A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

At the beginning of the twentieth century Frank Augustus Loads, a North Walsham draper, had taken Instruction and been received into the catholic Church by Canon Duckett of Norwich.

In 1904 North Walsham was declared a “mission” by the Catholic Bishop of Northampton as a direct result of Mr Load's conversion in that same year. The priest from Cromer came occasionally to celebrate Mass (the first being the Monday of Holy week that year) in the drawing room above Mr Load's shop in Market Place and so provided for the needs of the small Catholic Community living in North Walsham and surrounding villages. In 1912 Mr Loads and his wife made a pilgrimage to Rome and at that time were able to have an audience with Pope Pius X. Mr Loads asked the Pope for permission to build a small chapel in North Walsham. The Pope agreed and Mr Loads returned with great determination. He brought back to North Walsham an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour which had been blessed by the Pope. (The icon now hangs in the Lady chapel of the church). A small chapel was created later that year in a room above a garage at the back of his shop and Mass was celebrated monthly initially and then weekly. The icon hung in that chapel behind the altar. Throughout the 1914-18 War many Catholic soldiers were stationed in the district and Mass was sometimes said in the yard outside Mr Load's shop (the chapel was too small) where straw was put down for them to kneel on.

By 1926 North Walsham had its first resident Catholic priest since he Reformation, Father William Arrowsmith, who ironically was a convert Anglican clergyman.

The mission grew and by 1929 plans were made for the construction of a proper church building. Mr Loads purchased a site of three quarters of an acre adjacent to his own property in 1933 at the cost of £750 and he commissioned the Calvary (the Crucified Christ) to be erected at the top of his garden. The Calvary stands outside the church today.

In 1934 the land was given by Mr Loads to the Diocese of Northampton and on the 30th November of that year the bishop, Rt. Reverend Laurence Youens, laid the cornerstone for the new church building. By 4th April 1935 the building was completed at a total cost of £3,869 and a solemn Mass of blessing was celebrated by Fr. Snowden, then Priest-in-Charge of the mission. The architect was Mr Bower Norris and the builders were Messrs Cornish and Gaymer, of the Millfield Works, Norwich Road, North Walsham. The Catholic population continued to grow and by 1960 the bishop constituted North Walsham as a Parish in its own right. The church was solemnly consecrated in 1990 by Bishop Alan Clark, first bishop of East Anglia, on the feast of the Sacred Heart.

The architectural style is called “art deco” and was the up-and-coming style of the early 1930's. The church is a listed building.

The Parish is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sacred Heart statue in the church is a constant reminder that the love of Christ comes from his wounded heart and that this love is withheld from no one.

There are two chapels in the church, one dedicated to Our Lady (the Blessed Virgin Mary) and the other to St Nicholas. The original Pre-Reformation Church (the present Parish Church of the town) had these two saints as its dedication.

In the porch there is a beautiful statue of St Joseph, carved from a single piece of wood, by a German prisoner-of-war and given to the parish by him after his liberation at the conclusion of the Second World War in thanksgiving.

Within the Altar lie the relics of many saints: St Gregory the Great, St Augustine of Canterbury, St Edward King and Martyr, St Francis of Assisi, St Bernard, St Gemma, St Alphonsus and St Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney.

The parish includes two other churches: St John of the Cross, Aylsham and St Helen, Hoveton and extends from Mundesley down to Sea Palling on the east, then across to Hoveton, Wroxham, Coltishall and up to Aylsham.

A splendid Church hall was opened on 27th October 1999 by the Rt Rev Peter Smith, bishop of East Anglia and is well used both by the parish and the local community.