A request…..

Do you have anything to add to the history of our parish? We would particularly like to borrow past images from 1938 to date so that we may scan them for inclusion. Appropriate words of acknowledgement will be attributed to all submissions published. Thank you.

A brief history of St. Michael’s

Newspaper cutting from the Croydon Advertiser 1963

In 1938 the parish priest at St. Bartholomew's, Father Cyril Walmsley (1938-44), bought a triangular plot of land bordering Chestnut Grove, Sherwood Park Road and Fern Avenue, with its apex at the roundabout in Pollards Hill, and had a dance hall built to develop as a Mass centre. Its fine sprung dance floor made it a popular venue, and the hire charges did much to offset the cost of the purchase of the land.

The first Mass was celebrated there on 12th March 1939. By the mid-1950s there were two Sunday Masses at 8.30am and 10.30am, and the parish priest and curate at St. Bartholomew's alternated to say these Masses each week. This necessitated a visiting priest arriving at St. Bartholomew's each Sunday to say the two mid-morning Masses there - most notable of these over the years were Father (later Monsignor) Richard Kenefeck (who was headmaster of Cardinal Vaughan Grammar School, Kensington) and Father Roger Nesbitt (chemistry and RE master at The John Fisher School, Purley, and founder of the Faith Movement).

What became known within parish and local Catholic circles as 'The Hall' became St. Michael's, a semi-independent parish, in 1964.

The first resident of the new presbytery, built at St. Michael's with the generosity of the parishioners of St. Bartholomew's, was Father Kenneth Michael Palmer who was appointed as 'Priest-in-Charge', with the responsibility for the administration of the parish being transferred from St. Bartholomew’s to Father Terence Donovan (later Canon Donovan) d.1983, Parish Priest at Ss. Peter & Paul, Mitcham.

Father William Bernard Gallagher succeeded Father Palmer in 1981, and soon after his appointment was inducted as the first Parish Priest of St. Michael's. It was then that St. Michael's became a truly independent Parish.

Pictures relating to the building of the presbytery


The Morris Minor pictured belonged to Father Porter,
who would later become Parish Priest at St. Michael's

The view along Fern Avenue during the building works

The prominent builder's hoarding on the plot 9 Fern Avenue was being built on

Taken just prior to building taking place

Parish Clergy at St. Michael’s 1939-1964
(served by St. Bartholomew’s Norbury)

Parish Priests:

                Father Cyril Walmsley 1939 - 1944
                Father Charles Byrne MA 1944 - 1945
                Father Basil Miller 1945 - 1963
                Father James Carolin MA 1963 - 1964

                Father Patrick Davis 1939 - 1940
                Father John Kelly 1940 - 1942
                Father George Helsdon 1942 - 1946
                Father Patrick O' Donovan 1946 - 1948
                Father James Lafferty 1948 -1951
                Father Mark Diamond 1951 - 1954
                Father John McCarthy 1954 - 1956
                Father Walter Gasche 1956 - 1961
                Father Christopher Sexton 1961 - 1962
                Father Anthony Porter 1962 - 1964

Parish Clergy at St. Michael’s from 1964 to date

The first resident priest at St. Michael’s:

                Father Kenneth Michael Palmer (Priest-in-Charge) 1964 - 1980

Since St. Michael’s became a fully independent parish, the following Parish Priests have faithfully served the people of this area:

                Father William Bernard   Gallagher     1980 - 1987
                Father Eric Bernard  Wright                1987 - 1993
                Father Anthony Porter                       1993 - 1996
                Father Michael Horkan                       1996 - 2001
                Father John Vallomprayil, SDS            2001 - 2010
                Father Jan Bak SDS                           2010 - 2011
                Father Huebert Miranda, MSFS           2011 - 2019
                Father Innocent Ezeonyeasi, PhD        2019 - 2024

                Father Matthews George                    2024 - 

Father Innocent  Ezeonyeasi 2019 - 2024

Father Innocent Chibueze Ezeonyeasi, MA, PhD, was ordained on 24 August 2002 for the Catholic Diocese of Orlu, Imo State, Nigeria. He celebrates his birthday on 3rd of January. Before he came to the United Kingdom, he worked as Assistant Parish Priest, Parish Priest, Principal, Chaplain to Orlu Diocesan Mass Servers’ Association, Diocesan Liturgical Master of Ceremonies, and the founding Chaplain to St. Camillus Catholic Chaplaincy - Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu.

He was appointed Assistant Chaplain to the Nigerian Catholic Chaplaincy, England & Wales by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) in collaboration with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales (CBCEW) in April 2009. He became the Principal Chaplain to the Nigerian Catholic Chaplaincy, England & Wales in January 2016 and ended his appointment to the Chaplaincy in December that year.

Father Innocent was appointed Assistant Priest at St Bartholomew’s Catholic Church, Norbury on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, 11 February 2017. He was appointed Parochial Administrator of St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Pollards Hill on 21 June 2019.

Academic Qualifications: Humanities (PhD),Master of Arts, Psychoanalysis (M.A.), Bachelor of Theology (B.Th.), Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil)

An established author, he has written The Sanctuary: A Handbook for Altar Servers (2005), Altar Prayer Companion (2008), The Stations of the Cross - A Diaspora Experience (2010), Channels of Prayer (2013) and Introducing the Marriage Meter (2018).

Father Innocent also organises programmes and workshops to assist young people and adults develop skills for Christian friendship and commitment in marriage. He loves Our Lady - the Blessed Virgin Mary and is a promoter of Marian spirituality according to St. Louis Marie de Montfort, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Mother Theresa and St. John Paul II. On his 20th Priestly Ordination Anniversary, he founded the Global Lay Apostolate for Priestly-Vocations, a Catholic Prayer Network, to pray for priests and for an increase in vocations to ministerial priesthood. On his 50th Birthday Thanksgiving, he launched the Global Lay Apostolate for Priestly-Vocations website www.vocationpromoters.com. He was posted to St Thomas More Catholic Church, Pollards Hill, Bostall Park, Bexleyheath, September 2024. 

Acknowledgements

A History of the Archdiocese of Southwark by Father Michael Clifton
            The Saint Austin Press 2000 ISBN 1 9011157 12 1
St. Bartholomew’s Church
            Parish Archives
St. Bartholomew’s Church 1908-2008 - A short History of the Parish
            St. Bartholomew's 2008 ISBN 978 1 873520 72 7
St. Bartholomew’s Church
            Parish Website 2019

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                      Tuesdays, Thursdays &  Fridays - Mass at 9:30am

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