St Edmund's

St Edmunds Church history

The building was used as a Baptist Church between 1907 to 1934, and spent some time unoccupied until the outbreak of WW2 after which it was employed as a social centre for villagers for five years.

As Irish labourers working in the area needed a church,  the building was bought by Cannon McHugh for £80 after which It was used for Sunday masses and served from Aylesbury parish by their priests - but not before facade had been replaced repair the bullet holes caused by the Home Guard who had used the building for target practice and an alter relocated from a church in Ipswich.

The parish was officially founded in 1949 and was blessed on 19th Fed 1950. It is registered for marriages, and many have taken place there up to the present.

On Sept 6th 1963 Father wilbur Boswell was appointed by the then Bishop/to start a mission in what was to become Long Crendon parish.  As he had no home in the parish, Father Boswell slept in what was to become the church sacristy for 8 years. with the help of Catholic residents like John Butler and others, structural work was carried out, and the building renovated and refurbished, and it remains basically today, as it was in the beginning.  Father Eric  has carefully preserved Father Boswell’s heritage, as st. Edmmund's was the first Mass Centre he founded in Long Crendon parish.

The Blessed Sacrament has been reserved all these years, with the exception of a few months after Father Boswell’s illness and retirement until the appointment of Father Eric.