Our Lady of Victories R.C. Church, Kensington, London

Architect	Adrian Gilbert Scott
Date Built	1957
Location	Kensington High Street
Description
The original Lady of Victories Catholic church was opened in the Kensington district in 1869. Until the Westminster Cathedral was built in 1903, it was the foremost Catholic church in England. On the 13th of September 1940 the Luftwafer dropped four incendiary bombs on the church and within two and a half hours the building was completely devastated and burned to the ground. Rebuilding wasn't possible until after the was but in 1952 Adrian Gilber Scott was commissioned to design this church that sits just off Kensington High Street. It was opened as the Parish Church of Kensington by Cardinal Archbishop William Godfrey on the 16th of April 1959. Historic England listed the building in 2016 at Grade II for a number of reasons including, from an architectural point of view, the fact that it is, "... a striking and boldly massed church in a stripped-back post-war style, relieved by restrained traditional Perpendicular Gothic detailing in Portland stone, which aptly demonstrates the post-war transition from traditional to modern forms in ecclesiastical architecture; also a good quality 1930s entrance screen" They also cite the importance of the architect who they describe as, "... a noted ecclesiastical architect of the early to mid C20, who trained under Temple Moore and specialised in commissions for the Roman Catholic Church." ********************** Historic England when listing the church said of the inside that, "...side porches and a central entrance open directly into a lofty nave of five bays, having a west gallery but without a narthex. There are no aisles in the conventional sense, rather an enfilade of shoulder-arched openings to the north and south, cut into a series of deep projecting piers which articulate the bays and rise to form a massive arcade of pointed arches to either side of the nave." "A large freestanding artwork by Stephen Foster is located to the rear of the sanctuary, comprising a depiction of the Crucifixion on a tall painted relief panel. " "Windows are leaded and stained, by Charles F Blakeman, depicting a variety of Biblical scenes and saints."