The Roman Catholic parish of Shepshed was founded in the early 19th century by Father Luigi Gentili of the Institute of Charity (Rosminians).
The original Pick Street church was built in less than a year by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. Pugin designed and built the church out of local materials and refused to accept a fee for his work. The church was dedicated to God under the patronage of St Winefride on Friday, 18th November 1842. The Rosminian priests served the Shepshed mission until 1852. Then, the mission was kept alive until 1870 by the generosity of the priests of Mount Saint Bernard.
In 1870, Father John Aloysius Martens arrived in Shepshed and was destined to serve the parish for the next 46 years. Many achievements marked his stay in the parish and in particular the purchase of land and the property known as ‘The Elms’ (the current presbytery) plus the purchase of land in Britannia Street upon which to build a new school.
By the early 20th century, the increase in number of catholics in the parish meant that the church in Pick Street was no longer big enough. Canon Bernard Hobson, the parish priest, had to make provision for this increase. As an imaginative and engaging method of fundraising, the people of the parish were asked to buy bricks for the construction of the current church building. After considerable fundraising efforts, the foundation stone for the new church, next to the presbytery in Charnwood Road, was laid on Saturday, 4th June 1927. The plans for the new church were drawn by Messrs Young and Reid, architects of Grays Inn, in London.
The new St Winefride’s church was officially opened on Tuesday, 10th April 1928. It has an overall length of 90ft and a width of 48ft. The square tower rises to 50ft in height. Grey sand faced bricks were used for the construction with Bath stone facings. The roof is of hammer beam construction made from Colombian pine and the roof is covered with Delabole slates.
(Taken from ‘Shepshed’s Second Spring’ written and compiled by F. J. Bennett)
List of St Winefride’s Parish Priests.
- 1840 – 1844
- Fr Luigi Gentili and Fr Angelus Rinolfi
- 1844 – 1845
- Fr Moses Furlong
- 1845 – 1847
- Fr Fortunatus Signini
- 1847 – 1849
- Fr William Lockhart
- 1849 – 1850
- Fr P Huton
- 1850 – 1852
- Fr Nicholas Lorrain
- 1852 – 1853
- Fr John Wyse
- 1854 – 1858
- Fr Luke Levermore
- 1858 – 1862
- No resident priest – Served from the Monastery
- 1862 – 1864
- Fr Thomas Gillet
- 1864 – 1865
- Fr Angelus Van Paemel
- 1865 – 1869
- Fr Henry Collins from the Monastery said Sunday Mass
- 1869 – 1870
- Fr Anthony Levisse
- 1870 – 1917
- Canon John Aloysius Martens
- 1916 – 1930
- Canon Bernard Hobson
- 1930 – 1947
- Canon Austin Williamson
- 1947 – 1951
- Fr Robert Woodbridge
- 1951 – 1953
- Fr William Purdy
- 1953 – 1964
- Canon Leo McReavy
- 1964 – 1969
- Fr John Paul Klee
- 1969 – 1971
- Fr Christopher O’Brien
- 1971 – 1985
- Canon Francis McNicholas
- 1985 – 1996
- Canon Patrick Balfe
- 1996 – 2000
- Fr John Daly
- 2000 – 2022
- Fr Michael Eastwood
- 2022 –
- Fr Patrick Bassey