St Andrew Bobola Church,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

also known as the Polish Church in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

serving the Polish community in

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

. The building was designed in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style by Edmund Woodthorpe, and stands at 1 Leysfield Road, close to

Ravenscourt Park Ravenscourt Park or RCP is an public park and garden located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England. It is one of the Borough's flagship parks, having won a Green Flag Award. Stamford Brook and Ravenscourt Park tube stations ar ...

History

The church, originally founded in 1869 for the

Scottish Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

community, was dedicated to

St Andrew the Apostle Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

, patron of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was constructed in the then fashionable Neo Gothic style as laid out by architect Edmund Woodthorpe (1814-1887). It was consecrated in 1870. With the passage of time, the congregation declined and in circa 1960 it was decided to amalgamate it with a more active presbyterian parish elsewhere. The church authorities therefore sought to dispose of their asset to another Christian faith community. In 1961 the church was bought by the

Polish Catholic Mission The Polish Catholic Mission, pl, Polska Misja Katolicka, (PMK) is a permanent Catholic chaplaincy for migrant Poles. It operates in a number of countries under the direction of the Polish Episcopal Conference. England and Wales History The or ...

to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, with a mortgage, paid off in time with the help of donations and legacies from the faithful. The church was re-dedicated in 1962, this time to another St Andrew in the

Archdiocese of Westminster The Catholic Diocese of Westminster is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of most of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Spelthorne (in Surrey), and th ...

. Historically, it became only the second Catholic church to serve the capital's Polish community. The first Polish church in London was opened in Devonia Road,

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, dedicated to Our Lady of Częstochowa and

St Casimir ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

. It became the first Polish-owned ecclesiastical building in the British Isles. It was consecrated on 30 October 1930 by cardinal August Hlond, primate of Poland in the presence of

Cardinal Bourne Francis Alphonsus Bourne (1861–1935) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the fourth Archbishop of Westminster from 1903 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911. Biography Early life Francis Bo ...

of Westminster. The Bobola congregation in West London was initially made up largely of people who had survived the trials of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It also served unofficially, as a ''Garrison Church'' for the thousands of Polish veterans, who had fought with the allies and were deprived of the right to return to their Polish homeland, surrendered to the USSR under the Yalta Agreement. From 1961 to 1979 Kazimierz Sołowiej (1912–1979) was the parish priest. He took charge of the refurbishment of the building. Despite an "uneventful" exterior, the interior of the church was, according to Bridget Cherry, "daringly modernised" by émigré Polish craftsmen and artists under the direction of designer Aleksander Klecki. It contains many items inspired by Polish art and religious devotions. To the left of the entrance is the

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, an ...

dedicated to Our Lady of

Kozielsk :''"Kozielsk" is also the Polish name for the Russian town of Kozelsk.'' Kozielsk is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kuczbork-Osada, within Żuromin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies approximately ea ...

, whose original image in Poland was crowned by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1997. The church is considered a building of architectural heritage. It is listed with the

Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The borou ...

Historic Buildings Group. In 2008 the parish priest was presented with a prestigious conservation award for the Church from the Hammersmith Society.

Smolensk Air disaster

The parish and the entire Polish community in West London were shocked and saddened to learn that the fourth parish priest of St Andrew's, Mgr. Bronisław Gostomski had died in the

Smolensk air disaster On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft operating Polish Air Force Flight 101 crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board. Among the victims were the president of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and his wife, Maria, ...

on 10 April 2010. He had been aboard the Polish Airforce Russian-built Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft carrying the delegation of notable Poles intending to visit the Katyn site on the 70th anniversary of the Massacre, when the plane crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk. There were no survivors and the cause of the disaster remains unexplained.

Commemorations

Because the authorities in Communist Poland would have forbidden any commemorations of Poland's struggle against the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, the only way to remember the fallen was to institute such memorials in the then '' Free World''. Hence there are over 80 memorial plaques in the church building. The first to be installed on 24 November 1963 was a plaque designed by Stefan Jan Baran in honour of the '' Lwow Eaglets'' ("Orleta lwowskie"). On 12 April 1964 a plaque in honour of

Walerian Czuma Walerian Czuma (24 December 1890 – 7 April 1962) was a Polish general and military commander. He is notable for his command over a Polish unit in Siberia during the Russian Civil War, and the commander of the defence of Warsaw during the siege ...

was unveiled. Other plaques commemorate the many Polish Army regiments which took part in the defence of Poland in several wars. They include: On the ceremonial founding anniversary of the Polish Corps of Cadets, on 29 May 1983, memorials to their battalions were unveiled: Cadet Corps Numbers 1, 2 and 3. On 23 April 1978 soil from the site of the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

Soviet-Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

was brought to the church and secreted inside its wall in commemoration of the 28,000 Polish Army Reserve officers of all faiths and members of the professions, who were murdered in 1940 on the orders of Stalin. The symbolic act was enabled through the offices of Cavalry officer, captain Zygmunt Godyń.

Columbarium

In the small garden of remembrance surrounding the church building is a columbarium, where the ashes of over 1300 deceased are kept. The initiative for a "crypt", to the left of the main entrance came from Maria Leśniak.

Commemorative Gallery

14 pul bobola.jpg, Memorial of the 14th Jazlowiec Uhlan Regiment 29 pp bobola.jpg, Plaque to the 29th Kaniów Rifle Division 1 pul bobola.jpg, Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn banner tablet of the

1st Krechowce Uhlan Regiment The First Krechowce Uhlan Regiment was a mounted unit of the Polish Army, active in the Second Polish Republic. Its traditions were continued during World War II, by a regiment of the same name, which was part of Polish Armed Forces in the West. ...

Szlamp.jpg, Plaque in memory of maj. Józef Szlamp 9 bs bobola.jpg, Memorial to the 9th Battalion of the

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Anti-Tank Rifles An anti-tank rifle is an anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the armor of armored fighting vehicles, most commonly tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. The term is usually used for weapons that can be carried ...

References

External links

*
entry on Westminster Archdiocese website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammersmith, Saint Andrew Bobola 1869 in London Gothic Revival church buildings in London 1869 establishments in England 19th-century churches in the United Kingdom Churches completed in 1870 1960 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Church buildings converted to a different denomination Former Presbyterian churches Polish diaspora organizations Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Polish-British culture Military memorials in London Polish military memorials and cemeteries 1962 establishments in the United Kingdom Religious organizations established in 1962 Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster Roman Catholic churches in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Saint Andrew Bobola History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham