Our Lady of Dolours Servite Church

Introduction

The church was opened by Cardinal Manning on 19 September 1875. The church contains a modern shrine for Servite Saint Peregrine, patron of cancer sufferers.

History

The Servite Friars came to England in 1864 and started building the church in 1874, led by Fr Philip Bosio OSM. Hansom also designed the tower and priory frontage on Fulham Road in 1879-80. The colonnade passage, unique in English churches, was designed by Hansom in 1894. A major renovation took place in 2006-2007.

The church was dedicated to the hearts of Jesus and Mary, and later to Our Lady of Sorrows. In September 2014, the 150th anniversary of the Servites' arrival in London was celebrated at the church.

Architecture and furnishings

The church has an aisled, clerestory, narthex plan. The church is set back from the road and reached by a long passage. The church is built of brick with some marble decoration.

The church contains a Baptistery constructed in marble, bronze and alabaster in 1925. The Calvary Altar, carved into alabaster and agate-onyx, dates from 1895 and was designed by J S Hansom, the son. The choir gallery contains an organ by Henry Jones, built by Grant, Degens and Bradbeer in 1968. The altar-sanctuary has a fine alabaster altar; behind it was an enormous Caen stone reredos by George Porter of Chelsea, removed in 1976 to have the altar facing the people.

The Sacred Heart altar dates from 1889 and is made of Caen stone with a marble column. The shrine for St Mary Magdalen from 1895 was made by sculptor Swynnerton in Serravezza marble with Siena and Carrara marble surrounds. The west window was done in 1888 for the Canonisation of the Servite Seven Founders. The Crucifixion window dates from 1877 and is by Clayton and Bell, with local artist W. Tipping of Edith Grove.

The church has a strainer transverse arch like the great arch in Wells Cathedral. The church contains bronzes of the Redeemer and Saint Peter from 1872 by Mayer. The church contains J. M. Swynnerton's Pietà from 1896. The church contains a recent wooden statue of St Antony Pucci, parish priest of Viareggio in the 1890s, canonised in 1962.

The church contains a crucifix from Begbroke Priory, Oxford, made in the 1970s by artist Rosamund Fletcher. The church contains a statue of St Margaret of Scotland. Saint Joseph's altar has a wood statue by former Servite Antonio Bulletti and paintings by Guido Guidi. The wooden statues of the Founders came from the former Servite church in Bognor Regis.

A statue of Saint Charles Borromeo, patron for benefactor Charles Robertson KSG, is in the church. The Servite Parish Choir has served this parish since 2014.

Parish life

The parish extends from the River Thames in Chelsea to Old Brompton Road and belongs to the Roman Catholic Westminster Diocese. Since its beginning in 1864, the church has been under the pastoral care of the Servite Friars. The parish has evolved into a community of many races and nationalities.

The Servite order celebrated its 775th anniversary in 2008. The parish runs a Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults programme. The parish offers marriage preparation.

Visiting

The church is set back from the road, built in the garden of the Servite Friars. The church has an Annunciation window by the front door in a Burns Jones style. The church has a Seven Founders shrine painted by a Servite friar, with a recent wooden statue of St Antony Pucci. The church has windows showing the 12 apostles around the highest part of the nave.

The church has a Seven Founders' Chapel, formerly the Holy Family chapel, with wall-paintings by a Servite friar from the 1890s and a painted wooden reredos by Guido Guidi from Rome. The church has a Blessed Sacrament and Lady Chapel added by J S Hansom in 1890. The church has St Philip Benizi's altar with tributes also to Servite saints Peregrine and Juliana.