Plympton was once but one little corner of the Holy Cross Parish. Holy Cross Church was erected on the almost the very spot of the ancient Carmelite Friary in 1881. The members of the church were blessed with energetic and devoted priests, one such was Father John Keily.
He was greatly loved by the faithful of the diocese for which he worked long and zealously. Fr. Keily left the parish of Holy Cross when he was consecrated Bishop of Plymouth on June 13th 1911. He was an outstanding figure in the life and history of the Church in the West. He died on September 23rd 1928. Bishop John Barrett, who had been consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham in February 1927, was transferred to Plymouth as its new Bishop on June 7th 1929. Bishop Barrett realised how deeply the faithful of the diocese cherished the memory of his predecessor, so he immediately set about organising a memorial scheme. It was decided that a memorial church should be erected, and, because of the late Bishop’s devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes, the title under which the new church would be dedicated was easily selected as the place where the memorial should be raised for that great soul.
Extracts from the Plymouth Diocesan Record and Bishop Barrett’s Advent pastoral letters tell the story of the erection of the church.
In 1931, on Sunday, the Feast of Christ the King, His Lordship the Bishop laid the foundation stone of the new church at Plympton, dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. It was a glorious day and most of the clergy from the city and a great number of the laity were present. Other notable persons who attended were Dr. and Mrs. Keily (brother and sister-in-law of the late Bishop), Mr. George Drysdale, the architect and Mr. Bernard C. Brien, the builder. After the ceremony of laying the stone, Father Lee of Holy Cross, in whose parish the new church lay, addressed the people, telling them that they were erecting one more home for Christ among his people, reminding them to contribute as generously as possible to the building which was rising.
On May 18th 1932, the church was blessed and opened and on the following Sunday the First Mass was celebrated within the walls. It could not yet be consecrated until the small outstanding debt was cleared.
By 1934, as the plaque indicates, the debt was paid and Advent letter of 1935 completes the picture:-
‘On September 25th we saw the consummation of our wishes in the consecration of the church of Our Lady of Lourdes, so that at last your late Bishop John Keily had his permanent memorial in the diocese.’
To find the cache go to the Church at the above co-ordinates.
At the front of the Church there is a telegraph pole with two letters and two numbers on it DPAB.
You will find the cache at N 50 23.(A-2) A (B-3) W 004 03.A (B-1) (A-B-1)
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