Roman Church Of Our Lady, Help Of Christians And St Denis

In 1864, Dominican nuns came to St Marychurch. They were invited by the Bishop of Plymouth William Vaughan. A house, Southampton Villa, was bought in the area. It housed the nuns, while an orphanage, St Mary's Priory, was built on the site.

In 1867, a Mr Potts Chatto, from the Daison estate, in thanksgiving for his son, Denis, recovering from a serious illness, paid for the construction of a church in the grounds of Southampton Villa. Joseph Hansom, who designed Plymouth Cathedral and Church of the Assumption of Our Lady, Torquay, was commissioned to design the church. In 1869, the church was opened. Southampton Villa was later demolished and the tower and spire of the church were built in its place. In 1871, a convent for the nuns next to the church was opened. The convent included a school and elementary school with a capacity for 200 children. An organ and lady chapel were later added to the church, they were paid for by…