St Edmund Church, Southampton

St Edmund Church
Front entrance
St Edmund Church Location in Southampton
Coordinates: 50°54′54″N 1°24′11″W / 50.9150°N 1.4031°W / 50.9150; -1.4031
OS grid reference	SU4205613006
Location	Southampton
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	Southampton-City-Catholics.org.uk
History
Founded	1884 (1884)
Dedication	Edmund of Abingdon
Architecture
Status	Active
Functional status	Parish church
Heritage designation	Grade II listed
Designated	30 March 1999
Architect(s)	J. William Lunn
Style	Gothic revival
Groundbreaking	21 June 1888
Completed	20 November 1889
Administration
Parish	St Joseph and St Edmund
Deanery	Southampton
Diocese	Portsmouth
Province	Southwark

St Edmund Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Southampton, Hampshire. It is situated on the corner of The Avenue and Rockstone Place. It was built in 1889 and is a Grade II listed building.

The first Roman Catholic church that was built in Southampton after the Reformation was St Joseph Church. In 1867, the priest there decided that a new church was needed in Southampton to the serve the growing Catholic population in the city. In 1884, two years after the Diocese of Portsmouth was created, St Edmund Church was built. It was temporary, made of iron and was named after Saint Edmund of Abingdon, co-patron of the diocese.

On 21 June 1888, construction began on a larger and permanent St Edmund Church. The architect was J. William Lunn, who also designed Corpus Christi Church in Boscombe, Corpus Christi Church in Portsmouth and St Catherine Church in Chipping Camden. It was opened on 20 November 1889, the birth date of Saint Edmund of Abingdon. Present at the church's opening was the Bishop of Portsmouth, John Vertue, and Canon Alexander Scoles, who was an architect himself.

In 1918, the sanctuary was redecorated. The walls were repainted and stained-glass windows by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake were made. Two paintings were added and communion rails by Hardman & Powell were installed. From 1967 to 1969, the church was renovated. A small spire or flèche at the west end of the church was removed. The porch inside the church was enlarged and a new organ, from St Mark's Church in Portsmouth, was installed.