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A Brief History of The Parish Of Our Lady And Saint Swithun, Southsea.

Some Notable Parish Dates.

A List of Reverend Parish Priests.

A List of Reverend Assistant Priests.

In July of the year 1884, the Mission of Our Lady and St.Swithun received its first resident priest, and this "Chapel of Ease to the Cathedral of St.John the Evangelist" was to begin its development as one of the major parishes of the Portsmouth area. A vacant plot of land was purchased, in Saxe-Weimer Road (now known as Waverley Road) with a loan from the newly-formed Diocese of Portsmouth and the building of a small church began. In 1892 it was decided to use the brick building to house the parish school and a new "iron" church was constructed to seat 400 people. In the 1890s it became obvious that the congregation was growing rapidly and the iron building that served as the church was no longer adequate. A new church was required and its foundation stone stone was laid in 1895. By 1899 £2,000 had been raised towards the new church and in that year the iron building was removed to be reconstructed to the rear of the present church. (There it stood until 1983 when it was demolished to improve the car park.) In 1900 the ground was prepared for the new church and building commenced. The work was undertaken by Messrs. Goddard of Farnham. In 1901 the cost of the new church rose alarmingly to £6,000, and the parish was faced with the difficult decision - either borrow the money or cease work. They decided to borrow and on 24th September, 1901, the new church was formally opened.

By 1907, bequests from parishioners had cleared the debt so that on Saint Swithun's Day 1908 the church was consecrated by Bishop John Baptist Cahill in a four-hour ceremony. In the year of consecration, the reredos was completed and the altar rails put up (these have now been removed). The windows of Saint Mark and Saint Luke were placed in the apse, to be joined in 1909 by windows commemorating Saint John and Saint Matthew. In 1910 the Sanctuary apse was decorated and in 1911 the altar in the Sacred Heart Chapel was built and the chapel dedicated. To facilitate the full and active participation of the congregation in the Liturgy, as initiated by the Second Vatican Council, the Sanctuary was re-ordered and in 1966 a £20,000 refurbishment of the interior was put in hand at the same time. The floor of the church, which had been sinking for some time, was restored and levelled. In April 1972, Bishop Derek Worlock consecrated the new altar.

This brief history was extracted from the publication A Short History of the Parish and Church of St.Swithun, Southsea By The Reverend Patrick Tansey, B.A.

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