About sjvclayhall

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Our mission is to spread the message of peace and love through the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the power of faith and strive to create a community that fosters spiritual growth.  

A temporary chapel served from Barkingside opened in 1944. The foundation stone for the present church was laid by Bishop Wall on 9 March 1965. The church was first used for Mass on Christmas Day 1966. The architect was Donald Plaskett Marshall, the builders Messrs J. Leary & Sons of Stratford. The church and presbytery cost £83,000. The benches were paid for by Fr Gerard Kerr, the first parish priest. 

The parish was erected on 27 July 1967. In 1969, the Compton organ was purchased from the Ritz cinema in Nuneaton. (The Southern District of the Cinema Organ Society holds concerts at the church and maintains the organ.)

For the consecration in 1983, Austin Winkley of Williams & Winkley undertook a reordering. The altar was moved into the crossing, the former east transept arm became a weekday chapel, and a narthex inserted below the gallery. The sculptor for the new limestone furnishings was David John, the stonemasons Axtell Perry Symm and the builders Messrs Duncan & Duncan.

Most churches have organs, but this one is unique.

The current church organ has been in Saint John Vianney Church in Clayhall for 50 years.

It started life in 1937 at an entertainment organ in a cinema in Nuneaton.

It is the only one that has been kept in its original full-blooded theatrical form, and is just as capable of playing the music of the popular dance bands and jazzy combos as it ever was.