St Mary's 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 ...

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater ...

, the Borough of Bromley, London. It was built from 1853 to 1854, and was designed by

William Wardell William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a noted architect who practiced in the second half of the 19th century, and is best known for a series of landmark buildings in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney. Following a successful career in ...

. Wardell, a friend of the architect

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

, built the church in a similar

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an 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 of the 19th century ...

. It is located on the corner of Crown Lane and Hawkwood Lane to the south of Chislehurst. The church is a

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 ...

building. In 1874, the church was expanded. A chapel, designed by

Henry Clutton Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , was an English architect and designer. Life Henry Clutton was born on 19 March 1819, the son of Owen and Elizabeth Goodinge Clutton. He studied with Edwa ...

was added to the church. It was built to house the tomb of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

, who died the previous year, spending his last years in exile in nearby Camden Place. In 1879, Napoleon's son,

Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial Napoléon, Prince Imperial (Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte; 16 March 1856 – 1 June 1879), also known as Louis-Napoléon, was the only child of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, and Empress Eugénie. After his father wa ...

, or Napoleon IV, also died and was also buried in the church. In 1888, their tombs were moved to Farnborough Abbey. Around the church is a graveyard, dating to 1864, and contains the tomb of Charles West, the founder of

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS F ...

History

Construction

St Mary's Church was founded by Captain Henry Bowden. He was in the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

. A convert to Catholicism, he hosted the celebration of

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

in his home, Tudor Hall, in Chislehurst. He donated the field opposite his house, upon which the church is located. He also paid for the construction of the church. On 8 December 1853, the foundation stone of the church was laid by the Bishop of Southwark, Thomas Grant. The architect was

. A noted student of

, he designed many churches in London before returning to Australia, such as the Our Ladye Star of the Sea Church in Greenwich, where he incorporated many parts designed by Pugin into the church. On 8 August 1854, Bishop Grant returned to open the church, after nine months of construction. St Mary's was registered for the solemnisation of marriages on 27 August 1855, and was consecrated on 23 April 1943 by Archbishop

Peter Amigo Peter Emmanuel Amigo (26 May 1864 – 1 October 1949) was a Roman Catholic bishop in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. He founded The John Fisher School in 1929. Biography Peter Amigo was born at Gibraltar, the ninth of eleven children bo ...

Bonaparte family

On 20 March 1871, the exiled

, his wife

Eugénie de Montijo Eugénie de Montijo (; born María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920) was Second French Empire, Empress of the French from her marriage to Napoleon III on 30 January 1853 until he was overthrown on 4 ...

, son Louis-Napoléon and household arrived in Chislehurst. They stayed at the nearby Camden Place. It became the last home of the family. Two years later, on 9 January 1873, Napoleon III died. Six days later, he was buried in St Mary's. His funeral was presided over by Bishop James Danell. The next year, in 1874, the church was expanded with a chapel built for the tomb of Napoleon III. It was designed by

, who took inspiration from the chapel in

Château d'Amboise The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise, located in the Indre-et-Loire ''Departments of France, département'' of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was ex ...

. In 1879, Louis-Napoléon, also called the Prince Imperial, was killed in the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...

. His body was returned to Chislehurst and his funeral took place at the church; 10,000 people came to the church to mourn. Queen Victoria was present and Cardinal Manning preached. Louis-Napoléon was laid beside his father in the same chapel. Within a couple of years, Empress Eugénie wanted a larger mausoleum for her family, so she founded St Michael's Abbey in Farnborough. In 1888, the tombs were moved to the abbey, but the chapel in Chislehurst remains. A memorial is there for the prince and Napoleon III.

Developments

Further additions were made to St Mary's in the following decades. From 1892 to 1914, stained-glass windows were added, two made in Paris and six by Hardman & Co., as well as an organ gallery, six statues, and an

altar rail The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...

. The

stations of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

were replaced, and the main altar and

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 renovated. In the 1920s, the family of

Frank Cyril Tiarks Frank Cyril Tiarks OBE (also known as F. C. Tiarks) (9 July 1874 – 7 April 1952) was an English banker. Family He was son of Henry Frederick Tiarks (23 December 1832 - 18 October 1911), banker, partner in J. Henry Schröder & Co. in Lo ...

paid for many renovations of the church. The heating and electricity system were installed as was a new organ and newer stations of the cross. After 1965, the altar was moved away from the wall, and the altar rail was removed. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

was lowered and the chancel was heightened. From 1981 to 1986, repair work was done to the outside of the building. Afterwards, four stained-glass windows from

Dunstable Priory The Priory Church of St Peter with its monastery (Dunstable Priory) was founded in 1132 by Henry I for Augustinian Canons in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. St Peter's today is only the nave of what remains of an originally much larger Au ...

were installed in the church. In 2023, the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

commemorated the history of Chislehurst on the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Napoleon III by hosting events named "150 years of Imperial Chislehurst".

Parish

St Mary's has its own parish and is in a

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

with the other Catholic churches in the Borough of Bromley. It has two Sunday Masses, one in English at 9:30am and one

Traditional Latin Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in 1 ...

at 11:00am.

Exterior

Church of Saint Mary, Chislehurst (East View).jpg, East view Church of Saint Mary, Chislehurst (Northeast Face - 01).jpg, Northeast face Church of Saint Mary, Chislehurst (Southeast Face - 03).jpg, Southeast face

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church Chislehurst William Wardell church buildings Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Grade II listed churches in the London Borough of Bromley Gothic Revival church buildings in London 1854 establishments in England Chislehurst 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in 1854 Religious organizations established in 1854 Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark Roman Catholic churches in the London Borough of Bromley Napoleon III 19th-century church buildings in England