St Richard’s Church is situated on the Racecourse Estate, and yes it did used to be a racecourse, for pony racing, which was opened in 1929. The pony racing stopped during the Second World War, and failed to start again afterwards.
The Racecourse Estate began construction at the beginning of the 1950’s in order to solve a severe housing shortage within the borough. The building we have as St Richard’s was completed in 1956.
There was a church meeting on the estate before this however, first meeting in a boys brigade hut, and then in Northolt High School, before moving to the new built hall.
The building was always meant to be a hall, for a large church building, but this never got built. Instead a small chapel was built on the side of the hall in the 1980’s, with sliding doors that meant the the space could be bigger or smaller depending on the need.
St Richard’s is pleased to host a nursery during the week in the hall which is of great benefit to the community.