FIFTY YEARS OF ST EDMUND’S
2: THE NEW CHURCH, 1958
On the morning of 15 June 1958, Fr William Mena,
parish priest of St Edmund’s, excitedly tuned in to
Vatican Radio and recorded this message: “Vatican
Radio joins its voice to those of many others in
offering congratulations to the Catholics of
Loughton on this achievement...” It was the first
day of the new church, and it was to be a day to
remember.
The parishioners of St Edmund’s now had a
building to admire. Its most eye-catching feature
was, and is, the huge cross fronting the church,
bearing an almost life-sized figure of Christ in
Glory and (originally) rising from a small
water-filled basin. It is the work of Michael Clark;
at the other side of the entrance his father,
Lindsay Clark, carved a depiction of the
Annunciation in Doulting stone. The church’s windows
are of hand-made antique glass. Inside, the Stations
of the Cross are carved in Ancaster stone by John
Skelton, Eric Gill’s nephew and last pupil. The
engraved glass doors of the former baptistery,
depicting the symbols of the sacrament of baptism
and the faith, are by John Hutton who worked on the
West Screen of Coventry Cathedral. The high altar is
of Ancaster weatherbed stone, its mahogany canopy
enriched by coloured wood carvings. High above all
else is a glass “jewel” window depicting a golden
chalice overflowing with the Blood of Christ and
surmounted by the Host.
Of the “old tin hut”, only the statue of St
Edmund and the crucifix behind the altar remain. The
crucifix was blessed in 1948, and is a copy of the
Crucifix of Limpias in Northern Spain. The pipe
organ was made by George Osmond and Co of Taunton, a
worthy instrument for this simple and devotional
church.
On that exciting June day nearly fifty years ago,
Bishop Bernard Wall performed the opening ceremony.
The Claretian order’s Superior General, the Most Rev
Peter Schweiger, flew in especially from Rome to
celebrate Mass jointly with the Very Rev Stephen
Emaldia, provincial Superior of the Claretians — and
a former a curate at the church. The Claretian
senior students sang in Gregorian chant the Mass of
the Feast of St Edmund, and the choirs of St
Edmund’s and St Thomas More’s sang the daily order
to the music of Lorenzo Perosi.
At the close of the day, Fr Gamm played back the
morning message from Vatican Radio, and parishioners
could reflect on a successful and auspicious opening
of St Edmund’s brand new church.
Cont...