St Etheldreda was a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon princess who founded a monastery where Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, now stands. This church in London dedicated to her dates from the 13th century when the Bishop of Ely was resident here. In 1260, the Bishop of Ely was called to sit in Parliament and so found it practical and necessary to establish a household in London. Permission was given to build an oratory dedicated to St Etheldreda, and soon after the Palace of Ely was built around it.
The church and palace fell into disuse after the Reformation. During the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell, the palace was in such disrepair that most of it was pulled down. In the meantime, however, the church had been temporarily granted to the Spanish Ambassador the Count of Gondomar as his private chapel, and so in the 1620s Catholic Mass was once again celebrated. Over the next 250 years, the church was intermittently used by various Anglican congregations. Then, in 1874, it was bought at auction by Father William Lockhart of the Rosminian Order (Fathers of the Institute of Charity) of the Roman Catholic Church.
Thus, St Etheldreda’s is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Great Britain, and the first one built before the Reformation to be restored to Catholic worship. It is indeed one of the oldest churches in London. The church is actually a ‘double-decker’ with one chapel, the upper church, built on top of another, the undercroft or crypt.
The Rosminians undertook extensive renovation to restore the interior and make it as authentic as possible to its original design. From the outside, the church appears small as it is hemmed in neighbouring buildings, but the upper church is actually large and high. The feeling of spaciousness is enhanced by a vast expanse of stained glass on all sides. The east and west windows are among the largest areas of stained glass in London. The windows here are among the finest examples of modern stained glass in England.
(As always, click on photos for larger views.)
This photo shows the east window, installed in 1952, replacing a Victorian window destroyed in World War II. In the centre is Christus Rex, Christ the King, and above him the dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit. At the apex, God the Father is set above choirs of angels; below them, the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. To the left of Christ is the Virgin Mary, to the right, St Joseph. To the left of Mary stands St Etheldreda, holding in her hand the image of the monastery she founded where Ely Cathedral now stands. To the right of St Joseph is St Bridget of Kildare. Her figure is here in memory of the large presence of Irish labourers and their families who populated the surrounding area in the 19th century.
During the 1960s, eight large carved statues of English Catholic martyrs were placed on the north and south walls, four on each side. Two of them, St John Houghton and Blessed John Forest, were clergymen hung by Henry VIII for refusing to recognise him as rightful head of the church in England.
The others were executed under Elizabeth I either for being a priest or for sheltering one. All of the martyrs would have known of or worshiped in this church.
The stained glass in the south wall contains scenes from the Old Testament, the north, scenes from the New.
The church has a content-filled web site. This page of photos, including details of the many stained glass windows, is especially worth visiting.
Earlier this year, two mystery worshippers–one Calvinist and one Anglican–attended a sung Latin Mass at St Etheldreda’s and filed a favourable report.
Here’s the customary map.
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Matt Pritchett, one of the world's best editorial cartoonists, has once again been awarded the Cartoon Art Trust's annual prize. He's so good that he was banned from winning for several years, but now he's back.
