Our Lady
of the Rosary RC Church, Old Marylebone Road, London
Architect
Harry Goodhart-Rendel
Date
Built
1959 - 1963
Location
Old Marylebone
Road
Description
Our Lady of the
Rosary Church sits beside Old Marylebone Road,
flanked on one side by a contemporary
presbytery and on the other a later
administrative building. English
Heritage described the church when it was
given Grade II Listed status as, "A
grand church which displays
Goodhart-Rendel’s manipulation of spaces
and planes to great effect. His last
work and one of his best."
Goodhart-Rendel died before the church was
completed and the work was overseen by D. A
Rud & H. Lewis Curtis. F. G.
Broadbent & Partners were responsible for
its construction.
Outside the building features a brown brick
facade with red and brown brick diapering,
seen in the images above and below. The
west front is dominated by a rectangular tower
with six louvered openings at the bell stage
and topped by a low saddle roof parallel to
the road.
The description of the
presbytery at the time of the listing said
that it was, "...neo-Georgian, of
three storeys, nine main bays with the
centre one with two windows, one above
the other including a tall window,
evidently lighting a staircase. These
windows are segmental headed, as are
two ground floor windows and two
entrance doorways. Other windows
square-headed. All are Georgian-style
timber sashes with vertical glazing
bars."
Below the east end of the church on Crawford
Place.
The inside of the
church features concrete walls that have
been plastered and painted. The
transverse arches that cross the nave are
topped by triple segmented arches.
Decorative pendant lights hang from flanks
of the arches that are also decorated by
sculptural stations of the cross.
Within the barrel
roofed sanctuary , the main altar sits
against the east wall. An additional
altar is set forward. The sanctuary
is lit by six narrow lancet windows at the
back and five on the sides.
