Roman Catholic Church Of St Mary

CAMDEN

TQ2685NW HOLLY PLACE 798-1/26/917 (East side) 11/08/50 Roman Catholic Church of St Mary

GV II*

Roman Catholic church being the centre-piece of an informal terrace formed by Nos 1-4 Holly Place (qv) and Nos 5-8 Holly Place (qv). c1816 for the Abbe Morel; refronted c1830, belfry and aedicule with sculptured Virgin and Child added c1850, restored 1990. Stucco. EXTERIOR: narrow entrance front with projecting central entrance bay rising through the gable end to form a segmental pedimented bellcote surmounted by a cross. Round-arched architraved and pilastered entrance flanked by paired pilasters at angles supporting a Doric entablature. Above this, a pedimented aedicule containing a sculptured Virgin and Child; a roundel beneath the bellcote. INTERIOR: 3-bay nave with arched windows, vaulted and mosaic transept chapels, and vaulted 3-bay sanctuary with marble and mosaic baldacchino, with inset oil paintings of holy scenes, by Adrian Gilbert Scott who also designed the altar. Western gallery. HISTORICAL NOTE: GG Scott Jnr and Thomas Garner who lived in Church Row did work on the church but it is not clear what. One of the earliest Roman Catholic churches to be built in England after the Reformation. The congregation had grown in Hampstead around Abbe Morel, a refugee from the French Revolution. The more elaborate front followed the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829.

Listing NGR: TQ2625685791