Bath
.
The Parish and the Diocese
Our Lady & St Alphege, Oldfield Lane St Joseph's, Sladebrook Road
The Parish
Parish Priest: Father Richard Barton
St Alphege's Presbytery
The Parish Church, dedicated to Our Lady & St Alphege, is at Oldfield Lane, Bath. Construction started in 1927
and the church opened with a ceremony of Solemn Blessing with Pontifical High Mass two years later. The architect was Giles Gilbert Scott who
later described the church as one of his favourite works. For details see
St Alphege's, the building
With the building of the estates to the south and west of the parish after the Second World War, and the
continued growth of the Catholic population, it was decided to build a second, smaller, church on the south western slopes of the parish.
Initially the men of the parish
erected a hut church in Sladebrook Road, Southdown, which was used for Mass on Sundays and holy days for 14 years.
In 1969 the new church of St Joseph's was built upon the same site. The ceremony of Opening and Blessing was conducted by the Right Rev.
Joseph Rudderham. The church, of modern design, was designed to accomodate 200 people, and arranged with a shallow sanctuary and broad nave
so that nobody is more than 50 feet from the altar. A winged canopy is suspended above the altar, its dove-like form suggestive of the
presence of the Holy Spirit. See St Joseph's church
St John's Catholic Primary School, which serves the Parish of St Alphege,
moved to its new building next to St Alphege's in Oldfield
Lane in September 2010. The school was formerly split between two sites - Key Stage Two at Pulteney Road in the centre of the city and Key Stage One in
temporary buildings at St Alphege's. Building the new school has entailed demolition of the existing St Alphege's Parish Hall and the building of
a new, smaller Parish Hall adjacent to the church.
Bath Deanery
Clifton Diocese
Oldfield Lane
Oldfield Park
Bath
BA2 3NR
tel: 01225 424894 e-mail: stalpheges@googlemail.com
Parish Hall Bookings
Jenny, tel: 01225 333608 email:
hipopqueen@msn.com
The Church of Our Lady & St Alphege
St Joseph's
St Alphege's is one of the parishes in the Bath Deanery. The other parishes in the Deanery are:
St John the Evangelist, South Parade, Bath
St Mary (Our Lady Help of Christians), Julian Road, Bath
SS Peter & Paul, Combe Down, Bath
Downside Abbey - Stratton-on-the-Fosse
Catholic Chaplaincy to Higher Education - Bath
The Dean is The Rev David Ryan, St John's Presbytery, South Parade, Bath BA2 4AF
The current edition of The Bath Deanery Newsletter can be viewed here
The Parish of Our Lady & St Alphege, Bath, which includes St Joseph's Church, Sladebrook Road, is part of the Catholic
Diocese of Clifton.
The Diocese embraces 105 parishes spread throughout the former counties of Gloucestershire, Bristol, Somerset and Wiltshire.
The Bishop of Clifton is the Right Reverend Declan Lang. The Cathedral of St Peter & St Paul at Clifton Park, Bristol, was consecrated
in 1973, replacing the nineteenth century pro-cathedral.
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