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 - 2022 Fr Michael Eastwood
2022- Fr Patrick Bassey
