This week-end, one year after her mother sadly died, my wife and I visited the church where her parents were married seventy three years ago.

We took the tube to Saint John’s Wood. The Grade II listed station preserves its original fabric including the Underground’s last wooden escalator illuminated by one of three surviving art-deco sets of bronze escalator uplights. The ‘way out’ sign is also unique. I’m so glad these features have been kept!

We walked past Lord’s cricket ground to reach our destination.

Dedicated to Our Lady, the church was one of the first Roman Catholic places of worship to be built following the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829.

The building was funded by two sisters, Louise and Jessie Gallini, from the inheritance left them by their father, Giovanni Gallini. Born in Florence he had come to England as a refugee and had a very successful career as dancing master and impresario in London. (Among his friends were J. C. Bach and Haydn). I felt, since Sandra’s own father was also born in Florence and moved to London for his work, that this was a lovely coincidence.

The church of Our Lady was designed by John Joseph Scoles, a Roman Catholic architect, in what John Betjeman described as ‘Regency’ gothic style.

(A old print of the Church of Our Lady)

It has a mellow brick exterior and a facade with a rose window:

an entrance porch flanked by a rose bush:

and a garden with the statue of the Virgin:

My first impression in entering Our Lady’s church (only recently re-opened to worshippers with one-way system and social distancing to be respected during this pandemic) was that of a beautifully airy and luminous early neo-gothic building with a elegantly vaulted nave flanked by aisles of equal height.

Indeed, Our Lady reminded me of those hall churches in northern Germany with the light coming from the side windows rather than from any clerestory.

The church is filled with several examples of contemporary art. These include fine glass panels representing scenes from Christ’s life:

The font:

and the main altar in the apse.

However, Our Lady was not always like this. Its original plain appearance became richly embellished in the Victorian era as seen in this photo.

The ornamentation was stripped back this century returning the church to its simpler, original atmosphere and enhancing its fine vaulting. Undoubtedly there will be some who will regret this change, especially the removal of the original High Altar and its replacement by something more contemporary. 

Not having experienced the church as it was at the time of Alexandra’s parents’ wedding I can say little. I do feel, however, that it would have been better to have the East window displayed instead of covering it up.

We met Fr. Kevin Jordan the very personable parish priest and Sandra showed him a copy of her parents’ marriage certificate written in Latin.

It becomes ever more essential in these rather socially disconnected times to visit those places which have played such an important part in our parents’, indeed, our own lives. They are truly holy places twice over.