Notre Dame de France is a French Catholic church in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
's
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
. It is located on
Leicester Place just north of
Leicester Square
Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...
.
History
The origins of the church date back to the mid 1800s, however, the building itself is older. In 1861,
Cardinal Wiseman
Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850.
Born ...
,
Archbishop of Westminster
The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...
, asked the
Marist Fathers
The Society of Mary ( la, Societas Mariae) abbreviated SM, commonly known as the Marist Fathers, is a men's Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right. It was founded by Jean-Claude Colin and a group of seminarians in ...
to establish a mission to support the large French community in the area, and placed Father Charles Faure in charge of the project.
On 25 March 1865, Father Faure purchased a circular building off Leicester Square. It was known as ''
Burford's Panorama'' and was an early form of visual entertainment in the West End, built as a tourist attraction in the early 1800s.
Faure employed the services of French architect
Louis-Auguste Boileau
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...
, an early promoter of cast iron architecture, to transform this building into a church. He retained the rotunda, hence the circular shape of the present building. Upon consecration in 1868, it was the first cast-iron church built in London.
Second World War
During the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
in 1940, the church was badly damaged by bombing. The following year, it re-opened after extensive structural repairs overseen by Father Laurent.
However, it still needed much work, and it was not until 1948 that repairs were completed under the supervision of the new Superior, Father Deguerry and with the support of French Ambassador Jean Chauvel, the French cultural attaché René Varin and the British Prime Minister,
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957.
Achieving rapid promo ...
. René Varin encouraged the creation of a sacred space that would honour France. In the period between 1953 and 1960, he approached eminent artists of the time to work on the decoration of the rebuilt church.
The architect for the rebuilding of the church in 1953-55 was
Hector Corfiato.
Over the entrance is a bas relief carving of Our Lady of Mercy (1953) by
Georges-Laurent Saupique.
The tapestry behind the main altar is by
Dom Robert, a Benedictine monk of the En Calcat abbey, on the theme of Paradise on earth, with references to the Creation and to Wisdom, the New Eve. The quotation is from the book of Proverbs.
The Lady Chapel contains murals by
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...
(1960) depicting the Annunciation, Crucifixion and Assumption. The murals were restored in 2012. The wooden board that was painted by Cocteau was removed to reveal the mosaic of the Nativity (1954) by
Boris Anrep
Boris Vasilyevich Anrep (russian: Борис Васильевич Анреп; 27 September 1883 – 7 June 1969) was a Russian artist, active in Britain, who devoted himself to the art of mosaic. In Britain, he is known for his monumental mosaic ...
on the altar.
There is a modern altarpiece showing 'The Flight of Holy Family into Egypt' by
Timur D'Vatz
Timur D'Vatz (born 16 April 1968 in Moscow, Russia) is a figurative painter.
He began his education at the Republic College of Art (Uzbekistan) and London's Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based ...
(2016).
Organ
The organ was built by August Gern in 1868. It was enlarged in 1938 by
J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd, dismantled during the 1940 blitz of London and rebuilt in 1955 by J.W. Walker & Sons. It was renovated in 1986 and modernised and refurbished by B.C. Shepherd & Son in 2010.
Pastoral services
The modern church provides pastoral services to the growing French community in London, and has developed a series of charitable and evangelizing initiatives with other local Catholic churches of the West End.
See also
*
French migration to the United Kingdom
French migration to the United Kingdom is a phenomenon that has occurred at various points in history. The Norman Conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066 resulted in the arrival of Normans, while in the 16th and 17th centuries Protes ...
References
{{Authority control
Roman Catholic churches in the City of Westminster
Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom
Churches bombed by the Luftwaffe in London
Soho, London
Grade II listed churches in the City of Westminster
French diaspora in Europe
Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England