Holy Trinity RC Church, Newark.
The Church Past

There was a Catholic place of worship in Newark at least by 1805, for on April 29th, 1835, there died at Newark the Rev Gabriel Yver, aged 74, for upwards of 30 years Catholic minister in that place, as well as Grantham and Colston Bassett.

In July, 1827, Divine Service was performed in the Catholic Church, Corinthian Yard, Cartergate, on the third Sunday in every month and the fifth, when there were five Sundays in the month. The hours of prayer were 10 o’clock in the evening, with a discourse on the Gospel of the day, and 6 o’clock in the evening, with a lecture on a moral subject. Prayers were said at 5 o’clock in the morning on week holidays.

The 1829 street map of Newark, however, shows that this chapel was then on the corner of Millgate and Parliament Street, roughly on the site of the present presbytery. It was mentioned in August, 1830 as being in Millgate.

In 1836 the decision was taken to build the Parliament Street church and on the morning of Monday, June 27th, the foundation stone was laid by the Rev J. Waterworth, then priest for Newark. It was said at the time that the church would be on a splendid scale, the tower to be 84ft high. There are no progress reports in the town records but the church was opened on Sunday, July 2nd, 1837, Fr Waterworth offering the first Mass at which there was a very numerous congregation and no collection!

White’s 1853 Directory states that the church cost £3,000 and seated about 1,000. At the end of 1859, Fr Waterworth provided, at his own expense, a schoolroom near the church and this was opened on January 5th, 1860.

General Sikorski lies in state at Holy Trinity
before burial at Newark Cemetery 1942.

Father Edmund Smith parish priest in
1876 - 1904.

Father Hadican with altar servers 1922.