The Victorian terrace house was situated directly
opposite the Anglican 'tin tabernacle', Christ
Church. "An iron structure erected in 1883, at a
cost of £1,150" in Castle Road it was later
moved to Denmark Street in 1902.
From its inception until 1942, Christ Church was
a chapel of ease to St Cuthbert’s Church
(pictured below) which is now used by the Polish
Catholic community in Bedford.
Christ Church was originally staffed by curates,
many of whom only stayed for a few years before
moving on. On a number of occasions suggestions
were made that a permanent church should be
built, and plans were drawn up, but nothing came
of them, although in 1939 builders’ huts
were erected on the present site of the church
and a few preliminary trenches were dug. But
World War 2 started in September and the work was
postponed.
On the afternoon of Saturday 22nd September 1956
Lord Luke, of Odell Castle, laid the foundation
stone of the new building. The Bishop of St
Albans, the Rt Rev EM Gresford-Jones, consecrated
Christ Church on Monday 29th September 1958. From this
point Christ Church became a parish, and Rev
Leslie McKay its vicar. (Acknowledgement to the Christ Church website for the information!)
St Cuthbert's Church, viewed from Mill Street
(right). The new church seen here was
built in 1846-7 in a neo-Norman style, the north
and south aisles are additions of 1865, and the
north transept porch was constructed in 1907.
Declared redundant by the Church of England in
1974, the church was subsequently purchased by
the Harpur Trust who presented it to the Polish
population of Bedford. It is now known as "The
Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus and Saint Cuthbert".
From Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire -
1898:
"St. Cuthbert's church, on the east side of the
town, and so named in honour of St. Cuthbert of
Durham, is said to have been founded by Offa,
King of Mercia, A.D. 772, and, if so, would be
the oldest existing ecclesiastical foundation in
Bedford.
"The former building, consisting of a small nave
and chancel under one roof, with a bell turret,
was replaced in 1847 by the present edifice,
which is of stone, in the Transition style, and
was built at a cost of £2,100, on the site
of the ancient church, erected in the 8th
century.
"The church, which stands in a pretty and
well-planted churchyard, consists of chancel,
nave, aisles, transepts and a low but massive
central tower, containing a bell. At the end of
the north transept is a clock.
"The church has been twice enlarged; first in
1865, when the aisles were built at a cost of
£1,600; and subsequently in 1877, when the
building was extended westward; a cloister-porch
added on the west front, and an organ chamber
erected on the north side of the chancel, at a
total cost of about £1,350. On the erection
of a new organ chamber on the south side of the
chancel in 1886, the former chamber was converted
into a vestry. The organ, built at the same time,
replaced the former organ, built in 1865; the
total cost of organ and chamber was
£616.
"The fittings of the church are of solid oak,
obtained from Chicheley Park, Bucks. The east
window is stained, and contains a figure of St.
Cuthbert; several other stained windows have been
presented to the church as memorials.
"The register dates from 1607, and contains,
among other details of interest, the record of
the baptism of a child of John Bunyan, who was
sometime a parishioner of St. Cuthberts: Christ
Church, in Castle road, a chapel of ease to St.
Cuthberts, erected in 1883, at a cost of
£1,150, is an iron structure"
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