St Bernard’s is one of several churches (some of which are no longer functioning for worship) in the Coggeshall area.
History of the Church
There was an attempt to establish a mission at Coggeshall in 1875, with a chapel dedicated to St Cecilia and built at an unknown location. Later on (in the early twentieth century) Mass was said at White Barn, the home of the Sheldrake family on the Coggeshall Road just outside Kelvedon. After 1922 Mass was said at Starling Leeze, the Coggeshall home of Captain and Mrs Dixon, and subsequently at a number of other locations in the village.
Finally, in 1927 a plot of land in Stoneham Street was acquired for a chapel-of-ease. The cost of the church was £390 and was funded by Mrs Dixon as a memorial to her husband, who had died in 1927. It was opened by Bishop Doubleday on 19 February 1928. Mrs Dixon also bought and presented two adjacent houses to the church, in the hope that they might one day serve as a presbytery for Coggeshall’s own resident priest. The church was dedicated to St Bernard, evoking a link with the medieval Cistercian abbey at Coggeshall, and also in memory of Bernard Ward, first Bishop of Brentwood, who had died in 1920. Stations of the Cross were installed at the time of the blessing of the church, which took place in September 1928.
The chapel is a prefabricated, timber framed and weatherboarded structure built in two stages. The original 1920s chapel faces towards the road. The weatherboarding at the front is painted white and the flank walls are a stained black. There is a former porch which is no longer used and the main entrance is now via a porch with a shallow-lean to roof on the south side. There is a hipped roof covered with felt tiles and with a small timber bell cote on the ridge, housing one bell.
The expansion of the Catholic population necessitated the extension of the church in 1962-63, doubling its size, at a cost of £1900 (with much of the work being carried out by voluntary parish labour). A new sanctuary, altar and benches were installed at this time. The 1960s extension lies to the rear and is also clad in stained weatherboarding. The church has metal windows with opaque glass and some coloured panes. The sanctuary is located at the west end, and is separated from the 1960s nave by a curved segmental ‘chancel arch’. The sanctuary is located in the former nave, and there is a step down into the sanctuary area. The timber altar and reredos are 1960s in date (the altar having been presumably brought forward at a later date). Doors at the back of the sanctuary lead into a confessional and sacristy. In the nave, the seating consists of benches. A large painting of Christ’s Deposition hangs on the south wall. Off the back of the nave is a meeting room and kitchen.
The inside resembles a small village hall and is capable of seating about 80. Outside the church is a simple wooden a cross.
The Cache
You are looking for a small vial at the listed coordinates. Please bring tweezers or an extraction tool. There is also no room for a pen so please bring your own.
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