History

The parish began to take shape in 1928 with the building of the Presbytery in Oaklands Drive alongside the “church” - a wooden structure which had been an Army hut in the First World War. The first parish priest to take up residence in Hessle was Father Brunner, who later became the bishop of the diocese.

Work started on a permanent building in 1939 but construction was abandoned due to the Second World War - the bricks were used to build air raid shelters!

After the war, planning and fundraising for the new church restarted. Bishop Brunner laid the foundation stone on 6 August 1950 and the church opened in 1951 - one of the first Catholic churches to be built in England after the war.

The church celebrated its golden jubilee in 2001 with a new stained-glass window by Stephen Hunter of Retford. Entitled ‘The Stream of Life’, it depicts water flowing from the sash of Our Lady of Lourdes into the hands of Saint Bernadette Soubirous.

The church has progressed from a wooden hut to a beautiful brick building, but it has always been the people of the parish who make our Church a warm, welcoming and inclusive community.