Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory
Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Westminster | ||
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Consecrated 24 July 1928 | | |
Architecture | ||
Heritage designation | Grade II* | |
Designated | 24 February 1958 | |
Architect(s) | Joseph Bonomi the Elder | |
Years built | 1789–90 | |
Administration | ||
Diocese | Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham |
The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory is a
History
The origins of the church lie in the chapel established in the 1730s at the
Responsibility for the chapel passed to the Bavarian embassy in 1747. The church's fixtures and fittings alongside its contents were destroyed in the
John Francis Bentley designed a new church. However, only part of this was carried out but is now visible in the Marian side altar which is his first ever work in mosaic of the human figure, and the sanctuary with the Coronation of the Virgin Mary in an apse based on that of an early Roman basilica.
During the
The church has attracted many prominent Catholic worshippers. Queen Maria II da Gloria had a requiem Mass said in 1853, which was pictured in the Illustrated London News. Amongst many other famous catholics was Mrs Fitzherbert, who was sacramentally, but not civilly married to George IV,[5] and the young Cardinal Newman.[5] Later in his life, Newman said of Warwick Street: "Were St Athanasius or St Ambrose in London now, they would go to worship not at St Paul's Cathedral but at Warwick Street." The Irish politician Daniel O'Connell attended regularly when in London.[4] The Victorian explorer and translator of the Kama Sutra, Sir Richard Burton, married in the church[4] and the novelist Evelyn Waugh had his second wedding here in 1937. In 1983, the funeral Mass for Ralph Richardson, a regular worshipper, was held at the church.
Present day
In the early 21st century, the church was the home of "one of the most successful
Exterior
The exterior is of plain brick, stained red in 1952.[1] The brick facade was deliberately "unassuming",[1] in response to the destruction of the earlier chapel, and the gilded stars and angels which now decorate the facade date from the 1950s.[1] It is of three bays and two storeys.[2]
Interior
The interior retains some of its Georgian decoration, but the church was restored and altered in the Victorian period, firstly in renovations carried out by John Erlam, in 1853,
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bradley & Pevsner 2003, p. 393.
- ^ a b "Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church – Westminster – Greater London – England". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
- ISBN 9781912945450.
- ^ a b c Hatts 2010, pp. 26–27.
- ^ a b "About the Parish". Parish.rcdow.org.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ^ Shea, Matt (8 January 2013). "Getting Emotional with London's Gay Catholics". Vice. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ "Archbishop Nichols ends 'Soho Masses' after six years". Catholic Herald. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- ^ Cameron-Mowat, Andrew. "LGBT Catholics Westminster". farmstreet.org.uk. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
In December 2012 Archbishop Vincent Nichols asked the Provincial of the Jesuits in Britain and myself to offer meeting spaces on Farm Street Parish premises for the LGBT Catholic Community which had previously met at Our Lady of The Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street. In March 2013, LGBT Catholics joined the regular congregation at the evening Mass, followed by a reception and meeting with the Archbishop and members of the parish. Over the following weeks, on every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month, the group has gathered to celebrate Mass together with regular parishioners at the new time of 5.30pm, and to meet for tea and coffee afterwards in the parish hall. Mgr Keith Barltrop, Parish Priest of St Mary of the Angels, Bayswater, is the Archbishop's personal liaison with the group.
- ^ Thornton, Ed (4 January 2013). "Gay mass to stop, as Ordinariate given church". Church Times. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
- ^ "Golden Square Area: Warwick Street". British-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
References
- Bradley, Simon; ISBN 0-300-09595-3.
- Hatts, Leigh (2010). London's 100 Best Churches: An Illustrated Guide. Norwich: Canterbury Press. ISBN 9781853119446.