An emotional congregation packed into a Walton church for the last time.
More than 120 parishioners went to a thanksgiving mass to mark the closure of the town's only Roman Catholic church.
It was announced the small Church of St Francis of Assisi would have to be closed earlier this year due to difficulties in maintaining it.
A former Guide hall in Saville Street, the building was first used to celebrate mass in 1946.
The previous church in Martello Road suffered bomb damage during the Second World War.
Members from the church's past and present celebrated the church's history before going to a reception at the Martello Caravan Park in the town, attended by Frinton and Walton's deputy mayor Mark Cossens.
From Sunday, Frinton's Sacred Heart Church will be renamed Sacred Heart and St Francis and the weekly mass held on Sundays at 8.30am in the Walton church will be held at Frinton instead.
Monsignor David Donnelly, parish priest for both Frinton and Walton, said: "It was a lovely occasion and some parishioners from different parts of the country came to join in."
Published Wednesday November 26, 2003
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