Churches of the British Isles

The Catholic Church of The Most Precious Blood stands on the north side of the east-west Radway, about sixty metres to the west of Vicarage Road. The Jesuits left Peak House in 1883 (see 'related links') but the Sisters of the Assumption made permanent their convent (see below), providing a public chapel from 1884. In the late 1920s it became clear that a parish church was needed. This was the site, with building being handled in 1935 after several years of fundraising.

St Theresa's Hall, dedicated to Saint Therese of Lisieux, is at the north-west corner of Connaught Road (one road to the north of the Church of the Most Precious Blood (above). The OS 1892-1914 map shows it standing on the former driveway of Musbury Lodge, which sat in an east-west direction in the middle of what is now the first part of Connaught Road. The church was built in 1935 when the need was seen for a place of worship to replace the convent chapel.

Sidmouth Cemetery Chapels are accessed from the western side of Temple Street, midway between the Sid Park Road and Salters Meadows junctions. Laid out by Charles Frederick Edwards in May 1877, the cemetery opened in 1879 on the northern edge of the town. The single building houses two chapels, one for Anglicans and the other for nonconformists. A burial board is typically appointed by the urban district council and the chapels remain available for use.

The former Convent of the Assumption is on the south side of Broadway. The Sisters of the Assumption arrived in 1881 following the Jesuits of Peak House Catholic Chapel (see 'related links'). Their chapel was available for worship to the small Catholic population of Sidmouth, until a dedicated church was opened in the 1930s (see above). The sisters left the convent for Rose Cottage in 1976. This also closed and the three remaining sisters moved to a convent in London.

The Church of St Francis of Assisi Woolbrook is located at the south-east corner of the Woolbrook Road junction with Bennetts Hill in Middle Woolbrook, Sidmouth. This parish church is shown on the OS 25-inch map of 1892-1914 as being in Middle Walbrook. The church already exists, despite a date of the 1930s being given for its founding as a daughter church to the Sidmouth parish. The church gained a parish of its own in 1979 and remains open in 2025.

One photo on this page by P L Kessler, one kindly contributed by Joseph Rogers via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group, three photos copyright © Neil Owen, David Smith, and Anthony Vosper via Geograph, reused under a cc licence, and one photo copyright © Sidmouth Town Council.