The Parish of St. Edward the Confessor has gradually developed over the space of a century. Covering four churches and serving the Northamptonshire communities of Kettering, Burton Latimer, Desborough and Rothwell, there are an estimated 9000 Catholics in the local area today. This is in stark contrast with the preceding centuries when Penal Laws, in place since the Elizabethan era, punished those who followed the Catholic faith. For example, when the House of Lords Census was taken in 1767 there were only 110 acknowledged Catholics registered in the whole of Northamptonshire and only one Catholic listed in Kettering. Following the gradual repeal of these laws from the late 18th century, and culminating in the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, Catholicism slowly spread across the country.

The establishment of the Diocese of Northampton in 1850 led to the sending of “Missions” to nearby centres. In 1868-71 Wellingborough Parish was established. Practising Catholics in the area travelled to Wellingborough to hear Mass. In 1881 the prominent Catholic, Charlotte Anne, Duchess of Buccleugh (Boughton House is one of the Buccleugh estates) suggested that a mission be founded at Kettering. Unfortunately the death of the Duke in 1884 left Charlotte in reduced circumstances. She moved away to Ditton near Slough and was unable to finance the establishment of Kettering Parish as she would have liked. However she donated £2,600 to start a parish fund (worth about £130,000 at the beginning of the 21st century) and Edmund de Trafford of Hothorpe Hall, Market Harborough added £1,000 in memory of his brother Gilbert.

By 1891 enough money had been raised to begin work and Bishop Riddell asked Father Henry Stanley to move from Newmarket to establish Kettering parish. The first Mass held in Kettering since the Reformation was offered on September 20th 1891, in the billiards room of Tyrell’s Temperance Hotel (later the Albion Commercial Hotel), the Market Place, Kettering, with 34 people in attendance. Within a couple of weeks a room had been hired in the shoe factory of Loasby and Miller in Church Walk. This was fitted up as a chapel and remained in use until the Presbytery was completed in June 1892 at a cost of £1,300.

Mass took place at a chapel within the presbytery, whilst a “temporary” church was built. This church cost £650 and was opened in January 1893. The “temporary” church was to hold services for nearly 50 years until replaced by the present building. It remains in use as the parish hall.

In 1893 Father Stanley became Cathedral Administrator at Northampton and was replaced, first by Canon Allies and then Canon Fitzgerald, before Canon Tonks was appointed Parish priest in 1896. Canon Tonks stayed for 28 years and it was due to his warm personality that St. Edward’s and Catholicism became an accepted and influential part of the community. This is all the more remarkable, when you realise that in 1891 negotiations to buy the land on which the church would be built had to take place secretly through a third party, as many land owners refused to sell land to Catholics. Many people were won over by his down to earth approach. Canon Tonks once gave a talk to a Kettering club on the meaning of swear words, admitted to human failings as a cricket umpire, and a few months after his arrival offered matches to children burning a bonfire night effigy of the Pope outside his window!

In 1915 the Franciscan Sisters Minoresses opened a branch house and school in Rockingham Road. They were to remain in the parish until 1937, when the house they were renting was sold and they moved away.

During the First World War Canon Tonks served three Prisoner of War Camps that were at Glendon, Rothwell and Corby. In Kettering itself he was a chaplain for the military hospitals in the town and inaugurated the Corpus Christi procession (this was one of the first to be held in England since the Reformation). The procession attracted a large crowd of spectators and for several years Wellingborough parishioners travelled to boost numbers. The Corpus Christi procession was eventually moved to a walk in school grounds, due to traffic problems. In recent years it has been revived, and now takes place between St. Edward’s church and St. Thomas More School. The main window in the east wall of the church is dedicated to Canon Tonks on his Golden Jubilee.

When Canon Tonks moved to work in Bedford in 1924 he was succeeded by Father Lockyer. This was a time of growth for Catholicism in the area. In November 1924 the Dominican Fathers opened a Boys’ boarding school at Laxton Hall. Various other Mass centres were established in the area, for example at Fermyn Wood, Brigstock in 1932, where there was a government training camp for unemployed men. The arrival of a large contingent of men and their families from Ireland and Scotland to work for Stewart and Lloyds steel works led to the opening of Kettering’s first daughter Mission at Corby.

In 1937 the Ursuline Sisters of Liege came to Kettering, opening a preparatory school and high school for girls in the Headlands. The enlarged parish meant that in September 1937 the recently ordained Father Henry Macklin was appointed as assistant to Father Lockyer. This was the first time Kettering had had two priests. Father Lockyer began fund-raising for a new, bigger and permanent church, however he was moved to High Wycombe, Bucks in May 1938 and it was up to Canon Hunting who succeeded him to raise funds and begin building the new church. October 1938 saw the start of house-to-house collections to raise the estimated £7,000 it would cost to build the red brick, quasi-romanesque design that had been planned to seat 380 people. (In the end it cost £11,000).

Building began in May 1939 and the shell of the church was used at the end of the Corpus Christi procession in 1940, as the old church wasn’t big enough to accommodate the 450 people who took part in the service. There were no pews or organ in place and the congregation stood or knelt in the open floor space, while a Rifle band led the music from the organ loft. However it was not officially opened and blessed until October 1940, (there were difficulties obtaining the necessary building materials during the war). The Vicar Capitular, Mgr Canon Marshall, led the service, as the diocese was without a bishop at the time. After the service Mgr Canon Marshall announced that before his death in late 1939, Bishop Youens had assigned a £5,000 diocesan legacy from Canon Walmsley Carter, towards the building costs of St. Edward’s. The bishop had felt it was appropriate to use it towards St. Edward’s costs as Canon Hunting had been an assistant priest under Canon Carter. This was wonderful news for the congregation, as at this point they had raised about £2,000 (a major achievement) but had expected to be heavily in debt for at least another 12 years.

During the Second World War three Catholic schools (Bartrams, St. Aloysius and St. Dominic’s) and two attached convents (Faithful Companions of Jesus from Clarendon Square, London, and Sisters of Providence) were evacuated to Kettering. The Wellingborough News at the end of 1939 commented that there were so many Roman Catholic convent and evacuee schoolchildren amongst the Kettering congregation that an extra Mass had to be said on a Sunday to accommodate them. While one Mass was being held a large crowd queued outside the church waiting to take their place.

After the opening of the new church in 1940 the old church became a parish hall and served as a school until the end of the war. The schools made a gift of stained glass windows carrying their school badges to St. Edward’s.

Parish numbers were further increased by armed forces in the area, including American airmen at the Grafton Underwood base in 1943-45. A statue of St. Christopher was donated to St. Edward’s by the 384th (H) Bomb Squadron in 1950 in memory of all those who had served in the area. In May 1979 some of the 384th visited Grafton Underwood and presented the Parish with a silver chalice.

Canon Hunting moved on in 1945 and was replaced by Monsignor Grant. He oversaw the consecration of the church in September 1946 by Bishop Parker. It was jokingly remarked during the homily that as the church was so full, perhaps they might need to think of expansion! Indeed by the 1950s new Catholic Mass Centres were needed in nearby villages and a further period of great growth had begun. From 1945-1948 Kettering clergy took over serving the Mass Centre at Thrapston from the Dominicans of Laxton. In 1948 Thrapston moved to the responsibility of Fr. Throckmorton who also served Oundle.

From 1951 Mass was held at various venues in Rothwell, including the Coffee Tavern, the Labour Hall and Tresham Hall. Fetes, garden parties and many other events were used to raise funds to buy land and build a church. Eventually Kettering architects Gotch, Saunders and Surridge were commissioned to design the church of St. Bernadette, to seat 120 people. It cost £4,900-£5,000 to build; this was despite heavy use of volunteers, who helped paint the interior of the church and level the land outside to build a Lourdes grotto. St. Bernadette’s was opened and blessed in June 1959 by Bishop Leo Parker, who led a procession of 200 parishioners from the old Labour Hall to the church before Mass.

October 1956 saw the opening of St. Luke’s on the Grange Estate in Kettering, by Bishop Leo Parker. Designed by Gotch, Saunders and Surridge, it was only intended to be a “temporary” church, as it was hoped that a permanent second church for Kettering could be built later. St. Luke’s was to last until 1998, when excessive vandalism led to the closing of the church building. It was to be the start of a new short phase in the life of St. Luke’s as the Grange Methodist Community kindly agreed to allow Mass to be held on a Sunday and Wednesday in its' church. Unfortunately in 2002 a shortage of priests to serve the extra Mass centre led to the end of this arrangement.

Schooling had been a thorny issue for some years as St. Edward’s had been trying to open a permanent church school since the early 1940s. Monsignor Grant purchased a first parcel of land in November 1953 to create St. Edward’s Junior School and there was a large expansion of the Convent Schools with the arrival of the Sisters of Our Lady in 1954 to replace the Ursuline Sisters who returned to work in Germany. However it was over a decade later before the school could be built.

1961 saw the ordination of Monsignor Grant as Auxiliary Bishop of Northampton. He was replaced as Parish priest by Canon Gerard Collins who was responsible for the purchasing of enough land at the junction of Windmill Avenue and London Road to finally build St. Edward’s Junior School. The school opened in 1966 and could accommodate 320 pupils. An Infant school was built on the same site a short time later. The total cost was £85,000 (plus interest) which had to be found by parishioners. The County Council provided furniture, paid teachers and met certain maintenance costs. With only £33,000 in the school fund at the time, the parish remained deeply in debt for some years.

Canon Collins moved to Northampton in 1966 and was replaced by Fr. Donald Jenkinson. He oversaw the completion of St. Edward’s school, and the creation of two churches. However one of his chief headaches was the replanning of the sanctuary to meet the changes that had been specified by Vatican II. Where priests had once served Mass with their backs to the people, liturgical requirements now asked priests to face the congregation so that all are gathered around the altar to celebrate together. This meant that the altar needed to be moved from the East wall and re-established closer to the congregation. In June 1972 a six –ton orange fork-lift truck drove through the doors of St. Edward’s church, chugged up the aisle and moved the 1 ½ ton marble altar ten feet further forward. The total cost of alterations to the church (including dismantling the baptistry) was about £1,000.

In 1950 Burton Latimer had become a new Mass centre. Starting with a monthly Mass in the British Legion Hall, Mgr Grant purchased land to build a new church. However weekly Mass was to continue at the Legion Hall for 21 years until the church was finally built in 1971. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas Owen, who was linked to priest’s holes discovered in the area and who had recently been canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs. It cost £13,000 and was designed to seat 100 people. The seating was unfixed and the congregation were able to gather close to the altar. An enclosed courtyard garden lies to one side. The building was blessed in March 1972 by the Vicar General, Mgr Frank Diamond. Regretfully Bishop Grant was ill and unable to lead the service.

1971 also saw the purchase of the Methodist church in Desborough for £6,000. The first Mass was offered at the new Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in June 1971, however renovations inside the church, using both voluntary help and paid labour were to last for a year. Occasional Masses took place until October 1972 when the church could be served on a regular basis. Holy Trinity Church contained a magnificent pipe organ and in 1978 the Desborough organ was moved to Kettering to replace the electronic organ there that was past its best. Unfortunately the organ builder was a conman and stripped anything good from the system (he was later caught by the police). The organ was put together with string and faith!

1973 saw the opening of a second primary school dedicated to St. Thomas More, built near the unused Convent of Our Lady High School (closed in 1972). Originally intended for 160 pupils with eventual expansion plans to 280, its’ first year's intake was just 20.

All this financial outlay resulted in a time of financial appeals and stringent cutbacks. There was a public protest after one cold winter Mass as the church heating had been switched off. Fr. Jenkinson asked his parishioners to be understanding and to put on an extra pullover!

The sudden death of Fr. Jenkinson in 1977 led to the appointment of Fr. Pat Bailey. Fr. Jenkinson had been the first Catholic priest locally to preach in an Anglican church. However it was Fr. Bailey who worked hard to bring together the Christian communities of Kettering. The Sisters of Our Lady worked with him in the drive for Christian unity, making such gestures as inviting Free Church ministers to hold their retreats at the convent. In 1990 Fr. Bailey moved to Bedford, leaving behind a much more ecumenically minded congregation, and a few expanded waistbands, as he was known as an expert amateur chef!

Fr. Jim Marks, home from missionary service in South America was appointed as Parish Priest. 1990-1991 saw the fiftieth anniversary of St. Edward’s church and the centenary of St. Edward’s Parish celebrated with a Pontifical High Mass by Bishop McCartie. Anglican and Free Church clergy and ministers held places of honour as guests. Unfortunately due to ill health Fr. Marks had to retire as Parish Priest in 1991. He was replaced by Canon Brian Frost.

Canon Frost arrived from Rushden. As had Fr. Bailey before him, he had a keen interest in ecumenical work and in fact was asked to become president of the pensioners parliament, an organisation founded in the 1930’s by a Non-conformist minister and based at Carey Baptist church. He was also known for his keen interest in “the Poppies”, Kettering’s football club, and for the fact that parishioners never knew when he popped around to visit whether they were about to be invited to undertake a parish job or to join him at a concert! Sadly a fall in 1994 led to a long period of convalescence and he had to move away from the parish.

Fr. John Koenig (Canon since 1997) joined us as Parish Priest from Thrapston in 1994. At the time of his arrival the clergy consisted of a parish priest, 2 assistant priests and a deacon. However since then a general shortage of priests in the diocese has led to many changes. In 1998 the parish gained its first married priest, in the person of Fr. Brian Leatherland. Many clergy left the Anglican faith when the Church of England voted to accept women to the priesthood. The Pope agreed that former Anglican clergymen could study for the Catholic priesthood. Fr. Leatherland was ordained at St. Edward’s in January 1998 and he and his family remained with us until 2001.

By 2002, however, there were only 2 priests available to care for the parish. For a time Holy Trinity church was served from St. John Ogilvie’s parish at Corby and regretfully St. Luke’s, which had shared the Grange Methodists church premises since 1998, had to close.

The new millennium has seen the arrival, on supply work, of visiting priests from all over the world. This has helped enrich the understanding of the parish community. Fr. Dariusz Bialowas, arriving as assistant priest in 2006, established a monthly Mass in Polish for many of the Polish migrants who have been attracted to work in Northamptonshire. St. Edward’s also hosts a Malayalam Mass once a month. However, the underlying shortage of priests continues to affect the Parish. By 2007 St. Edward’s was served by 2 priests and 2 deacons. As each priest may only say 3 Sunday Masses each, and St. Edward’s church has 4 masses, while Holy Trinity, St. Bernadette’s and St. Nicholas Owen have one Mass each, this led to an agreement with the diocese to try a new arrangement. Each week, on a rota basis, Mass at one of the churches is replaced by a service of the Word with Holy Communion, led by a deacon. At the time of writing (2008), this arrangement is working well.

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