| Admin_History | The Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception at Farm Street, which is also known as Farm Street or Mount Street Church, opened in 1849. Although it was open to the public, it was not initially a centre of worship for a parish, so sacraments such as marriage and baptism could not be celebrated in the church. It became a parish church in 1966, and the baptismal font, donated in that year and placed in the centre of the chapel, symbolises the chief of the church's newly-acquired rights and responsibilities: to administer the Sacrament of Baptism.
The Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 and process of Catholic Emancipation throughout Britain meant that the position of Catholics in England had become much easier in the 19th century, and a plan was conceived for a permanent Jesuit church in London. During this time, the Jesuit London area was known as the College of St Ignatius. In the 1840s the Jesuits began to look for a church and found the site at Farm Street, which was then a quiet back alley whose name derived from Hay Hill Farm. Money for the church came from private donors. In 1844 Fr Randall Lythgoe, Provinical, laid the foundation stone. It was officially opened on the feast of St Ignatius, the founder of the Society of Jesus, 31 July 1849.
The area around the Church underwent a great deal of re-development in the late 19th century. In 1868 the community moved to 111 Mount Street from 9 Hill Street. Numbers 105-112 Farm Street were an unbroken row of houses and 110 was a fishmonger's. From 1873, 112 Mount Street was leased and the Provincial, Fr Whitty, who had apparently stayed in Hill Street, moved in there with his staff. The lease of 9 Hill Street was eventually sold but with some difficulty as it needed a good deal of work doing to it. The house at 31 Farm Street was built by Fr Porter on the site of the stables leased from the Berkley Estate, the original idea for this land having been a Sodality Chapel. Building was begun in 1883 and completed in 1885. Shortly afterwards the Provincial and the writers moved in. Fr Porter also had what is now 114 Mount Street built in the 1880s, and this is where the community lives to this day. The Jesuits' lease of 111 & 112 Mount Street ended in 1885, so they took a building lease of 110, 111 & 112, which houses were pulled down also in 1885. The union workhouse located to the north of the Church, next to 105 Mount Street, was demolished in 1886, although it had ceased to operate some time before that. While the building work was going on, the community moved into 31 Farm Street. Possession was taken in December 1887. The Duke of Westminster pulled down 107-109 to provide an entry to Mount St garden. Fr Heyes bought the freehold from the Berkley Estate of the land on which the Church and 31 Farm Street were built, and the garden and the stables at the Farm Street end of the west side, as well as a narrow strip of land along the whole length of that side of the church. The west aisle and side altars as they are today could then be built, which was done between 1898 and 1903. The plans in this collection at PC/1/2, history of the church and community at PC/1/1/1, as well as contemporary Ordnance Survey maps illustrate the changes that were made to the area.
Because of the limited space available, the church was orientated north-south. The architect was Joseph John Scoles, who also designed the Church of St Francis Xavier in Liverpool, St Ignatius Church in Preston, and was father of Ignatius Scoles SJ, another architect, who designed St Wilfrid's Church also in Preston. The style is decorated Gothic of the 14th century and the facade of the church in Farm Street, which at that time provided the only entrance, was an imitation of the West Front of Beauvais Cathedral. The arched window was copied from the East window of Carlisle Cathedral and depicts the tree of Jesse. A new window representing the same theme replaced it in 1902, and the lights of the window were again renewed in 1912 and modified to take in the central figure of the Madonna and Child. Scoles chose Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin to design the high altar, whose extraordinary work on the interiors of the Houses of Parliament had brought him much acclaim.
Once land had been acquired in the last years of the 19th century, William Henry Romaine Walker was commissioned to design and build a new aisle. The result is a unique and elaborate ensemble in flamboyant gothic style, employing a great variety of materials. The work began in 1898 and was completed in 1903. It includes the doorway that leads to Mount Street Gardens. The ornamental sculptures were added to the porch in 1914.
In September 1940, the Church was hit during an air raid and one third of the roof destroyed by fire. The lights of the east window had been taken down and packed in a cellar in anticipation of air raids, and the altar-vessels, vestments and other moveable articles were rescued by the community and other helpers. After that services were held in the 'Sodality Hall' and 'Sodality Chapel', both of which were in the Mount St residences next to the Church, until a temporary roof could be laid over the Church.
In 1951, under Fr Hubert McEvoy, the Church underwent further reconstruction. The West front, damaged badly in the Second World War, was re-designed by Adrian Gilbert Scott; it received a new roof, and Evie Hone was commissioned to design the new West window and the window of the Assumption in the Lourdes chapel.
Since 1966 the church has been at the heart of the parish in Mayfair. The Jesuit community consists of Priests and Brothers attached specifically to the church, working in other apostolates or in retirement. The Parish is more than a geographic one, attracting its congregation not only from all over London and its surrounds but visitors from all over the world. |
| Related Material | - Records of the Community at 114 Mount St are held at CM/1
- MSB/1-5 College of St Ignatius/Farm Street Church bound volumes of correspondence etc, 1865-1914
- Fr Jenkins' 'Memoranda': historical note regarding Farm St Church p29; contributions to building of Church pp42-43, 11, 13, 29 & 32; purchase of land to build Church and costs p33; rescript regarding the intended Church of the Immaculate Conception in Farm St pp55-57, at DI/2
- Fr Arnold Roper SJ: 'Notes on London, Farm St and Sodality Lectures' including history of the Church, news cuttings and correspondence, mid 20th century, SU/9
- References in Blackett's letterbooks (ref: 10/4): 1912 regarding insurance vol 5/326; vol 10/1-5; vol 19 f 459; vol 20 ff 411, 428; vol 16 f 419
- Printed service sheets for marriage etc in archives of Fr Peter Blake SJ, then at Loyola Hall, 41/1/4
- Fr Francis Edwards SJ: Notes on Farm St Church and Community, in Digital Archives
- References to Farm St in diary of Henry Raymond Arundell, at 47/11/2
- Letter from Cardinal Griffin to Fr Edmund Basset SJ regarding an incident at an ordination at Farm St Church, 11 September 1946, at AB/4
- Christmas sermon preached by Fr Cyril Martindale SJ at Farm Street Church during Midnight Mass, 1945, at SJ/80/3/10/31
Printed material:
- Michael Hall, Sheridan Gilley & Maria Perry, 'Farm Street Church: The Story of the Jesuits' Church in London' (London: 2016). Library ref. BY 41 F
- S Jenkins, 'England's Thousand Best Churches' (1999). See p. 416. Library ref. NA 5461 J
- The 'Farm Street Calendar' 1905-1963 was a monthly publication and contains information about Masses, Sodalities, music, timetables and essays. Earlier volumes also had 'Stella Maris' (see WS/3/10/1) bound with them.
- Bernard Basset SJ, 'Farm Street' (1948) (#38)
- 'Church of the Immaculate Conception: Ceremony of Induction of Father Robert Brooks, SJ, as First Parish Priest by His Eminence Cardinal Heenan, DD, PhD, Archbishop of Westminster at a Concelebrated Mass of the Holy Spirit' (1966) (#38)
- 'The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, London W1' (#38)
- 'The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street: mosaic roundels' guide' (#38)
- 'Church of the Immaculate Conception: an explanation with illustration of the new west window' [1953] (#38)
- 'The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street: a short history and guide' (c. 1987) (#38)
- 'Farm Streeet Church of the Immaculate Conception: a short history and guide' (c. 1977) (#38)
- 'Farm Streeet Church of the Immaculate Conception: a short history and guide' (c. 1978) (#38)
- 'Farm Streeet Church of the Immaculate Conception: a short history and guide' (c. 1985) (#38)
- 'Farm Streeet Church of the Immaculate Conception: a short history and guide' (c.1988) (#38)
- 'Guide to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, Berkley Square, London W.' (1912) (#38)
- 'Guide to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, Berkley Square, London W.' (1933) (#38)
- 'Guide to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street' (c.1966) (#38)
- Harold Roper SJ, 'Farm Street Church: short history and guide' (1960) (#38)
- 'A Short Guide to Farm Street Church' (c. 1951) (#38) |