Every parish has a story and often there can be surprising twists and turns. The history of Catholicism in Uxbridge, on the western edge of Greater London, embraces medieval confraternities, burnings under Mary Tudor, Elizabethan Jesuits (including St Edmund Campion) and even a link with Shakespeare. In more recent times, there is the no less heroic story of the foundation of a Catholic parish and the tireless work of generations of priests and lay people.

This brief history, written by the current parish priest, has been published to mark the 80th anniversary of the opening of the present church building. It is, by its very nature, a record of people and past events, but it is also a fitting tribute to all who have worked, and those who continue to work, to build up the Kingdom of God in Uxbridge.

Fr Nicholas Schofield is Parish Priest of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Michael, Uxbridge, Archivist of the Archdiocese of Westminster and author of several books.