Our Lady and S. Peter, Woodhall Spa

Published 4th of September 2019

15 Cromwell Avenue, Woodhall Spa LN10 6TH

Deanery of Lincoln

Clergy: Rev. Fr. J. O'Donnell; Rev. Mr. J. Hunter (deacon).

Telephone contact: 01526 352245.

Website: http://www.catholicchurchwoodhallspa.org/

E-mail contact: catholic.church.woodhallspa@gmail.com.

Mass timings: Vigil Masses for Sunday and Holy Days take place the evening before, at S. Mary's C of E, Church Lane, Horncastle LN9 5HW, 18.00; Sunday, 10.00; Holy days, 10.00, 19.00.

Confessions: 17.30 to 17.50 at S. Mary's, Horncastle; and on request.

Safeguarding representative: Fiona Cashman.

History: Woodhall Spa was set up in the nineteenth century, after the spring was accidentally discovered in 1811. When the spa began to flourish, the town was planned by 1887. Father Peter Sabela from Grantham said the first Mass at the new town in 1895. The Church also obtained the building site in 1895 and laid the foundation stone for the church building the following year, its first dedication being to Father Sabela's own patron saint, S. Peter. When Woodhall was given her own priest in 1900 and so achieved independence, the dedication to Our Lady was added. The church was badly damaged in 1943 and had to be restored by local contractors. The parish hall was blessed and opened in 2000. Between 1959 and 1994, the parish was served by a conventual branch of the Franciscan Order, but has now returned to the diocesan clergy. The parish has hosted the Sisters of Providence in the past and Franciscan Sisters tertiary.

Source: Canon A. P. Dolan, Good News for the East Midlands: an account of the background to, and the story of, the Diocese of Nottingham, Tucann Books, 2018, pp. 286-7.