Our Parishes

St John’s School was founded by the Sisters of Jesus in 1965 and primarily serves Catholic families who are resident in the parishes of St. John the Evangelist, Mill End, Our Lady Help of Christians, Rickmansworth, and St. John Fisher, Chorleywood.  

The Catholic Parishes of Rickmansworth, Chorleywood and Mill End aspire to share the Good News of God’s saving love.
We are vibrant, welcoming communities, united in worshipping God and serving our neighbours.
We invite every person to join us in growing together
in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
experiencing and living through the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Parish Priest: Fr Andrew Gallagher 

Assistant Priest: Fr Domagoj Matokovic

St John the Evangelist, Mill End 

From 1886 the Catholic people of Mill End and Maple Cross were served from Rickmansworth.  In the 1950s Mass was celebrated for a time at the “Camp”, one of the old wartime nissen huts that stood in Denham Way where the offices of the Cementation Group of Companies were later to be built.  Between 1962 and 1964 the Catholic community of Mill End and Maple Cross was given permission to use the disused Ebenezer Chapel in the Uxbridge Road as a Mass centre on Sunday mornings.  From 1965 until 1967 the community worshipped in the Guides Hall in Springwell Avenue.  From May 1967 Mass was celebrated in the hall of St John’s School and the following year the adjacent site in Berry Lane was cleared to enable work to begin on building a church.  Work finally began, under Fr Philip Lemmon, on the erection of a permanent church in Mill End in 1970.  The new church was opened as a chapel of ease by Cardinal Heenan on 27th June 1971.  In 1974 St John the Evangelist became a parish in its own right and Fr Thomas Gardner was appointed as the first parish priest. 

The Church was solemnly consecrated by Cardinal Vincent Nichols in a Mass of Dedication on Saturday 30th April 2016. 

 

The Feast Day of St John the Evangelist is 27th December.

 

Mass

Sunday Vigil Mass 6pm on Saturdays

Sunday 10.30am with Children’s Liturgy (term time)

Wednesday 9.30am (as advised in the newsletter)

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Confessions

Saturday 5-5.40pm.

Rosary for our families

Wednesday 9am

 

Our Lady Help of Christians, Rickmansworth

The Catholic Mission, later parish of Rickmansworth, was founded in 1886 by the Rev. Henry Hardy, a secular priest who acted as Rector until 1904 when he handed it over to the Augustinians of the Assumption. They continued to use the corrugated iron chapel built by Fr Hardy in the High Street until, looking for a more permanent home, they bought the premises and two acres of land belonging to the Salter Brewery Company in Park Road. The existing buildings were converted into St Augustine’s Priory and Hall, and the present church of Our Lady Help of Christians was built adjoining the latter and opened on 26th October 1909, being extended by the addition of the Lady Chapel in 1935. 

In September 1979 care of the Rickmansworth parish was transferred to the Verona Fathers (official title – “The Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus”) whose national postulancy was established here. On 8th April 1981 the church was consecrated by His Eminence Cardinal Hume Archbishop of Westminster. 

In 1985 the Verona Fathers left and the parish was adopted by the Westminster Diocese. Fr Michael Garvey was Parish Priest for one year and Fr Jim Duffy took over care of the parish in 1986. Fr Jim was in Rickmansworth for many years and as well as his pastoral care, undertook many projects in the parish, including rebuilding the Presbytery, reorganising the Church and adding a Memorial Garden of Rest in the grounds.  

On Fr Jim’s retirement in 2013 Fr Shaun Church became parish priest, as well as parish priest of Mill End and Chorleywood.  He oversaw the restoration of the Parish Hall, but also spent much of his ministry bringing our three parish communities together, particularly trying to focus on moving from being solely focused on maintenance to rediscovering our mission to spread the good news of the Gospel. Fr Shaun left the three parishes in 2021, and was replaced by Fr Andrew Gallagher. Fr Andrew continues to work with the parishioners to bring the three parishes together, whilst maintaining their independent character. 

 

The Feast Day of Our Lady, Help of Christians is 24th May.

 

Mass

Sunday 8.30am, 11am and 6pm.

Monday – Saturday 9.30am

Holy Days of Obligation 9.30am & 7pm

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Confessions

Sunday 5-5.40pm.

Rosary

After weekday Mass Monday – Friday in the Lady Chapel.

All services from Our Lady’s are live-streamed for those who are sick or housebound.

 

Click here to visit our parish website.

St John Fisher, Chorleywood

In 1903, the Assumptionist Fathers established themselves in Rickmansworth. As well as the people of Rickmansworth, the parishioners included residents of outlying mainly agricultural districts such as Chorleywood. 

Few people had cars and Chorleywood Catholics were obliged to walk to Rickmansworth, and then back again, to attend Mass. By 1944, some ten Catholic families were living in the Chorleywood area and they managed to persuade the Assumptionist Fathers to allow a priest to travel to Chorleywood to say one Mass each Sunday. Initially this was held in the Memorial Hall. This arrangement continued until 1953 when Harry Hitchings and his family moved into Rosebank, a short way down Shire Lane from our present church of St John Fisher. 

The Hitchings family generously offered the use of their ground-floor living room for Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. These were the occasions of the first House Masses in Chorleywood. Newcomers found it strange to be kneeling behind a sofa or an armchair! 

Between 1953 and 1955, considerable development took place in Chorleywood, resulting in an influx of new residents and an increase in the number of Catholics. Rosebank was bursting at the seams so that, unless you got there early, you would have had to stand in the entrance hall or maybe perch on the stairs. Fr Brendan Fox A.A., then Parish Priest of Rickmansworth, realised that something must be done to find a larger site and, after much deliberation, decided to purchase Hill Cottage, our present Church. The £750 from the sale of the plot in South Road was put towards the cost, approximately £4,000. The first Mass was celebrated at Hill Cottage in September 1955, and the Church was dedicated to St John Fisher.

 

The Feast Day of St John Fisher is 22nd June.

 

Mass

Sunday 9am

Tuesday 9.30am (as advised in the newsletter)

Holy Days of Obligation 6pm Vigil (the day before the Solemnity)

Confessions on request