St Saviour's Church, Lewisham
St Saviour's Church or St Saviour, St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist Church is a Catholic Parish church in Lewisham, London. It was built in 1898, and architecturally it is in the Italianate style, with a coloured marble interior. The church is situated in the centre of Lewisham on the High Street. It is a Grade II listed building.
History
Foundation
While there were Catholics present in Lewisham in the 1800s, for most of that century, there was no official place of worship. In 1893, in autumn, a meeting was held to organise regular worship in one location. As a result of the meeting, a French resident of Lewsiham allowed [Mass in the Catholic Church|Catholic Church|Mass] to be said in her home on Morley Road. The first Mass there was celebrated on 27 May 1894. A priest, Fr Sheehan, came from Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Blackheath for it. Later that year, a parish was created encompassing the Catholics in Lewisham and a resident priest was appointed, Fr McClymont. However, as the location was too small, the search for a permanent chapel continued. A hall in the School of Art was briefly used. Afterwards, an abandoned building in Rushey Green was purchased and was turned into St Columba's Chapel.When a new resident priest arrived, Fr George B. Tatum, the chapel was renamed St Saviour and Saints John the Baptist and Evangelist. The efforts to have a larger church continued. In 1898, a school and chapel were built on a piece of land purchased on the High Street. It was the site of a former manor, dating from the 1600s, called The Limes. The parish priest at the time was Fr James Connell. He continued the efforts to have a church and another school large enough to accommodate the growing community. The school and the chapel still exist, at the back of the current church, with the former chapel now the school hall.