GLASTONBURY'S FIRST PARISH CHURCH The Bishop of Clifton Lays Foundation Stone

Front a Special Correspond There was a large assembly of West Country Catholics at Ulaston
bury on Saturday afternoon to witness the laying of the foundation stone of the new Church of Our Lady of Glastonbury by Mgr. William Lee, Bishop of Clifton. This year is the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of the last Abbot of Glastonbury, Richard Whiting, and his companion monks, who were hanged, drawn and quartered on Tor Hill, Somerset's most historic landmark.
Opposite Ruins of Abbey
The new St. Mary's church, which will rank as the Martyrs' Memorial, occupies a site fronting the main street, adjacent to the Convent of the Sisters of St. Louis, and nearly opposite ,.the ruins of the great Benedictine Abbey, over which Blessed Richard Whiting was the last ruler.
For a number of years the chapel attached to the convent has served as the parish church. Appeals have been made at successive annual Clifton diocesan pilgrimages to Glastonbury, and now, with about /3,000 raised, a start has been made on the new church, It is being built in Gothic style, and comprises narthex, nave, transepts, sanctuary and two chapels. Above the doorway will be a statue of Our Lady of Glastonbury, and in the façade, on either side of a three-light window, will be statues of Blessed Richard Whiting and St. Dunstan, Glastonbury's greatest Abbot.
Will Cost 112,000
The cost of the church and its equipment, and of the building of a presbytery adjoining, will be approximately £12,000. Mr J. Willman (Messrs. Roberts and Willman, Taunton), who has
designed a number of churches in the diocese, is the architect, and Messrs. Pollard and Son, or Bridgwater, are the builders.
Many of the diocesan clergy attended Saturday's ceremony, and there were also present Benedictines from Downside and Prinknash, and members of
other religious iprders. Archbishop Hugh MaeSherry, formerly Vicar Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, the Abbot of Prinknash, the Right Rev. Wilfrid Upson, O.S.B.