Our History
St Barnabas was the first church to be consecrated in the Diocese of London after the Second World War. It is now a Grade II Listed Building.
The building of the church was started in May 1940. The foundation stone, set in the west wall, was laid and blessed by the Bishop of Kensington during an “alert” in September 1940. Because of the war, work was suspended. Building was resumed in July 1952, when a Licence to complete the church was granted. Most of the money provided came as transferred war damage from Saint Matthew’s Church, City Road.
The church was consecrated by the Bishop of London on 8th May 1954.
The new church replaced two temporary places of worship: one in Halsbury Road East, where work began in 1935, and which was also used as a parish hall (subsequently called Saint Mark’s Hall), and Saint Michael’s, built in 1940, next to the foundations of the new parish church, after work had ceased on the new parish church. The latter building was eventually replaced by the existing parish hall.
PRIESTS-IN-CHARGE AND INCUMBENTS |
Priests-in-charge: Rev. Kenneth Kemp 1935 Rev. Fabian Jackson Pre 1943 (later to become Bishop of Trinidad) Rev. Ian Ross Carrick 1943-1954 |
Incumbents: Rev. Ian Ross Carrick 1954-1958 Rev. John Hawell Asbridge 1959-1966 Rev. Malcolm McHaffie 1966-1970 Rev. James Rhodes-Wrigley 1971-1992 Rev. Peter Brian Denton 1992-2004 Rev. Tricia Hillas 2005-2014 Fr Edmund Cargill Thompson 2014 - present |
The interior of the Church is modern, yet it has the atmosphere of a long church tradition. It is spacious yet not large, at once severe and ornate. On entering the nave, which is the body of the church, the eye is carried up to the High Altar and the Blessed Sacrament Chapel above and beyond it, and to the beautiful stained-glass east window.
The colours of the ceiling, windows and ornaments at this east end blend in rich profusion, contrasting with the colours of the Baptistry. Thus, the colourful east and west ends of the church tend to stress the importance of the Word and Sacraments of God. The worshipper, therefore, facing east, is reminded of Christ, the Lord of Creation and Glory and, facing west, of His Baptism, whereby we were made members of the Church of God.
Halfway down the church, the Rood – painted by a former parishioner – puts us in mind that this benefit came to us through the sacrificial death of Christ undertaken for us on the Cross on Calvary. At the foot of this Cross stand the Virgin Mary and Saint John.
Follow this link for a descriptive walk around the Church.
- Join us for our regular Sunday service
- 10am lively mass with music
020 8423 3775
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