A very warm welcome to all that gather around the table of the Lord at English Martyrs Church.

We hope that you find the information on this website useful and if you have any ideas of extra information that you would like to see please do not hesitate to contact Fr. Gary by telehone or send him an e-mail.

History of English Martyrs

Although the current church building has only been in Tuffley Lane since 1980, the history of English Martyrs goes back to the early 1940's.   It all started back on 14 March 1943 when the first mass was said in the Northfield Hotel (which became The Retreat*) in Southfield Road, for the troops of Reservoir Road Camp and local catholics.  A site was then purchased in Southfield Road and a wooden hut from the Reservoir Road Camp was constructed.  This hut was blessed by Father Roche on 13 July 1947 and dedicated to the English Martyrs.  A house on the opposite side of the road was also purchased for use as a Presbytery.  In February 1965 work started on a semi-permanent building to replace the wooden hut.  This was constructed over the existing hut. The first mass was said in the new hall in January 1966, although this building was incomplete.  The hall was used for fund raising and it was this money and later sale of this hall and the house in Southfield Road which funded the construction of the church hall in Tuffley Lane.  The land for this had been purchased back in the 1930's.  The last mass in Southfield Road was said by Canon Roche on 06 May 1979.   Mass was subsequently held in the Anglican church of St George's in Tuffley, until the completion of the church hall in Tuffley Lane in 1980.  The first mass was celebrated on 29 June 1980.  In 1985 this church hall was consecrated and became the present church of English Martyrs.  The wooden cross mounted to the left of the entrance and the reredos (picture) behind the altar both came from the Southfield Road building. 

A booklet produced to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of English Martyrs can be downloaded here (pdf).

Parish Priests

Fr Joseph O'Brien :  1985 - 1996

Fr M Ryan :  1996 - 1996

Served by St Peter's :  1996 - 2000

Fr Vincent Clements :  May 2000 - Sept 2004

Fr Keith Miles :  Sept 2004 - May 2009

Fr Gary Brassington: May 2009 - Present

*  The Retreat was demolished to make way for houses in Autumn 2003.

(History Info by MWE/MH 2003)