Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and Attached Presbytery is a Grade II listed building in the Westminster local planning authority area, England. Church, presbytery.

Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and Attached Presbytery

WRENN ID
waning-brass-smoke
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Westminster
Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
Country
England
Type
Church, presbytery
Address
Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and Attached Presbytery, Old Marylebone Road Nw1, City of Westminster
OS grid reference
TQ 273 815
Coordinates
51.51892, -0.16545
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and its attached presbytery were built between 1959 and 1962, designed by H.S. Goodhart-Rendel, and completed after his death by D.A. Rud and H. Lewis Curtis. The church is constructed of brown brick with red and brown diapering on the tower, and has low-pitched slate roofs. The traditional layout includes a sanctuary with the original altar against the east wall, dwarf transepts, and passage aisles leading to the nave. The presbytery, attached to the south-west, was designed by Reid in a neo-Georgian style.

The west-facing facade is dominated by a three-stage rectangular tower with a low saddle roof parallel to the road, flanked by blind walls and two-storey buttresses. The entrance is square-headed with a segmental glazed arch extending across three arches. Above the entrance is a single round-headed window within a decorated rectangular surround. The bell stage features six segmental-headed louvres separated by buttresses. The presbytery is three stories high with nine bays, the central bay featuring a tall window likely illuminating a staircase. The windows are generally segmental-headed timber sash windows with vertical glazing bars, with some square-headed examples.

Inside, the church has concrete plastered and painted walls. A new altar is set within the raised sanctuary, positioned forward, while the original remains against the back wall. The sanctuary has a pointed barrel roof and narrow pointed lancet windows—six to the east end and five along the flanks. The lower walls are lined with green and blue tiles with a white pattern, while the upper walls are stenciled in pastel green. Bold, pointed transverse arches span the nave, culminating in triple segmental-headed arches at the clerestory level. Segmental-headed clerestory windows are also present. The feet of the transverse arches have segmental-headed openings framing the passage aisles. The clerestory is supported by transverse pointed barrel vaults at a high level. There's a gallery on the south side. A simple, octagonal stone pulpit is attached to the north-west pier of the transept, and a black marble altar rail is in place. A blue, white, and gold decorative tester hangs above the altar. The interior also features simple timber benches, decorative pendant lights hanging from the transverse arches, and a six-pointed metal chandelier in the crossing.

The church is considered a grand example of Goodhart-Rendel’s manipulation of space and planes and is recognised as his last and one of his best works.

Local climate

Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and Attached Presbytery sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • No related consent applications matched
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. 207, OLD MARYLEBONE ROAD NW1 (See details for further address information) Grade II 51 m
  2. 1a, Cato Street W1 Grade II 78 m
  3. 245, Old Marylebone Road Grade II 85 m
  4. Church of St Mark Grade II 97 m
  5. Seymour Leisure Centre Grade II 105 m
  6. Former Vicarage to St Marks Church Grade II 108 m
  7. K2 Telephone Kiosk, The Eastern of Pair at South Side of Junction with Chapel Street Grade II 114 m
  8. K2 Telephone Kiosk, The Western of Pair at South Side of Junction with Chapel Street Grade II 114 m
  9. Harcourt Arms Grade II 117 m
  10. Swedish Church Grade II 138 m