St Gregory the Great Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, Gloucestershire, England. It was founded in 1809 and rebuilt from 1854 to 1857. It is situated on the corner of St James' Square and Clarence Street. It was designed by Charles Hansom and is a Grade II* listed building.

History

Foundation

In 1809, a chapel was built on the site of the present church. It was built with the guidance of its first priest, Fr Augustine Birdsall OSB from

Douai Abbey Douai Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey at Upper Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of Berkshire, situated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in Douai, France, came to Woolhampt ...

Construction

In the spring of 1854, the monks from Douai Abbey were still serving the church when building work started on the church. The church was designed by Charles Hansom, brother of

Joseph Hansom Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal ''Building (magazine), The Builder'' i ...

and father of Edward Joseph Hansom. He also designed

Plymouth Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface in Plymouth, England, is the seat of the Bishop of Plymouth and mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth, which covers the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. The Diocese ...

and St Osburg's Church in Coventry. He designed it to be a Gothic Revival church.Church of St Gregory, Gloucestershire
from British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 9 January 2016 In May 1857, the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

was completed and the church was opened. That year, work on the tower and

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

had started, but was of course not complete. In 1876, the tower and spire were completed. The next year, on 6 November 1877, the church was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

. The stained glass windows were designed by Hardman & Co. Inside the church, the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

and

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

were made by Farmer & Brindley. The majority of the carving was done by Messrs R. L. Boulton & Sons of Cheltenham; a firm which also worked on Cheltenham Town Hall, St John's Church in Poulton-le-Fylde, St Mary's Church and St Alban's Church in Warrington and St Cuthbert's in Earls Court.

Parish

St Thomas More Catholic Church - geograph

The church is in the parish of St Gregory the Great with St Thomas More. It serves the St Thomas More Catholic Centre on Princess Elizabeth Way in Cheltenham. On 30 November 2011, St Thomas More Church was demolished and the church hall was developed to accommodate a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

, a chapel and use by community groups.Demolition of Hester's Way church marks start of new era
from ''

Gloucestershire Echo ''Gloucestershire Echo'' is a local weekly newspaper based in Gloucester, England. Published every Thursday, it covers the areas of Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold and Tewkesbury. The newspaper is head ...

'', 1 December 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2016 The church has three Sunday Masses: 9:30 am, 11:15 am and 5:00 pm. St Thomas More Catholic Centre has one Sunday Mass at 5:00 pm on Saturday.Deanery directory
from Diocese of Clifton. Retrieved 17 March 2015

References

External links