic parish of
Shepshed was founded in the early 19th century by Father Luigi
Gentili of the Institute
of Charity
(Rosminians).
The original Pick Street
church was built in less than a year by Augustus Welby Northmore
Pugin. Pugin designed and built the church out of local materials and
refused to accept a fee for his work. The church was dedicated to God
under the patronage of St Winefride on Friday, 18th November 1842.
The Rosminian priests served the Shepshed mission until 1852. Then,
the mission was kept alive until 1870 by the generosity of the
priests of Mount
Saint Bernard.
In 1870, Father John Aloysius Martens arrived in Shepshed and was
destined to serve the parish for the next 46 years. Many achievements
marked his stay in the parish and in particular the purchase of land
and the property known as 'The Elms' (the current presbytery) plus
the purchase of land in Britannia
Street upon which to build a new school.
By the early 20th century, the increase in number of catholics in the
parish meant that the church in Pick Street was no longer big
enough. Canon Bernard Hobson, the parish priest, had to make
provision for this increase. As an imaginative and engaging method of
fundraising, the people of the parish were asked to buy bricks
for the construction of the current church building. After
considerable fundraising efforts, the foundation stone for the new
church, next to the presbytery in Charnwood Road, was laid on
Saturday, 4th June 1927. The plans for the new church were drawn by
Messrs Young and Reid, architects of Grays
Inn, in London.
The new St Winefride's church was officially opened on Tuesday, 10th
April 1928. It has an overall length of 90ft and a width of 48ft. The
square tower rises to 50ft in height. Grey sand faced bricks were
used for the construction with Bath
stone facings. The roof is of hammer beam construction made from
Colombian pine and the roof is covered with Delabole slates.
(Taken from 'Shepshed's Second
Spring' written and compiled by F. J. Bennett)
List
of St Winefride's Parish Priests.
1840 - 1844
Fr Luigi Gentili and Fr Angelus Rinolfi
1844 - 1845 Fr Moses
Furlong
1845 - 1847 Fr
Fortunatus Signini
1847 - 1849 Fr
William Lockhart
1849 - 1850 Fr P Huton
1850 - 1852 Fr
Nicholas Lorrain
1852 - 1853 Fr John
Wyse
1854 - 1858 Fr Luke
Levermore
1858 - 1862 No
resident priest - Served from the Monastery
1862 - 1864 Fr Thomas
Gillet
1864 - 1865 Fr
Angelus Van Paemel
1865 - 1869 Fr Henry
Collins from the Monastery said Sunday Mass
1869 - 1870 Fr
Anthony Levisse
1870 - 1917 Canon
John Aloysius Martens
1916 - 1930 Canon
Bernard Hobson
1930 - 1947 Canon
Austin Williamson
1947 - 1951 Fr Robert
Woodbridge
1951 - 1953 Fr
William Purdy
1953 - 1964 Canon Leo
McReavy
1964 - 1969 Fr John
Paul Klee
1969 - 1971 Fr
Christopher O'Brien
1971 - 1985 Canon
Francis McNicholas
1985 - 1996 Canon Patrick
Balfe
1996 - 2000 Fr John Daly
2000 -
Fr
Michael Eastwood
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