Brompton Oratory

The Oratorianerkirche Immaculate Heart of Mary (Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary - Brompton Oratory ) is a Roman Catholic church in the district of Brompton the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The large and richly decorated Neo-Baroque basilica was built in 1880 to 1884 as the Church of London Oratorianergemeinschaft, which has its headquarters here today.

History

The London branch of the Oratory emerged in the mid -19th century, after John Henry Newman in Birmingham, the first convent of the Community of St.. Philip Neri was founded in England. A Newman - monument was erected in 1896 at the street front of the convent building. The church itself was built by donations and is still the second- largest Catholic church in London to Westminster Cathedral. The opening ceremony by Cardinal Manning in April 1884 was attended by 16 bishops and 250 priests.

Architecture and Facilities

The Heart of Mary Church is built according to plans by Herbert Gribble in the style of the early Roman Baroque examples like the Gesù or the original oratory of Santa Maria in Vallicella. It consists of a nave with aisles divided into chapels, transept with a dome on an octagonal drum above the crossing and the round closed choir. The representative claim underlines one of the decorative facade boss wider Renaissance portico. The right of the choir, the St. Wilfred 's Chapel is added, in which the mortal remains of the founder Frederick William Faber are buried since 1952.

The interior is completely committed to the Roman Baroque, with its rich wall and pillar decoration, the altarpieces and sculptures.

The organ was 1952-1954 by the organ builder J. W. Walker & Sons ( Ruislip ) built. In 2004, the instrument was gradually restored by the builders firm. The organ has 45Register on three manuals and pedal. The tracker action is electro- pneumatic.