| Description | Sacred Heart Church, or the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was designed by E. W. Pugin and built after his death by his brothers. It is located on the corner of Quex Road and Mazenod Road, next to St Eugene de Mazenod Primary School. It was founded by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who continue to serve the parish.
Sacred Heart Church and English Martyrs Church in Tower Hill were both founded and built in parallel by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. In 1865, the Oblates were invited to London by Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, and started working in Kilburn and Tower Hill. Soon after their arrival in Kilburn, the Oblates built a temporary church. In 1866, a site was bought for a permanent church. Before his death in 1875, E. W. Pugin made the designs for the church.
Construction work on the new church was overseen by E. W. Pugin's brothers, Cuthbert Welby Pugin and Peter Paul Pugin, in partnership with George Ashlin. By 1879, the nave was finished. By 1899, two bays to the east of the church, the sanctuary and side chapels were added. As the parish had a large Catholic population, further extensions were needed to accommodate the growing congregation. In 1959, the front porch was added. In 1964, the church was enlarged. The south aisle was widened, transepts were added where the sanctuary used to be, and a new sanctuary was added with a new high altar installed in memory of John F. Kennedy. After the Second Vatican Council, a panel by Arthur Fleischmann depicting the Last Supper was added.
With the continued growth of the local Catholic community after the Second World War, it was decided that a new local church was needed. In 1948, a former Methodist chapel, originally built around 1880, was bought in West Kilburn. It became the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. It was originally served by the Oblates from Sacred Heart Church. It is now the separate parish of West Kilburn and continues to be ministered by the Oblates.
in 1970, the parish priest, Fr William O'Brien OMI, formally requested permission to record the name of the church in the marriage register as 'Sacred Heart Church' rather than 'Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus' as the original title of the church was too long to fit easily into official documents. |