St Thomas Aquinas Church, Ham facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Thomas Aquinas Church, Ham
51°26′8.58″N 0°18′38.01″W / 51.4357167°N 0.3105583°W / 51.4357167; -0.3105583
Location	Ham Street, Ham, Richmond TW10 7HT
Country	England
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	https://stthomasaquinasham.org/
History
Former name(s)	St. Andrew's School (or just Ham School)
Status	Church
Founded	1968
Consecrated	28 January 1987
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Completed	1890
Specifications
Number of spires	1
Materials	brick and slate
Administration
Parish	Ham
Deanery	Mortlake
Episcopal area	South West Pastoral Area
Diocese	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark
Province	Southwark

St Thomas Aquinas Church in Ham is a Roman Catholic church. It's located on Ham Street, right by Ham Common in Ham, London. What's cool about this church is that it used to be a school building from the 1800s! It was bought in 1968 and changed into a church and a place for the community to gather.

Church Services and Community

The church holds Mass on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, services were even held online using Zoom and YouTube. People also joined daily rosaries remotely.

German Language Mass

There's a special Mass held in German on Sunday mornings. This is for the many German-speaking people who live nearby. The German School London is also close by in Petersham. A German priest from the St Boniface church in London comes to lead this Mass.

The German-speaking church community also meets with the Lutheran German-speaking group. They have special ecumenical services together at St Andrew's Church, Ham. This means they worship together, showing unity between different Christian groups.

History of the Building

The building that is now St Thomas Aquinas Church has an interesting past. It wasn't always a church!

From School to Church

The building was first built as Ham School in the late 1880s. It replaced an older village school. That old school had boys learning in St Andrew's Church and girls in a converted building nearby. These old schools didn't meet the new rules set by the Elementary Education Act 1870.

Local people decided to build a new school to meet these standards. They raised money from charities and donations. The new building opened in 1890 and was called St Andrew's School. It was big enough for over 300 students. The school stayed open until 1966. After that, it was used for different community events for a few years.

Becoming a Church

For a long time, from the 1500s until 1856, there was no place for Catholics to worship in Ham. Later, a small chapel called St Mary's was set up. In 1952, a small plot of land was bought, and a temporary chapel was built there. This chapel was dedicated to St Thomas Aquinas in 1953. It was a simple "tin hut" church.

In 1968, the former Ham School building was bought. The northern part of the old school became the new church. The southern part became the church hall, which is still used by community groups today. The first Mass in the new church building was held on October 14, 1968.

In 1985, a flat was built for the priest who lived there. St Thomas's officially became its own parish (a church district) in 1985. The church was formally consecrated (made sacred) on January 28, 1987. A beautiful stained glass window was added in 1990. It was made by an artist named Paul Quail and shows "Heavenly Jerusalem."

Parish Priests

These are the priests who have led the St Thomas Aquinas Church parish over the years:

Gallery

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  From Ham Street

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  Exterior from Ham Common

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  Interior view of the church

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  Stained-glass window by Paul Quail