Holy Innocents
Roman Catholic Church, Orpington

As you approach the church, all paths lead to the main entrance. On one side is an enclosed noticeboard where the parish newsletter and other important information is available even if the church is locked. You enter the church through the double doors into a porch area.

The large wooden sliding door to the right of the porch (or entrance hall), leads to Our Lady of Mercy Hall, while that on the left leads through St. Joseph's Hall to Trinity Hall.

On entering the corridor towards the offices, Canon John Watts' room is the first door on the left, and the Parish Office is the second.

The Committee Room and the Resources Room are reached through the Parish Office. The Dining Room, next to the Parish Office, is sometimes used, with permission, for activities requiring a large table.

Returning to the Church, the stained glass window is a permanent memorial, chosen by parishioners, to Fr Michael Phelan, Priest-in-Charge at Holy Innocents and ultimately Parish Priest from 1955 to 1984. He died in 1985 aged 71. The design shows the Holy Innocents as birds making their way to the Cross; there is a note by the artist, Margaret Traherne, an internationally recognised stained glass window designer, on the column to the left of the window.

Money was collected and a stained glass window to be situated within the tall plain window behind the altar was chosen. At least two designs were submitted to the Diocesan Fine Arts committee for approval, but were rejected out of hand as being too mundane and lacking in artistic merit. An assistant priest in the parish at the time, Fr John Hennessey, suggested asking Margaret Traherne to create a design.

The Holy Innocents are also the subject of a bronze relief on the left wall of the Church by our parishioner the late Nesta McGavin.

The Altar is formed from a solid block of Cumbrian slate weighing around two tons. Behind the Altar is the Unity Chapel. The Crucifix is one of several items retained from the old Church. The bell, now operated by remote control at the Elevation, used also to chime the Angelus across the fields from the old Church. The corridor to the right of the Altar leads to the Priests' Sacristy, the Flower Sacristy, the Confessionals and the Library.