St Laurence's Church, Cambridge

The Church of St Laurence is a Roman Catholic church in Cambridge, England. Dedicated to St Laurence of Rome, it is part of the Diocese of East Anglia, within the Province of Westminster. The parish is part of St Andrew's Deanery and is one of three parishes serving the city of Cambridge, the other two being Our Lady and the English Martyrs and St Philip Howard.[1]

St Laurence's
St Laurence's Roman Catholic Church
Location	91 Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 1XB
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	www.saintlaurence.org.uk
Architecture
Years built	1958
Administration
Diocese	East Anglia
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Alan Hopes
Priest(s)	Canon Simon Blakesley

History of the parish and church

The first permanent post-Reformation Roman Catholic church in Cambridge was Our Lady and the English Martyrs opened and consecrated on 8 October 1890. The Roman Catholic population continued to grow and the opening of a Carmelite convent at 104-106 Chesterton Road in 1923 provided a new place of worship on the Northern side of the town.

In 1937 the Carmelite sisters moved to a quieter site at Waterbeach, into a building which, when vacated in the early 1970s, became the Waterbeach Lodge residential home for the elderly. Following the departure of the Carmelites from Cambridge, the need for a new parish gradually became apparent and within a year there was a significant donation of £250 towards establishing a new mass centre or church for Roman Catholics in Chesterton.[2]

In the years immediately after the Carmelite sisters left, Masses were said in private houses and informal venues until a small corrugated iron church was erected on the High Street in Chesterton. In 1947 this became the new Parish of St Laurence's, with the presbytery for the parish priest located at 1 Ferry Lane.[3]

With the arrival of the Rev. Patrick Oates in 1951, efforts to fund raise and build a permanent church were accelerated.[4] On 8 March 1958, Bishop Parker laid the foundation stone on the Milton Road site and on 24 August 1958, the new church was formally blessed and dedicated.[5]

The old corrugated iron church building was originally part of the First Eastern General Hospital, Cambridge. After the First World War it was moved to the rectory garden of Our Lady and the English Martyrs and named Houghton Hall. In 1939 it became St Laurence's Church. Following the opening of the new church in 1958, the tin tabernacle was moved to its present site in Fen Ditton and became the Church of St Vincent de Paul.[6]

Architecture and appearance of the church

The interior of the church showing the altar and sanctuary area with statues and tapestry

St Laurence's is a modern church, built in brick and with an open layout so that all parts of the church can see the altar area.

The church has remained substantially unchanged since it was opened, with the exception of the removal of altar rails and the redesign of the altar following the Second Vatican Council. The porch was changed slightly around the time of the millennium, putting a glass roof on it to improve light. In the first decade of the twenty-first century a balcony was also constructed at the back of the church to increase capacity for the growing congregation.

Parish priests and clergy

Parish Priest	Dates[7]
Rev Gerard Hulme	1947-1951
Rev Patrick Oates	1951-1968
Rev Norman Smith	1968-1969
Rev Liam Brady	1969-1972
Rev John Drury	1972-1977
Rev Richard Wilson	1977-1982
Rev Peter Wynekus	1982-1988
Rev Michael Griffin	1988-1996
Rev David Paul	1997-2011
Rev Patrick Cleary	2011-2018
Canon Simon Blakesley	2018-

In addition to parish priests the following additional priests have served the parish: Revs Peter Stoyle (1963-1964), Paul Hypher (1964-1967), Derrick Morgan (1967-1970), John Drury as curate (1970-1972), Timothy Russ (1972-1976), Francis Selman (1976-1979), Michael Vulliamy (1980-1982), Callum Weir (1981-1983) and Joseph Farrell (1983-1986)

The parish has had the following permanent deacons: Rev Geoffrey Cook (1978-)

Parish statistics

The following table records the number of baptisms (of children), receptions (of adults) into the church, marriages and the number attending Sunday mass (as counted on the annual census Sunday).

Year	Baptisms	Receptions	Marriages	Estimated Roman Catholic population	Mass Attendance
1985[8]	39	0	15	3600	735
1990[9]	36	1	16	3000	505
1995[10]	40	3	8	1640	614
2000[11]	40	0	3	1640	580
2005[12]	50	7	10	2400	689
2010[13]	62	4	9	3250	706
2016[14]	72	0	16	3500	698

References

1. http://www.sphcambridge.co.uk/
2. Margaret Plumb, Chp 19 St Laurence's Church, in Nicholas Rogers (ed) Catholics in Cambridge, Gracewing 2003, ISBN 0852445687, 210-214, p.210
3. Margaret Plumb, Chp 19 St Laurence's Church, in Nicholas Rogers (ed) Catholics in Cambridge, Gracewing 2003, ISBN 0852445687, 210-214, p.212
4. St Laurence's Parish Information Page (retrieved 28 March 2013)
5. Margaret Plumb, Chp 19 St Laurence's Church, in Nicholas Rogers (ed) Catholics in Cambridge, Gracewing 2003, ISBN 0852445687, 210-214, p.212
6. Rogers, Anthony (2003). "Modern Times, 1960–1990". In Rogers, Nicholas (ed.). Catholics in Cambridge. Herefordshire: Gracewing. ISBN 0852445687. Reported in "History – St Vincent de Paul". Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
7. The data for this table is taken from the annually published Diocese of East Anglia Year Book.
8. Data taken from Gary Dowsey (Ed), East Anglia Diocesan Year Book 1987, Universe Publications Company Ltd, 1987, ISBN 0-949005-04-5, p.62-63
9. Data taken from Gary Dowsey (Ed), East Anglia Diocesan Year Book 1992, Gabriel Communications Ltd, 1992, ISBN 0949005584 p.36-7
10. Data taken from Paul Maddison (Ed), East Anglia Diocesan Year Book 1997, Mersey Mirror Ltd, 1997, ISBN 0-949005-58-4, p.44-45
11. Data taken from John Warrington (Ed), Diocese of East Anglia 2002 Year Book and Ordo, Mersey Mirror Ltd, 2002, ISBN 0-949005-58-4, p.46-47
12. Data taken from Mark Hackeson (Ed), Diocese of East Anglia 2007 Year Book and Ordo, Mersey Mirror Ltd, 2007, p.80-81
13. Data taken from Mark Hackeson (Ed), Diocese of East Anglia 2012 Year Book and Ordo, Mersey Mirror Ltd, 2012, p.80-81
14. Data taken from Keith Morris (Ed), Diocese of East Anglia 2018 Year Book and Ordo, Gemini Print (Wigan) Ltd, 2018, p.32-33