Ealing: Cardinal opens new building at St Benedict's

Cardinal Nichols blesses the new building

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, blessed and formally opened the new Sixth Form and Art & Design Building at St Benedict's School in Ealing, West London, on 28 January, the Feast Day of St Thomas Aquinas. The building will provide a fitting and lasting memory of Headmaster Chris Cleugh, who retires later this year and in whose honour it is named. A gloriously sunny day reflected the joyous mood of the whole occasion.

At the start there was Mass in the Abbey Church, concelebrated by the Cardinal, Father Abbot Martin Shipperlee and eleven other Benedictine monks. In his Homily Cardinal Nichols reminded the congregation that St Thomas was always searching for the truth, asking questions and looking for God in the Beauty (Art) and Purpose (Design) of individual things. He exhorted the St Benedict's Sixth Form and art students to do the same.

After Mass Cardinal Nichols performed the Blessing Ceremony and unveiled the Commemorative Stone of the new building. He also blessed a newly planted tree in memory of Maria del Pilar Gomez Sanz (1958-2014), parent and member of the Society of Parents and Friends and a great supporter of St Benedict's School. The official opening concluded with the blessing of the statue of Our Lady 'Sedes Sapientiae.'

Building work on the project began in August 2014 and was completed in December 2015. The new building will provide first class learning facilities for the Sixth Form and Art & Design departments. The ground floor comprises an open plan Sixth Form social area and also houses the Technology rooms. The Sixth Form study area - the Scriptorium - takes up most of the first floor together with a classroom for KS3/4 Design. Art studios and Sixth Form design classrooms fill the whole of the second floor.