St. Alban’s, Chaddesden

A brief history of the Parish

published on the occasion of the

 Silver Jubilee of the Church

 1956 - 1981

Printed by Regeena Printing Ltd.

Forest Mills, Alfreton Road, Nottingham Tel 789919

MAY 1981

Page 2

Bishop’s House
The Park
Nottingham

Most people can easily remember events that took place twenty-five years ago, and indeed it may be well considered as a not too long a time. So, in the parish of St. Alban’s, many will remember the early days of the parish and have witnessed its steady and gradual progress.

I can well remember in 1950 serving the people in the Chaddesden area with Mass and Devotions. It had the tin church, as we called it, and the numbers coming were then not all that big. But there was a pioneer spirit which was to be so very important in the building up of the parish over the intervening years. Through the insight and care of the late beloved Monsignor Hargreaves, then parish priest at St. Mary’s, Derby, under whose care St. Alban’s then was, the new church was begun. The joy of the people was apparent, and they rallied round to raise the much needed money for this, also the new presbytery, and then later the schools, on being set up as a parish in its own right, with Monsignor McLean appointed as parish priest. With gratitude we remember the excellent pastoral work done by Father Snee, and the other priests from St. Mary’s.

It is appropriate that Monsignor is celebrating twenty-five years as parish priest in St. Alban’s parish. During that time he has seen the parish grow in size beyond imagination. The building of the parish centre has been a useful addition in the life of the parish and a meeting place for the people, especially the younger generation.

With joy we couple the two Silver Jubilees, that of the opening of the Church, and the coming of Monsignor. Yes, the time has gone quickly, and so much has been done. May God reward those who have paved the way over the past years, and who have been called by the Lord. May this present generation hold safely the good and solid traditions handed down to them, and may the years ahead be filled with even greater effort by all for the Glory of God and the spreading of His Kingdom.

Our warmest congratulations to Monsignor for the twenty-five years of devoted work in the parish, and our good wishes to all the parishioners on the Silver Jubilee of the Church. May St. Alban continue to protect you all.

With my greeting and blessing to all.

Bishop of Nottingham

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The Start of the Story

In the beginning was St. Mary’s, Derby. Chaddesden was a village surrounded by open fields, and curates moved to and fro on bicycles to say Mass at the Crown Club in Spondon.

So run the memories of those who can recall Derby before the great expansion of Chaddesden after the last war. From 1931 Mass had been celebrated in Spondon; the growing number of Catholics were hoping for their own parish and priest. It is important that a new parish should get the best possible start, however, and it rapidly became clear that Chaddesden would be easily the fastest-growing area in Derby at that time.

The growth of Derby

When the first priest arrived in what is now St. Mary’s parish, in 1750, Derby was a small town of ten thousand inhabitants. By 1840 there were 33,000; and the church of St. Mary had been built in the centre. St. Joseph’s was founded in 1878, when the town population had reached 58,000; but the real mushroom growth took place in the first years of this century — taking the figure to 142,000 in 1931. By this time the two parishes of Alvaston and Normanton had been set up.

After the war the decision was taken to create a huge residential area east of the town centre. The building of houses in this direction had been very slow, principally because of the large area given over to the Racecourse, where Derbyshire Cricket has its headquarters. This large space would have made any development beyond it rather isolated from the town. So although a few streets were built off Nottingham Road around 1900, the eventual Chaddesden, as a suburb, remains a basically twentieth-century structure. Four large estates were built around the old village; sixty per cent of these were council-owned. Derby now ran up to the ridge overlooking Breadsall, and a new and vast population — about 35,000 people — was suddenly added to the parish of St. Mary. Clearly the pastoral situation called for a parallel development.

Mgr. Hargreaves the decision to build

Mgr. James Hargreaves was a Lancastrian; but he worked in Derby for thirty-two years; as a curate in St. Joseph’s, later as its parish priest, and then as parish priest of St. Mary’s, and Vicar General of the Diocese of Nottingham. He could thus be called half a Derbeian. It fell to him to take the important decisions which led to the division of his growing parish and the founding of St. Alban’s; and this at a time when his own life was drawing painfully to its close.