Our Lady of Dolours, also known as the Servite Church, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

run by the

Servite Order The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary (; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original mendicant orders in the Roman Catholic Church. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothers), contemplative nu ...

in Chelsea, central London. The building was designed in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style by J. A. Hansom in 1873. It is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. It stands next to St Mary's Priory, at 264

Fulham Road Fulham Road is a street in London, England, which comprises the A304 and part of the A308. Overview Fulham Road ( the A219) runs from Putney Bridge as "Fulham High Street" and then eastward to Fulham Broadway, in the London Borough of Hamm ...

close to the South Lodge entrance to

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

in the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...

. There is a mixed Roman Catholic primary school adjacent to the church and priory.

History

The parish and its church were initiated by two Italian Servite priests from

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Fr Philip Bosio OSM and Fr Augustine Morini OSM, who arrived in London in 1864. They came as missionary members of an ancient mendicant order to fill the shortage of Catholic priests in the wake of the English resumption of regular, public Catholic services after a break of nearly 250 years. From 1852 to 1869 St Mary's Church, Moorfields, built by the faithful, served as the first London diocesan seat of a re-established British Catholic church with a hierarchy. Construction on the Fulham Road site began in 1874, led by Fr Philip Bosio OSM, with Joseph Hansom as architect. Hansom also designed the tower and priory frontage on Fulham Road (1879–80). It was originally named ''Our Lady of the Seven Dolours'', but this was later simplified to the present dedication, (which is equivalent in meaning to

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows (), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are Titles of Mary, names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referr ...

). The church was consecrated by Cardinal Manning on 19 September 1875. From its beginning, when Roman Catholic parishes were being organised in the areas of Brompton,

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and Chelsea, the Servite Church was the most popular with the faithful, of whom crowds attended its services. The entrance colonnade passage by Hansom (1894) is unique in English churches. Other features include bronzes of the Redeemer and St. Peter by Mayer (1872), ''The Holy Face'', after

Lorenzo di Credi Lorenzo di Credi (1456/59 – January 12, 1537) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of religious subjects, and portraits. With some excursions to nearby cities, his whole life was spent in Florence. ...

, 1895 and J. M. Swynnerton's Pietà (1896). The magnificent Gothic

Reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

were unaccountably removed during a 1970s refurbishment. The organ is by Henry Jones, built by Grant, Degens and Bradbeer in 1968. The church serves native residents as well as an international community of Catholics who live in the area. One transient Italian family had their first-born baptised at the church on 18 May 1991, before returning to their homeland in September of that year. The baby,

Carlo Acutis Carlo Acutis (3 May 1991 – 12 October 2006) was a British-born teenager, primarily of Italian ancestry, known for his devotion to the Eucharist, with him creating a website documenting Eucharistic miracles prior to his death from leukemia at ...

, whose life was cut short by

Leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

at the age of 15, was beatified in

Assisi Cathedral Assisi Cathedral ( or ''Cattedrale di San Rufino di Assisi''), dedicated to San Rufino (Rufinus of Assisi), is a major church in Assisi, Italy. This stately church in Umbrian Romanesque architecture, Romanesque style was the third church built ...

on 10 October 2020.

References

External links

* *
The National Archives hold a record of the building, accessible at the London Metropolitan Archives
{{Diocese of Westminster 1875 in London Buildings by Joseph Hansom Gothic Revival church buildings in London 1875 establishments in England Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster

Our Lady of Dolours Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" Places * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France Other uses * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a governm ...

Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1875

19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Servite Order

History

See also

References

External links