Soon after his appointment as a parish priest in 1926, Father Ralph Baines decided to enlarge the church and an extension fund was opened with an anonymous donor giving £3,000 to start the fund. A scheme estimated to cost £15,000 was eventually adopted.
Work commenced in August 1932 and was completed by March 1934.
The enlarged church now held 800 with the most prominent new feature being the tower at 108 feet high. The new main entrance was now via the west doors and through a large porch, over which is the choir loft with access by way of a spiral staircase to the tower above. The tower has two large windows, each 46 feet high and filled with old Norman glass of rich tints. Higher still is the bell chamber housing the angelus bell.
An entirely new and much enlarged Lady Chapel was built, flanked by new and larger sacristies. Halfway down each aisle is a small altar shrine - the one in the north aisle is dedicated to Christ the King and the south aisle dedicated to St. Ignatius.
An altar dedicated to St. Joseph is at the end of the north aisle and behind this is the former Nuns chapel, now dedicated to the English Martyrs. A new church organ was installed, the nucleus of which came from St. George's Cathedral in Southwark.
The enlarged church was blessed by the Rt. Rev. Cotter, Bishop of Portsmouth on the 22 April 1934. The work done is now marked by a brass plate at the rear of the church.
At the north-west corner of the rear of the church is a small shrine dedicated to Theresa of Lisieux, the oak panels being made by Father George Turner, (pictured left) who served the church as one of the clergy from 1930 to 1940.
During the period 1962 - 64, changes were made to the altar by the then parish priest, Father Enright.(pictured below)
The work included rewiring and relighting of the Church, renewal of the roof tiles over the nun’s chapel, reflooring and the provision of new benches for the side aisles of the church. Alterations to the altar included a new stone altar together with stone rails to match.
To meet the changes resulting from the Vatican Council of 1962 - 65, the sanctuary was again modified in 1974 with the altar being moved forward. On completion of this work, the Church was consecrated by Rt. Rev D. Worlock, Bishop of Portsmouth, on 18 July 1974.
A tablet to commemorate this occasion can be seen at the rear of the church.
During January and the early period of 2000, Father Beattie, Parish Priest, made further alterations to the sanctuary. A curtain was again placed over the wall to the rear of the altar in a similar way to that seen in old photographs.
Four angel figures were returned to the niches behind the altar where they had once stood and the altar length shortened. Other changes included a marble lectern and a new carpet to cover the floor.
Earlier, Father Beattie, due to the increasing need for improved security, had introduced closed circuit television to the church and outside areas.
Parish Priests
Rev. C. De Lapasture 1897 - 1904
Rev. F. Payne 1904 - 1906
Rev. F. Hayden 1906 - 1910
Rev. C. de Lapasture 1910 - 1912
Rev. J. Clayton 1912 - 1914
Rev. C. Widdowson 1914 - 1922
Rev. F. O'Hare 1922 - 1925
Rev. P. Wolfe 1925 - 1926
Rev. R. Baines 1926 - 1936
Rev. W. Gibbons 1936 - 1946
Rev. J. Baron 1946 - 1961
Rev. V. Gegan 1961
Rev. B. Enright 1962 - 1964
Rev. 0. Fishwick 1965 - 1970
Rev. W, Maher 1970 - 1974
Rev. P. Knott 1974 -
