St Mary Moorfields 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 let ...

church in Eldon Street near

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, bu ...

, on a site previously known as

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, ...

. It is the only Catholic church in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. Prior to a 1994 boundary change, the church was in the Borough of Hackney, such that there were no Catholic churches in the City. The present building, located at 4–5 Eldon Street, was opened in 1903, after the previous building had been demolished in 1899. However, the foundation had a long history prior to this. A chapel was opened in 1686, but was suspended in 1689, in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1688. The church serves as a hub for

evangelism In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are ...

, especially directed at young people who work in the surrounding financial district. The church hosts monthly

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work ...

meetings, and is also affiliated with the St Francis of Assisi Ramblers.

History

The first post-Reformation public Catholic chapel in the City was the Lime Street Chapel set up in 1686, in the reign of James II. It was suppressed, and later re-established in

Grub Street Until the early 19th century, Grub Street was a street close to London's impoverished Moorfields district that ran from Fore Street east of St Giles-without-Cripplegate north to Chiswell Street. It was pierced along its length with narrow entr ...

(now Milton Street), near

. The

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against Briti ...

of 1780 resulted in the destruction of a chapel in White Street. Following the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1791, the White Street chapel was rebuilt. In 1817, Reverend Joseph Hunt arranged the building of a church on the east side of

Finsbury Circus Finsbury Circus is a park in the Coleman Street Ward of the City of London, England. The 2 acre park is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries. It is not to be confused with Finsbury Square, just north of the City, or Fi ...

. The church, which opened in 1820, was designed by John Newman in the neo-classical style and given the name St Mary Moorfields, opened in 1820. In 1850 the Catholic hierarchy was re-established in the United Kingdom, and the church was chosen as London's

Pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

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 ...

. In 1869, the title of Pro-cathedral was passed to

Our Lady of Victories, Kensington Our Lady of Victories, in Kensington, London, is a Roman Catholic church. The original church opened in 1869, and for 34 years to 1903 served as pro-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Westminster. That building was destroyed by bombing in 1940 ...

Organ

The earliest known pipe organ associated with the parish dates from the second half of the eighteenth-century, and so may have been obtained for the post-Gordon-Riots chapel in White Street. This instrument is currently located in the Anglican church of St Mary Lode in Gloucester. It had previously been located in the Anglican church of 'St Nicholas, Gloucester; moved there in 1831 by the organ-building firm of

Gray and Davison Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

. The next pipe organ associated with the parish – for which there is detail – was installed around 1830 by the organ-building firm of Bevington, and was a much more substantial instrument, better befitting the 1820s building. In 1842 it was described as follows:

St Mary's Catholic Chapel Moorfields. This organ erected by Bevington and Son at an expense of £1000 has three rows of keys, an octave and a half of pedal pipes, and nine composition pedals. Service at eleven and six o'clock. Organist Mr
Vincent Novello Vincent Novello (6 September 17819 August 1861), was an English musician and music publisher born in London. He was a chorister and organist, but he is best known for bringing to England many works now considered standards, and with his son he cr ...
.

According to an article in the ''Musical Standard'' (2 July 1892) the first organ in the new church was by Bishop and Starr (1820), and so the c.1830 Bevington organ referred to above may well have been a replacement of that organ, or an enlargement of it. The article also states that the organ-building firm of

William Hill & Sons William Hill & Son was one of the main organ builders in England during the 19th century. The founder William Hill was born in Spilsby, Lincolnshire in 1789. He married Mary, the daughter of organ-builder Thomas Elliot, on 30 October 1818 i ...

rebuilt the organ at some time between 1871 and 1873. From the same ''Musical Standard'' article we also learn the names of the early organists of the parish: *

Vincent Novello Vincent Novello (6 September 17819 August 1861), was an English musician and music publisher born in London. He was a chorister and organist, but he is best known for bringing to England many works now considered standards, and with his son he cr ...

, 1820–1840s * Anthony Lejeune Senior, 1840s– ntil his death* Anthony Lejeune Junior, t father's death1871 * Mr Arscott, of Jersey, 1871–1873 * Mr J. H. Leipold, "Professor at the Guildhall School of Music ..a pupil of Josef Rheinberger and Dr Hans von Bulow.", 1873– When the Finsbury Square building was closed and demolished this instrument was dismantled and in 1905 rebuilt by the organ building firm of Bishop and Son in the Ilford (Essex) Presbyterian Church. The pipe organ in the current building is situated on a gallery at the liturgical-west end and made by the organ building firm of Corps, which flourished variously in Reading (Surrey), Norwich (Norfolk) and Camden Town (London) until about 1870.''The National Pipe Organ Register''
'CORPS, James', accessed 16 May 2016 This date suggests that the organ was purchased second-hand, but its original location and the details of who installed the organ here are so far unknown.

Bibliography

References

External links

Parish website
* –

Roman Catholic 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), an ...

website describing St Mary Moorfields *
Contact details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary Moorfields Roman Catholic churches in the City of London Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster

History

Organ

See also

Bibliography

References

External links