VILLAGERS at Littlemore will be celebrating Christmas in a church which has undergone a major transformation.
Little has changed on the outside of St Mary and St Nicholas Church apart from new lighting and new all-weather paths.
But inside, the 180-year-old building has lost its dark interior and become a place sparkling with light and warmth to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
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It will serve not only the needs of churchgoers but the wider village community.
The Rev Margreet Armitstead, the vicar, said: “There is a new west gallery, on which the organ now sits, and underneath, a fully fitted kitchen and toilets.
“The walls gleam, there is an underfloor heating system, and a new lighting and public address system. The woodwork has been conserved and the chancel restored.
“The small vestry has been reconfigured to create a larger meeting space, with a crypt chapel below and extra meeting space in the tower.
“Christian Randall, our architect, has given us an enlarged building with splendid facilities within the existing church, and our builders, Hillsdons, have finished the work to a very high standard.
“We were thrilled that our building was granted an award from the Oxford Preservation Trust this year for the way it has been sensitively restored.”
The church owes its existence to John Henry Newman, the theologian, scholar and poet, who was first an Anglican priest and later a Catholic priest and cardinal.
He arranged for its building in 1836 to meet the spiritual needs of Littlemore villagers while vicar at St Mary the Virgin church in Oxford.
Newman became a saint of the Catholic Church at a canonisation ceremony in Rome in 2019 and the new meeting place has been named after him.
The project cost more than £800,000. When work started in April 2019, just half the money had been collected by fundraisers and the project group.
After Mrs Armitstead visited Rome later that year for Newman’s canonisation, anonymous wellwishers came forward to offer the rest.
She said: “The Newman Meeting Place is now ready to serve the wider community of Littlemore, hosting a drop-in café, meeting space for our partner organisations, for singing groups, family activities, concerts, art exhibitions, meditation and worship.
“We are excited to have the resources to reimagine Newman’s vision for the 21st century, and create a beacon of hope for all who come through our doors.
“We have retained the historic features of the church and now have a warm, welcoming and light modern building – the best of both worlds.”
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