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The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Mary Magdalen is a thriving place of worship in the Catholic Parish of Tavistock with a congregation of about 110 adults and children attending Mass each Sunday. However it was originally built by William, eighth Duke of Bedford as a Chapel of Ease for St Eustachius, the Parish Church of Tavistock, and intended for use by the expanding population of miners who worked in the Great Consoles copper mines during the 19th century. At that time it was known as the Fitzford Church due to its proximity to the Fitz family manor house.
The church was designed by the renowned architect Henry Clutton, and built between 1865-1867 in a style reminiscent of Italian churches, with a tall tower which almost appears detached from the main body of the church. The main entrance is housed in the tower, although there is another much grander entrance on the opposite side which would have been reserved solely for use by the Dukes of Bedford. Local building materials were used in the construction such as the Hurdwick ashlar used for many of the public buildings in the centre of Tavistock.
Prior to the dissolution of the monasteries in the time of Henry Vlll, Tavistock was the site of a Benedictine Abbey founded in the 10th century and dedicated to Our Lady and St Rumon. In the Middle Ages Tavistock also had a leper hospital with a chapel, dedicated to St Mary Magdalen and St Theobald, which became known as the 'Maudlin Chapel'. The chapel was situated on the west side of Tavistock, slightly to the north east of the current Catholic Church, hence the current name of 'Our Lady of the Assumption and St Mary Magdalen' and also the nearby street 'Maudlins Lane'.
As copper production declined in the mines towards the end of the nineteenth century, so did the population on the western side of Tavistock, rendering a second Anglican church unnecessary. In the early 1900s the Duke of Bedford transferred ownership of his Tavistock buildings to the Town Council and the church became the property of the Parish. The church closed in 1918 but was then reopened in 1936 when the land around the church was sold to fund essential repairs. It closed again in 1947.
Since the reformation there had not been an official Catholic church in Tavistock, although parishioners used a chapel at Mount Tavy from 1906 to 1922, and then after the Carmelite nuns came to Tavistock they were able to use the small Convent Chapel. The number of Catholic parishioners steadily increased and so when the parish priest of Tavistock, Father Michael McSweeny, heard that the church in Callington Road was to be sold he set proceedings in motion for the church to become the property of the Catholic Diocese of Plymouth in 1951, when it was also given Grade II* Listing by English Heritage.
The church has a number of interesting features including three stained glass windows erected in the memory of Sarah Ann Trist in 1912 which depict the Annunciation, the Nativity and Christ welcoming the faithful into His kingdom. The Crucifix on the east wall of the Sanctuary was donated by the Bridgetinnes of South Brent. It is believed it was carved in Portugal post 1594 when the nuns moved there following the Reformation, and was then brought back to England when they returned in 1861. There is also an altar which was commissioned in memory of fallen comrades by a group of Polish servicemen stationed in Yelverton during WWII. They worshipped at St Joseph’s Chapel in Gunnislake and when the church closed, the altar was transferred to Tavistock. A more recent addition is the display of Santo Nino procession banners used by the local Filipino community for its January fiesta.
After the first closure of the Chapel of Ease in 1917 very little money was spent on maintaining the church building until the 1990s when the congregation had a new heating system installed and a major part of the church re-roofed. Since then the collapsed Victorian drains have had to be replaced and alterations to provide disabled access and fit internal glass doors have been completed. The parish has raised thousands of pounds to maintain and improve the church building and grants have also been received from English Heritage, Garfield Weston Foundation and Devon Historic Churches. As a consequence this historic church building has been preserved for posterity while also providing a beautiful and functional place of worship for its active congregation which celebrated the church's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
From Easter the church will be open to visitors every Saturday from 10:45 am to 3:30 pm. Services are held on Sundays and at various times during the week - for more details please visit the parish website: www.ourladytavistock.org.uk