Brompton Oratory
The Brompton Oratory is a large neo-classical Roman Catholic church in Knightsbridge, London. Its full name is the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it is a Grade II* listed building.
This famous Roman Catholic church was built between 1880 and 1884. It is the church of the Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri. Popularly but incorrectly known as "Brompton Oratory" it is the second-largest Catholic church in London
The foundation stone was laid in June 1880 and the present neo-baroque building was privately consecrated on the 16th April 1884. A few days later Cardinal manning officially opened the Church and preached to a congregation which included 16 bishops and 250 priests. The church had cost £93,000 to build and in the following decade a further £14,000 was spent on the building
The façade at the South end was not added until 1893 and the outer dome was completed in 1895-96 to a design of George Sherrin. The last major external work was the erection of the Newman memorial in 1896 (six years after his death)
The architectural style and the atmosphere of the church were deliberately Italianate, in order to bring St. Philip's romanità to nineteenth century London. The present church was restored and redecorated to celebrate its centenary in 1984
Its of course free to entry and its open 6.30am-8pm Sunday to Friday, to 7.45pm Saturday. It has multiple masses including Latin mass.
