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The story of St Richard’s church at Chichester began in 1855 with a remarkable donation from two domestic servants, Mary and Anne Henshaw, who saved from their meagre wages and provided the main funds to build a small Victorian Gothic church which served until 1958. The land was donated by Anne, Countess of Newburgh. She was a fervent Catholic at Slindon, whose wide ranging family, the Ratcliffes, had been active in the Catholic church in England even during penal times. She left endowments in her will to provide a site for the new church at Chichester, which held 160 worshippers, directing that "so much of her investments as would produce £40 per annum should be applied in augmenting the income of the Roman Catholic priest at the Roman Catholic mission at Chichester."

This tradition of self help continued with hundreds of parishioners - and with subscribers who were not Catholics, raising money through a successful football pool to build the present church, opened in 1958. The architect's model aroused great interest in London, and building is underway in the photo from the West Sussex Record Office Chichester Photographic collection.

It is simply constructed - a plain shell containing fine art and a unique set of stained glass panels.

The austere style of the architecture is an ideal setting for the striking range of materials used for the centrepieces of worship.

The high altar is of Tino green marble - flanked with steps in Belgian black fossil marble. The church seats 350 and the congregations are growing!

The Baptistry was designed by David O'Connell. It is clad in marble with Westmorland Slate gold glass mosaic and white Sicilian marble. The font is of white Portland stone.

The Blessed Sacrament is reserved in a small chapel once dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham. The altar is flanked by paintings of six archangels. The candlesticks were designed and made locally on the theme of a lily of Mary's virginity.

Our Lady of Walsingham's statue is now placed at the back of the chapel in an alcove.	The altar lamp was engraved by Majella Taylor, a local artist and a parishioner.
The statues on either side of the sanctuary are from the old church - the Sacred Heart and St Anthony of Padua.

Read the description of the Loire stained glass panels