History

About St. Felix

Felix was a Burgundian priest, probably from one of the monastic houses founded by the Irish missionary, St. Columnbanus. In AD 630, he travelled to England, where he was welcomed at the Archiepiscopal Court of St. Honorius at Canterbury. Felix stayed there but a few months, before the primate sent him to evangelise the people of King Sigebert of East  Anglia.

King Sigebert allowed him to establish his See at Dommoc, or Dummoc-ceastre, generally accepted as Dunwich, a seaport on the coast of Suffolk (though some say it was Felixstowe). Dummoc had been a Roman station and, besides the advantage of its port, its walls may still have been strong enough to afford some protection for the new Bishop. It was, moreover, connected with the interior by ancient roads, which led in one direction toward Bury St. Edmunds and in another toward Norwich.

At Dummoc, King Sigebert built a palace for himself and a church for Felix. Elsewhere, says Bede, "desiring to imitate those things which he had seen well arranged in Gaul, he founded a school in which boys might be taught letters, with the aid of Felix, the bishop....who furnished them with pedagogues and masters, after the Kentish fashion." Bede gives no locality for this school; yet the passage, without the slightest reason, has been looked upon as recording the foundation of the University of Cambridge, a place which, at that period, was not even within the borders of East Anglia.

 
   

 
Four years after the establishment of the See, the King resigned his crown in favour of his cousin, Egric, and retired to a monastery which he had founded with the Irish monk, Fursey, at Burgh Castle. Felix founded a third monastery at Soham and it was here that he died, on 8th March AD 647, and was buried. His relics were later translated to Ramsey Abbey (Hunts). 


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History of St. Felix RC Church

The last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century in Felixstowe was a period of intense building activity, both public and private. From this period, date the Orwell Hotel, 1896, and the town railway station, which opened in 1898. In June 1899, the first resident Catholic priest, Father William Cooper, was appointed. There was no church, only a bare plot of ground in Gainsborough Road, purchased for the erection of a church some four years earlier for the princely sum of £488.

Fr. Cooper immediately set about erecting a tiny chapel, now the site of the present presbytery. This chapel was soon outgrown and from 1905, plans were made for a permanent church. Many discussions and difficulties were finally resolved and the foundation stone of the new building was laid in February 1911 and the church was officially opened with great solemnity on 31st July 1912.

To the original sanctuary and nave, there were later additions of a sacristy and side chapels but it was not until 1958 that the church was finally completed by the addition of the choir, baptistery and porch and an entrance in keeping with the inscription above the entrance - "Haec est Domus Domini" - "This is the House of the Lord".

Surmounting the inscription is a statue depicting St. Felix in whose honour the church is dedicated. Originally from Burgundy, Felix became the first Bishop of East Anglia and died in 646.

The architect of the new church was Francis Banham from Beccles - interestingly, his son, Cyril, became Parish Priest of St. Felix in 1945 until his retirement in 1961. The builder was J.W.Cross of Felixstowe.

Weldon Stone, with Bath dressings, was used for the outside of the church, the interior being of Bath stone. The barrel roof, some forty feet high was originally richly decorated, but this has been covered in more recent re-decoration. Dominating the nave is the Rosary window at the east end. The stained glass window depicts the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary and was donated by the widow of Mark Antony MacDonnell, a former MP and a Medical Officer in Liverpool who died in 1906. She also donated the Stations of the Cross which are placed in the arches of the two side aisles. Beneath the Rosary window is a carved Crucifix from the Italian Tyrol, part of the refurbishment of the church in 1963.

There are three side chapels:-

 

1: To the right of the main altar is the Sacred Heart Chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the tabernacle. The windows portray the Crucified Christ and the Risen Christ. The Crucified Christ is attended by St. Thomas More in his robes of Chancellor of England. With the Tower of London in the background, and St. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, with Rochester Cathedral in the background. Both where beheaded in 1535 for refusing to accept the oath of Supremacy of Henry VIII. The Risen Christ is attended by the two kneeling figures of St. Margaret Mary and St. Gertrude, both renowned for their devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.


 

2: To the left of the main altar is the Chapel in honour of St. Joseph, spouse of Mary.


 

3: Of the south aisle is the Chapel of Our Lady. The two lancet windows, one each side of the statue, depict the figures of Mary, and Joseph with the young Jesus. The three windows to the right portray the figure of Mary with St. Bernadette.

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