Friends of St Margaret Clitherow Church

Former parishioners of St Margaret Clitherow’s Church, Bracknell, are to be asked whether they wish to continue their battle to save St Margaret Clitherow Church – after paperwork was issued by Bracknell Forest Borough Council, rubber-stamping the Diocese’s application to demolish it. Now parishioners are being urged to attend a meeting next Saturday morning – … Continue reading »

An application has been recieved by Bracknell Forest Borough Council to demolish St Margaret Clitherow’s Church and the accompanying presbytery. You an find the details here. But the Friends of Margaret Clitherow insist there are serious legal issues over the building and site which remain unresolved. They are calling for a meeting with council officials … Continue reading »

An appeal by more than 200 parishioners for a stay of execution for St Margaret Clitherow’s Church, Bracknell, has been turned down. In a letter to representative of the Friends of St Margaret Clitherow, Catherine Strand, Mgr John Nelson indicates the Bishop’s decision is unchanged. The full text of the letter is as follows: Dear … Continue reading »

At last: a chance to raise much-needed cash for the Friends of St Margaret Clitherow, and eat a delicious Indian meal, all at once… Bagshot’s Mogul Restaurant is hosting a night organised by the Friends’ Tina Carney on Tuesday 20th September at 7:30pm. It’s a chance to relax in the company of other former SMC … Continue reading »

Ashes from the Garden Of Remembrance are set to be moved to St Joseph’s: but is the permission of relatives needed before they can be moved? Over the past weeks, members of the Friends’ project group have been supporting relatives who say they want their loved ones’ ashes to remain where they are, in the … Continue reading »

A specialist roofing company has examined St Margaret Clitherow Church and quoted around £30,000 to make the roof good for the coming winter. Friend of St Margaret’s Terry Enga has been researching companies who specialise in replacing copper roofing with long-lasting substitutes which look just like the real thing. He invited a company called RM … Continue reading »

A reply has been received from the Diocese, following news of the Friends’ meeting on Saturday (July 16). Mgr John Nelson, responding on behalf of the Diocese, has indicated he is prepared to place the Friends’ letter before Bishop Crispian as an appeal against his decision – but he needs to know precisely who is … Continue reading »

The early breakfast show on Radio Berkshire this morning (July 17) featured a slot on the outcome of yesterday’s meeting with SMC parishioners. You can find the programme here: scroll to 1:18:12 for the start.  

Almost 70 parishioners of all ages, representing a wider community of more than 220, have voted to stop demolition of St Margaret Clitherow’s Church. And they have also joined together to request an immediate consultation into the future of their church. Those at the meeting also voted to explore the possibility of legal action against … Continue reading »

We’ve made it to the national press with our church’s story: specifically, page 33 of this week’s Tablet. Here I quote a parishioner’s comment on our Facebook page: “The Tablet this week (16 July) has a short news item on p33, headed Demolition Protest. It starts ‘Parishioners in Berkshire claim they were not properly consulted … Continue reading »

We have been asking Portsmouth Diocese whether there are yet formal plans for demolition of St Margaret Clitherow’s Church. Mgr Nelson, the Diocesan representative on this matter, was kind enough to forward the following information this morning: “I’ve been in contact with the Diocesan Surveyor and we have agreed that, rather than expanding the number … Continue reading »