History of Good Shepherd Church
New Addington
In Addington itself, dating from about 1080, St Mary's Church is the burial place of five Archbishops. The Addington Palace we know was built in the 1770s as Addington Place, replacing the earlier manor house of the same name, home of the Leigh family.
New Addington is south of Croydon and is a comparatively young area, dating back only to the 1930s. Before the estate was built the land on which it now stands was farmland belonging to Castle Hill, Addington Lodge and Fisher's Farms, and the nearest village was Addington.
Fr. Howley was the parish priest in Selsdon from 1945, and in March 1945 he started celebrating Mass at the back of the New Addington Community Centre. In 1950 he arranged for a Mission led by the Redemptorist Fr. Eugene. (See photo).
Parish life in New Addington had a firm base for the first time when in September 6th 1955 the school opened. Mass was said in the school hall, and the small room in the hall was used for confessions, baptisms and early Mass during Lent.
Fr. John.J.Nevin arrived on May 2nd 1956, the first parish priest of New Addington since the reformation. He and the parishioners helped to build the Church, and the first Mass was on Christmas Day 1960. Bishop Cyril Cowdrey was the first Catholic Bishop in over 300 years to celebrate Pontificial High Mass in New Addington at the dedication of the Church of the Good Shepherd on Wednesday March 21st 1962.
In April 1968 Fr.Michael Collins was appointed as Parish Priest and stayed so until 1982. It was in 1979 that Sr. Mary Pauline a sister of the Daughters of Mary and Joseph took over the school.
In 1982 Fr. John Naughton becomes parish priest for three years, and being the first parish priest not to have a curate. He was replaced by Fr. Patrick Cannon. It was during 1985 that the Daughters of Mary and Joseph established a comunity in a parish. Sr. Mary Pauline, Sr. Mary Andrew, and Sr. Joan O'Donoghue moved in in December 1985. On June 20th 1986 the consecration of the Church.
In 1986 Fr. Cannon left the parish and was replaced by Fr. Sean Hearty. Fr. Sean was parish priest for seven years, and it was in this time that New Addington had the influx of immigrant and asylum seekers who were increasingly being moved onto the estate. In 1991 Fr. Micheal Doyle, who grew up in the parish, was ordained to the priesthood in June 1991.
It was around this time that Sr. Joan pioneerd the Good Shepherd Mission to the Homeless, a soup run to help the homeless in central London, run once a week. This continues today.
Fr. Anthony Charlton became parish priest in 1993. After seven years of service, and after he had celebrated his 25th anniversary of ordination,he was moved onto Tolworth.It was September 2000 that the present parish priest, Fr. Stephen Boyle, took up the office.
