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 Lady Henrietta Pelham-Clinton, 1843-1913, Dowager Duchess of Newcastle |
In the Franciscan Annals of March 1878, a member of the Third Order of St. Francis wrote, "There is a large district fringing the Loughton and Ongar branch of the Great Eastern Railway stretching from Stratford to Ongar, embracing the parishes of Woodford, Woodford Bridge, Chingford, Loughton, Chigwell, Chigwell Row, Epping and adjacent places without a church (St. George's Walthamstow is the nearest, except St. Helen's Ongar at the extreme end) at which the faithful can assist at the holy sacrifice. A Brother of the Third Order of St. Francis, anxious for the salvation of so many thousands of souls residing in this large district and therefore removed from the life-giving influence of our holy religion, asks his brethren and sisters of the Third Order to unite with him in a daily visit to the Blessed Sacrament and to offer in connection with this visit, a Pater, Ave, Gloria, that Almighty God will be pleased to establish a mission."
This anonymous quotation is often seen as the first inspiration for the founding of the friary church of St. Thomas of Canterbury at Woodford in the county of Essex. These standard accounts go on to point out how, some 15 years later, Cardinal Vaughan, Archbishop of Westminster, was taking a rest at Ascot in the home of Lady Henrietta Pelham-Clinton, Dowager Duchess of Newcastle. During this visit he happened to lament the fact that there was no Catholic church or parish between St. George's Walthamstow and St. Helen's Ongar. He went on to express a wish to establish a Catholic church in the Epping Forest area; the Duchess immediately offered financial help. Accordingly in 1894-1895 matters moved swiftly apace to remedy the situation with the building of the present Friary church. A foundation stone was laid on the 18th May 1895 by Cardinal Vaughan and, within a year, the new church was consecrated on the 7th July 1896.
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 Cardinal Herbert Vaughan, 1832-1903, Archbishop of Westminster |
Such a version, however, does not give full credit to the developing Catholic church in the North London area or the astute plans of the shrewd Cardinal and his good friend, the Dowager Duchess. The anonymous writer of 1878 talks of Catholics being deprived of a church in the area but why should this be on the Cardinal's mind in 1893 when the number of Catholics who performed their Easter duties at Woodford in 1894 was a mere 79 (21 men, 58 women) and, by 1898, was only 247 (91 males,156 women)? Why should the Duchess agree to pay for founding a church which would hold 700-800 people in an area so devoid of Roman Catholics?
The answer to these questions lies in the history of the Roman Catholic Church in England in the last quarter of the 19th century. The Catholic Emancipation Act had been passed in 1829 and by letters Apostolic of Pope Pius IX, dated 29th September 1850, the English hierarchy was restored and the Metropolitan See fixed at Westminster with 12 Suffragan Sees. The Catholic Church came out of the catacombs and, aided by the influx of immigrants from Ireland and other parts of Europe, began to make its presence felt in the capital. The influence of John Henry Newman, the rise of an intellectual elite and the re-emergence on to the political stage of old Catholic families also stimulated the growth of the Church. The inner west of London became known as the stronghold of Catholicism and the Church's growing importance is symbolised by the building of Westminster Cathedral which was completed in 1903.
At the same time there was a marked decline in the Church of England. On Census Sunday 1851, only 23% of Londoners attended church: in 1901 this had sunk even lower, to about 19%. Indeed, the greater portion of church attenders belonged to the Roman Catholic or Nonconformist faiths. However, due to the rapid urbanisation of the capital and the consequent lack of space, it was difficult for Catholics and Nonconformists to continue their missions or build parishes
Accordingly the north-east borders of London witnessed a dramatic increase in church building as well as a tendency for both Catholics and Nonconformists to expand into the small villages and hamlets around London which, after the coming of the railways, became more closely linked with the capital.