Church of Notre Dame de France

The Church of Notre Dame de France is a Roman Catholic church built in 1955 to designs by Hector Corfiato, replacing an earlier 19th-century church on the same site. The circular form of the present building echoes the distinctive shape of its predecessor, which had incorporated a former panorama building.

The exterior presents a striking façade of six storeys, with the upper three set progressively back. The building is abutted on all sides, with only this street-facing frontage visible. The façade is fronted by a double-height slightly concave centrepiece containing a Serlian arch to a triple entrance. Above the entrance is a carving of Our Lady of Mercy designed by the architects and carved by Professor Saupique of Paris. The central door is flanked by deep bull-nosed piers carved in relief by pupils of Professor Saupique, depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin. Square-headed casement windows with metal frames (2-leaf 3-pane opening lights with a light over) are positioned above and to the sides. The walls are constructed of narrow red brick with raked joints and stone dressings.

The interior plan is circular, surrounded by an ambulatory with a gallery above. An arcade of stone Tuscan columns divides the ambulatory from the central space. The coffered ceiling contains columns embracing a central roof-light. The altar, raised on a dais, is positioned at the east side of the space. Paired polygonal stone ambos carved by a sculptor from the École des Beaux-Arts flank the sanctuary, lightly incised with depictions of the Evangelists to the north and Prophets to the south. Plain timber pews provide seating.

The Lady Chapel, located to the north of the main altar, is enclosed by a glass screen. It is oval on plan and top-lit, with three walls decorated with murals by Jean Cocteau dated 1960. The west wall depicts the Annunciation, showing a disproportionately large angel beside a vase of lilies with a delicate rendering of Mary standing with eyes closed. The north wall shows the Crucifixion—a unique representation displaying only the legs and feet of Christ, with Mary and holy women to the right (their combined cloaks forming the letter M), Mary weeping tears of blood mingling with Christ's blood. To the extreme right is a figure identified as both Joseph and Judas, with a fish-shaped eye representing the Icthus symbol. St John and Roman soldiers appear to the left, with the dice used to play for Christ's tunic. In the foreground is Cocteau's self-portrait turned away from the scene, accompanied by a falcon possibly representing Horus. A rose in the composition has been interpreted by some as a Rosicrucian symbol. The east wall depicts the Assumption, with Mary ascending to heaven surrounded by a choir of haloed angels with trumpets, enclosed within complex lines of red, yellow and blue emerging from Mary's unravelling shroud. Cocteau's signature appears on the central panel with the date 1960 and the inscription D.D.D (Delineavit, Dedicavit, Donavit).

At the centre of the Lady Chapel is the Lady altar, fronted by a Mosaic of the Nativity by Russian artist Boris Anrep. The font is located in the baptistery to the south side. It is drum-shaped with relief decoration, set on a semi-circular step against a fluted apsidal backdrop. The font was made from Vosges sandstone by Les Ateliers de l'Oeuvre Notre Dame de Strasbourg, with relief carvings by Emile Stoll of Alsace. Screens with pierced circular and cross motifs are positioned to the north and south of the altar and in the baptistery.

The church houses several significant artworks. A carved stone statue of Our Lady of Mercy was designed by the architects and carved by Professor Saupique. Polygonal stone ambos featuring the Evangelists and Prophets were carved by a sculptor from the École des Beaux-Arts. A carved timber statue of St Joseph was created by Georges Saupique's students at the École des Beaux-Arts. The statue of Our Lady of Victories, by Henri Vallette and carved in the 1940s, is based on a surviving head salvaged from bomb damage in 1940 and is currently located in a first-floor gallery on the south side.

The organ was built by August Gern in 1868 and enlarged by J W Walker & Sons in 1938. It was dismantled during the Blitz in 1940 and rebuilt by the same company in 1955. It was subsequently modernised and refurbished by B C Shepherd & Son in 2010.

The building represents an idiosyncratic and powerful expression of the Liturgical Movement's influence on church design.