Welcome to Our Lady of Grace.   

Grounded in the love of Christ, we strive to build a community of believers where everybody will be known and appreciated as a child of God. No matter where you are on your journey of faith, you are always welcome here to share in our worship, joy, and fellowship.

Our Lady of Grace Charlton our church is one hundred and twenty years old, full of tradition, history, and faith. For over a century, generations have been sacramentally nourished here in the holy Mysteries. So many people have experienced their faith deeply in this sacred place and have found a lasting spiritual home.

With the grace of God and the intercession of Mary, we have lived our parish motto and continue to do so: to build a community of believers where everybody will be known and appreciated. This mission has been lived faithfully for one hundred and twenty years, and by God's grace, it will continue for years to come.

All are welcome here it is a lovely church with a rich history, and I warmly invite you to come, visit, pray, and belong.

I am truly blessed to be here for you and to serve you as your priest. I am a diocesan priest originally from Kerala, India, from the Diocese of Quilon, now humbly serving you in the Archdiocese of Southwark.

You are all most welcome to Our Lady of Grace come and be part of our parish family

With love

Fr Sebastian Joseph Vadakke Veedu

In 1850, Pope Pius IX restored the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales and created thirteen dioceses.

As part of this restoration, the Catholic Diocese of Southwark was erected on 29th September 1850. The new Diocese of Southwark covered much of southern England - London south of the Thames, Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Berkshire, southern Oxfordshire, Hampshire and the Channel Islands. Bishop Thomas Grant was consecrated as Bishop of the Diocese on 4th July 1851.

Two years prior to the restoration of the hierarchy, on 4th July 1848, St George’s Catholic Church, designed by Augustus Pugin, was solemnly opened by Bishop Wiseman. On the restoration, St George's was chosen as the Cathedral Church of the new Diocese of Southwark. For the next half-century, until the opening of Westminster Cathedral, St George's was the centre of Catholic life in London.

By the later 1800s, it had become clear that the Diocese of Southwark was too large for one bishop. On 19th May 1882, Pope Leo XIII created the Diocese of Portsmouth from the Diocese of Southwark. Hampshire, South Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and the Channel Islands now became part of the new Diocese.

In 1888, Bishop John Butt purchased 60 acres of land in Wonersh, near Guildford and appointed Frederick Walters to design a Diocesan Seminary. St John’s Seminary opened in temporary accommodation at Henfield, Sussex in August 1889.  Two years later, the new buildings were complete and the Seminary was officially opened on 8 September 1891. On 3rd July 2021, St John’s Seminary closed and the training of Diocesan priests moved to Allen Hall in Westminster Diocese. 

On the night of 16th April 1941, St George’s Cathedral was hit by an incendiary bomb which started a fire that destroyed the Cathedral but left other Diocesan buildings on the site undamaged. The Cathedral was rebuilt, designed by the architect Romilly Craze, and consecrated on 4th July 1958 by Bishop Cyril Cowderoy.

On 28th May 1965, Pope Paul VI created a new Diocese of Arundel and Brighton from part of the Diocese of Southwark. East and West Sussex and Surrey (outside of the London boroughs) became part of this new Diocese. On the same date, the Diocese of Southwark was elevated to a Metropolitan See and Bishop Cyril Cowderoy became the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Southwark. The Province of Southwark includes the Dioceses of Plymouth, Portsmouth and Arundel and Brighton.

Following the resignation of Archbishop Emeritus Peter Smith on 10th June 2019, Archbishop John Wilson was installed as the Eleventh Bishop of Southwark and Fifth Archbishop of Metropolitan and See on 25th July 2019.