Catholic Parish Ongar

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Helen’s, Chipping Ongar, was constructed in 1869. The church was built with financial support from Countess Helen Tasker of Brentwood and the 12th Lord Petrie of Ingatestone Hall. Prior to this, mass had been provided by visiting priests in chapels of private houses such as Kelvedon Hall and, for a time, Services were held in a barn behind The King’s Head public house in Ongar High Street.

The growth of the Catholic population in Essex in the 19th century was due in part to the extension of the railways which had a high percentage of Irish workers. However, there was an existing Catholic population who had survived the difficult times of The Reformation and were sometimes referred to as ‘Recusants’. Following the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829, many new Catholic churches and mass centres were built. The need for Ongar to have its’ own Catholic church became apparent and had the support of the church hierarchy and the local Anglian community.

Chipping Ongar in 1869 was the market town for the surrounding rural area. The parish is large and the congregation widespread. The parish priest had to travel miles to tend his scattered flock. The most notable priest to hold this post was Father Thomas Byles who was appointed to Ongar in 1905. Sadly, he perished on The Titanic while travelling to officiate at his brother’s wedding in America. On the left of the aisle there is a memorial window dedicated to Father Byles and a door donated and installed by his brother’s American family. There is a special blue plaque dedicated to Father Byles on the front of the Presbytery on Chipping Ongar High Street, where he lived and ministered for 8 years before leaving from Ongar Station, where there is another blue plaque, to take that fateful journey.

In 1973 the parish boundary was changed to include St. Margaret’s of Scotland in Doddinghurst. The Parish works in harmony with the other local Christian Churches in both areas under ‘The Churches Together’ covenant which was signed in June 2006.