The Parish of Wood Green London UK
parish church : district church : site map
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The Good Shepherd
mission building Berwick Road N22 |
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During Fr
Midwinter's (1908-30) he considered the
idea of a temporary Mission building
for the part of the Parish lying between St. Cuthbert, Chitts Hill and St.
Benet Fink, Lordship Lane - the new Scotch Estate. A site was bought -
the whole of the south side of Stirling Road between Berwick and Forfar
Roads, and a building was erected and dedicated to the Good Shepherd on
22nd June 1916.
The original building, much larger than the present one, with a capacity to seat 250 people, was constructed of wood and corrugated iron, and had formerly served in Neasden. Together with its separate Hall, built at the end of the War, the Good Shepherd represented a strong force for good on the Estate. It had its own Priest-in-charge between 1916-22. The social life of the Good Shepherd wasalways happy and active. In the years before the Second World War it boasted a strong Youth Club; Mothers Meeting; Band of Hope; Men's Club; Ladies Sewing Guild; Cubs; Scouts, and the Brownies and Guides started in January 1929. Besides a strong choir, the 1944 Centenary History of St. Michael's records a Sunday School membership at the Good Shepherd of 150. By the late 1950's the old tin building had become structurally unsound, dry rot being discovered in 1956. Fr Aldis, galvanised the Church into action, and after intensive fund-raising and the sale of a portion of the land that the Good Shepherd owned (where the Hall stood) a new dual-use hall was built. Its 'Sanctuary' was hidden during the week by a shutter which was raised for mass on Sundays. It was licenced and dediacted on 20th July, 1961. The Good Shepherd was a small but significant missionary building. Sadly numbers attending mass declined over the years, and the Bishop, in consultation with the parish, decided to withdraw his Licence for the building to be used for worship.*
Early in 2003, the
Good Shepherd building was sold to another faith group - the proceeds of
the sale were used for internal emergency works at St Michael, Wood Green,
and to build the
Annexe Project
next to the parish church. * Good Shepherd Licence for Worship withdrawn .pdf file
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the illustrations on
this page: top - view from across Stirling Road : bottom - Roll of Honour |
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parish church : district church : site map
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