Catholic priest’s chapel is finalist in “Shed of the Year” competition

The former Anglican converted the shed into a chapel to serve his congregation of fellow former Anglicans.

A Catholic priest who transformed a garden shed into a chapel is a finalist in the Cuprinol shed manufacturer’s 2021 “Shed of the Year” competition, reported The Tablet.

The contest, which dubs itself a celebration “of the great British shed in all its forms,” invites participants to share how they’ve transformed a simple garden shed into something spectacular.

While past finalists have created workshops, summer houses, and pubs out of their sheds, Fr. Len Black of Inverness, Scotland, created a sacred space.

A chapel to serve former Anglicans

As a former Anglican priest and present member of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, Fr. Black, came to convert his shed into a chapel because his congregation of fellow former Anglicans had no place to worship. Fr. Black needed a chapel where he could celebrate daily Mass.

Fr. Black came up with the idea to turn a simple wooden shed into a chapel called the “the Oratory of St Joseph.”

Fr. Black explained to the Tablet:

“I enhanced the interior of the shed to make it suitable for saying daily Mass on weekdays.”

Over the years the shed has been transformed into an ornately and reverently decorated chapel. Complete with stained glass windows and copies of great works of sacred art, the chapel looks nothing like its former shed-self.

Fr. Black described the chapel’s interior to The Tablet:

“I had a number of small statues of Saints and a large statue of Our Lady, St Mary, which took up residence in the Oratory and with the help of a good friend in Edinburgh I was able to find a splendid circular brass tabernacle, six brass candles and a crucifix, large statues of St Joseph, the Sacred Heart, the Infant of Prague and various other ecclesiastical items to adorn the chapel. I was also given gifts of a splendid Orthodox Icon of the Scottish Saints and another of Our Lady of Walsingham.”

According to Fr. Black, his congregation sees the chapel as a “haven of tranquillity” in a garden in Inverness.

Take a look at the entrants into the “Shed of the Year” competition:

Read more about Fr. Black and the Oratory of St. Joseph in The Tablet.