Many of those who moved into the newly built up area were Irish and Italian
Catholics and there were calls in the Catholic Press in 1843 - 1844 for a Catholic
church to be built in the area. The needs of the community were served by a
variety of "Mass Houses". In 1889 the bishop asked for a census of Catholics
in the area and a house was bought in Northampton Place (on the site of the
present infant school adjacent to the present church) and in 1890 the Walworth
Mission was established with Rev. Joseph Reeks being the first rector of the mission.

Education always a priority

As happened up and down the country the first building to be put in place was a school
and for the first 13 years this was also used for the celebration of Mass. Even before
work was completed the school opened its doors on 10th March 1890. At the time
Rev. Reeks was criticised for building such a large school which was way beyond the
needs of the parish. The school was designed to take 678 pupils - by 1898 there were
690 children with 731 by 1916!

How the funds were raised

At this time the diocese was involved in a major church building programme and there
was no money available for a church in Walworth. Neither was itpossible for the
parishioners themselves to raise the money. The Guild of Our Lady of Ransom
undertook to raise funds nationally for what came to be known as the
"Thanksgiving Church" in Walworth. The Guild was dedicated to the conversion
of England to the Catholic Faith and this church was to be build in Thanksgiving for those
received into the Church. Appeals were made in the press and money came in from
all over the country and from abroad (often from recent converts).

The Martyrs of Blessed Memory

The original title of the parish was "The Church of the Five Wounds and the Blessed
English Martyrs" but this was later shortened. It was build in honour of those who died
for the faith under the Penal Laws introduced at the Protestant Reformation. A number
of these died at St. Thomas Watering (North Surrey Gallows) which was within the
parish bounds (at the junction of modern Albany and Old Kent Roads). Names that
have come down to us of the martyrs are John Stone (1538), John Griffin (1539),
Nicholas Ware (1539), David Gonson (1541), John Jones (1598), John Rigbye (1600)
and John Pybush in 1601.

The Building Continues

Land for the Church, Presbytery and St. Augustine's House was bought in 1893 and the
site was covered with dilapidated houses and shops. The rent from these helped towards
the cost of the building and they were only demolished when building work began.

The Presbytery

By the end of 1895 work on the parish house had been completed, a building in the
"Georgian" style on five floor levels including a basement. It was built on the site of
two shops, 142 & 144 Rodney Road. The cost of land was high so the building is high and
narrow with few rooms on each floor. A concern at the time was that the basements of
surrounding houses flooded to a depth of some 18" owing to the shallowness of the sewers and that the whole district was below the level of the river Thames.

St. Augustine's House

The house opened on 3rd February 1903 and "it was established for young men in business who aspired to the secular priesthood". It's function was to provide men with a half way
house between work and the seminary. Students began to come to Walworth for this
purpose even before the house was built and they lived in the presbytery. Life
was strict with the day beginning at 6.55am with Mass and ending in prayer at 10.00pm.
The men worked at their normal jobs in the daytime and studied in the evening. By 1975,
however, its use as a pre-seminary had come to an end and a community of Franciscan
Missionaries of Mary moved in to work as parish sisters. For eleven years they worked
in the parish taking particular care of the young and the elderly. In 1987 the Carmelite
Friars who had come to the parish in 1980 established their house of formation in
St. Augustine's and this continued until they moved to larger premises in North London.
St. Augustine's house is now home to a small community of Sisters of the Cenacle engaged in retreat ministry and counselling.

The Church

By 1902 enough money had been raised to begin work on building the Church and the
foundation stone was blessed on 15th February that year by Bishop Bourne. Many of
the subscribers were present for the ceremony. The first Mass was celebrated in the
Church on 19th March 1903 at 7.00am. The Church was consecrated on 27th November
1919 and what had been a mission officially became a parish on 29th June 1929.

Across the years the Church has been renovated and altered. In 1983-84 the sanctuary
was extensively re-built in line with the liturgical reforms of Vatican II and new heating
and lighting were added in 1988. 

The Parish Today

A parish is far more than buildings - it is a living family of the people of God.
Today the people continue to gather to worship God and celebrate God's
goodness and fidelity. The life of prayer and service continues day by day,
strengthened by Word and Sacrament but lived out in the streets, tower
blocks and estates that make up the geographical parish of English Martyrs,
Walworth. The Carmelite Charism calls us to be a "praying community in the midst of the people"
and I belive that is what marks us out as a parish community. We are here to pray
with and for the people of God and to share in their joys and sorrows.
As a parish community we are with the people from birth to death and at every moment
in between. Let us pray with and for one another that we will always be faithful to
our common calling as a people dedicated to following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.