With his foresight Fr Pritchard, Parish Priest of St Gertrude’s, South Croydon, persuaded the diocese that the existence of a Catholic church in Selsdon would be appropriate. So in 1927 St Columba’s was born. A large plot was purchased with a view to expansion of the church in later years. The church, (now the parish hall) was built at the northern end, leaving a large area up to Queenhill Road as a garden. During the Second World War this area was turned to good use for the growing of vegetables. At the same time a new house at 37 Queenhill Road was bought for the presbytery.
At first there was Mass only once a month, said by one of the priests in residence at St Gertrude’s – on other Sundays it was necessary to walk there to hear Mass! But as the parish grew, a weekly Mass was arranged by Fr Pritchard.
In the thirties our first Parish Priest was appointed, Rev. William Sewell, who was much loved by parishioners and non-catholics alike, and all were grieved when he was appointed to Dover parish in 1942.
His successor appointed as Parish Priest was Fr Thomas Howley, who arrived to commence a very long period as incumbent until retirement in 1978. During his stay in Selsdon, Fr Howley was responsible for the opening of the Good Shepherd School in Addington, but for Selsdon parishioners he will be most remembered for the building of our church as we know it today. With the development of Forestdale and Selsdon Vale around 1960, he foresaw the population of the parish rising so greatly that a larger church would be urgently required. The old church was rapidly becoming too small to accommodate the attendance at the two Sunday Masses
It was with the expertise of architect Mr L G Tomei that plans for the design of St Columba’s were formed and approved. In his tribute to Mr Tomei, Fr Howley congratulated him on his design ‘of simple lines, beautiful, dignified and worthy of the high purpose for which it is intended’. Alas, Mr Tomei, because of illness, was unable to attend the official ceremony.
And so on Easter Sunday 1962 our new church was complete and ready for use. At each of the three Masses Fr Howley asked the congregation to stand and recite ‘Glory be’ in thanksgiving to all who had contributed to the building of the new church. As well as paying his tribute to the architect, he praised the efforts of the builder, Mr L Arnold of Addington and his small band of men, ‘who so courageously faced and overcame the many problems in the course of building and bringing to life Mr Tomei’s plans’. The official opening by His Lordship the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Cyril Cowderoy, took place on Sunday 3rd June 1962.
St Columba’s was built to accommodate a maximum of 400 parishioners. The main altar is of Travatire marble and shown to advantage by the oak panelling at the rear of the sanctuary. The pulpit is of green marble, and the Baptismal font (now defunct in the repository) was carved from a solid block of Portland stone. The cost of the font, £100, was donated by a parishioner. The benches, made from fine African mahogany, cost £1300, and were said to be ‘extremely comfortable for church benches’. Instead of a bell hanging in the small belfry, it was decided to install a statue of St Columba. St Columba’s was consecrated by the Archbishop on 14th September 1984.
Upon Fr Howley’s retirement in 1978, Fr ‘Frank’ Edwards was welcomed as Parish Priest and remained with us until his retirement in 1992. Fr Edwards added to the parish, in addition to his famously persuasive powers, a fine new organ, which entailed the strengthening of the gallery floor. The organ was to replace the ancient but ‘fondly’ remembered harmonium which, after so much rendering of Fr Howley’s favourite hymn, No 74, (or 663 these days), ‘Soul of My Saviour’, had become exhausted, much to the relief of Mrs Long who had trouble pumping the stiffening pedal operated blowers! Fr Edwards also installed the descriptive stained glass window over the sanctuary and the beautiful statue of Our Lady.
Finally, from St Boniface, Tooting, Fr Murtagh arrived in January 1992, and for some weeks was followed by a number of his parishioners, a strong contingent of whom once arrived in a hired bus!
He always champions and supports the various parish activities. We have him to thank for the re-decoration of the church for the millennium, the installation of the new heating, lighting and public address system. Father gave considerable support to Fr Bryan Wells on his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest by Bishop Tripp in 1999, and to Deacon Philip Pond who was ordained in 2002. This brings us to the present time when Father Murtagh is currently involved in the building of the new parish meeting room at the rear of the hall. Any suggestions for a title for this room?
John Moor