The present church building replaced a temporary eighty foot one made of wood and corrugated iron. The earlier one was dedicated on 1st April 1911.The name of the church comes from the date of the parish meeting held to consider erecting the church – St Patrick’s Day 1910!

The foundation stone for the present, permanent building was laid on 23rd January 1932. Surrounding this in the east wall were set some stones said to have come from the remains of a medieval chapel of ease on nearby Butter Hill. The church is reported to have cost £9,467 to erect.

The interior of the church contains some of the fittings from the original church, namely the communion table and lectern. The open, arched roof of the nave is made from British Columbian pine, and the bell is said to have come from Woodcote Hall which is next to the church.

Reordering of the church was started in 2004 when the pine pews were replaced with comfortable upholstered chairs. This added colour to the church and the opportunity to rearrange the church for café-style worship and holiday clubs, and allowing worship to be more creative.

About this time the church had an electrical inspection by CES which showed that the wiring was in a very poor state. This is a company we had been using for some time to maintain the electrics in the hall as well as the church. It was decided that this was a very good opportunity to improve the lighting in the church. At that time we had the original hanging lights in the nave with some halogen and fluorescent lighting in the roof, which had been added at various times.

CES were invited to design with us, a lighting scheme for the church to make best visual impact of the architectural features. We also asked that the brief should take of account of prayer meetings, traditional and creative worship, drama, exhibitions, concerts and holiday clubs.

CES tendered for the lighting contract, along with some other companies. CES won the contract, and after we were sure of our financial situation we engaged Graham Smith and his team. We had had a lot of contact with them over the years and they have always been extremely helpful. There were times when we changed our minds about the drawings or small details, always annoying for contractors, but they took it in the stride, never making us feel that we were a nuisance.

The results have more than fulfilled the brief in every way, allowing us to create a whole variety of lighting settings for all occasions. Indeed this came to the fore at Christmas when we enjoyed the benefits of its flexibility.

During the installation, the church was tidied and cleaned for use at weekends and for occasional weekday services, including funerals. The heating was always reconnected for use and it was impressive that Health and Safety was a priority. It was a pleasure to have CES working for us in their professional and conscientious way.

Click here to visit St Patricks Church Website