Awhile ago we gave a little view of some updates made to one of the chapels dedicated to the Sacred Heart at the Church of St. Aloysius in Oxford -- better known simply as the Oxford Oratory -- which, since the 1990's, has been under the care of the Oratorians, but there are actually many more significant developments taking place there, in particular in relation to the main sanctuary.
Now for those who are not familiar with the Oratory (or even those who are), here is a look at the sanctuary as it exists presently:
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| Current state of the sanctuary |
In this historical ordering, the altar is situated much closer to the apsidal wall and its corresponding retablo that functions effectively as a reredos -- though one that is detached from it's altar (take note of the steps proceeding up behind the altar to either side). Also of note is the traditional three-step predella upon which the altar is raised (thereby lending greater liturgical visibility to the congregation and also providing an appropriate sense of visual hierarchy whereby the altar is the most important focal point of the church and sanctuary.
In the new arrangement, they are restoring this sanctuary ordering back to something much closer to its original configuration as can be seen here in this watercolour:
But enough of my commentary. The Fathers of the Oratory were kind enough to provide us with the following history of both the church itself and this present day project to restore their church to its former glory.
The church of the Oxford Oratory, St Aloysius, was built by the Jesuits in 1875. It was the first Catholic church built in Oxford since the 1600s and so quite a statement concerning the place of Catholics in a city historically dominated by the Anglican church. The laying of the foundation stone was attended by a huge crowd, including many Oxford students for whom this was something of a spectacle — Oscar Wilde being among them. The Jesuits had engaged Joseph Hansom to design the church, and with Brindley and Farmer (well-known stone-masons) the interior architectural features were put in place. The centrepiece of this was a stone reredos with 52 statues of saints in niches at the heart of which was a throne and spire reminiscent of medieval Sacrament Houses. In 1902, they employed the young artist Gabriel Pippet to decorate the sanctuary with murals and stencilling in the Arts and Crafts style. By the 1950s, however, all the decoration, stonework and panels of marble had been painted over in shades of grey and cream. The only reason for this seemingly being a sense of austerity after the second-world war, seeking to harmonise the interior. By the late 1960s, the high altar had been dismantled and a smaller, free-standing altar constructed from some of its masonry. When the Fathers of the young Oxford Oratory were given the church in 1990, the church had almost been sold to a secular college such was the poor attendance and expense of its upkeep. The average Sunday Mass attendance was around 180 people, and parish life had dwindled. Over the next 30 years the Fathers worked hard to re-establish the life of the parish by kindling the life of the Oratory, its music, liturgy and focus on beauty leading us to God. By 2024 the Sunday Mass attendance is around 1000, and a fifth of the converts in the Archdiocese are received at the Oratory each year. It has become one of the most vibrant centres of Catholic life in Britain, complete with an array of groups, talks, classes and social outreach all inspired by its liturgical and devotional life. In 2020, the Fathers decided to embark on a development programme to restore the church to its former beauty and to develop and enlarge its facilities to make it fit for the generations who will come next. They engaged Robbie Kerr from ADAM Architecture — one of the foremost traditional architectural firms in the UK — to create a masterplan for the buildings. In addition to carrying out a range of essential repairs to the fabric of the building, the development programme consists of four phases. The first phase, the restoration of the murals by Gabriel Pippet, has just been completed. Cliveden Conservation — a specialist team of conservators — painstakingly removed layers of modern paint, and restored the murals to their original condition. They show four scenes from the life of St Aloysius — his First Communion at the hands of St Charles Borromeo, his renunciation of his father’s estate, his profession into the Society of Jesus and his death. These are surrounded by stencilled vines and gilt flowers. The murals will now unlock information on the pigments, methods and designs used in the rest of the sanctuary decoration, allowing it to be reinstated in full. The second phase will restore the sanctuary to its lost glory. The solemn celebration of the liturgy with the traditional ceremonial of the Roman Rite is a major part of what the Oxford Oratory is known and loved for. The changes of the 1960s made the sanctuary cramped and lowered its status in the building making it very challenging to celebrate the liturgy well. Robbie Kerr at Adam Architecture has designed a new high altar inspired by Hansom’s original altar but with some additional decorative elements. The altar will be faithful to many of the original choices of stone, especially the dramatic Nero Portoro marble on its front face, as well as Siena yellow and ox blood red Italian marbles, alabaster and Carrara marble. This new Altar will sit harmoniously in the architectural setting of the monumental reredos, with the central tower evoking, once again, something like a medieval Sacrament House. The altar, set back in the centre of the sanctuary, up three steps and built of noble materials will provide a suitable and dignified setting for that which is central to the life of the Oratory — the solemn celebration of the Church’s liturgy in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The Fathers have developed a good relationship with some expert stonemasons who employ both the latest technology and time-honoured manual work to produce the perfect result. It was in their workshop, in the shadow of the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland, that the recent Sacred Heart altar was created. The Fathers will re-instate the Versailles-style parquet panels which were removed in the 1960s. Whilst still modest, this dignified flooring will lift the colour and status of the sanctuary replacing the now damaged and precarious strip flooring. Along with the sanctuary, the sacristy — an often overlooked but essential resource — will be redeveloped. As its 1960s roof is failing and the structure is sinking, the opportunity will be taken to rebuild much of the sacristy, restoring its victorian features and adding a much-needed additional floor to help with the storage and conservation of the Oratory’s historic vestment collection. The third phase will see the nave of the church refurbished with new underfloor heating, new flooring, and lighting. The modern paint will be removed from all the natural stone pillars and details and the panels of marble which line the nave (hidden under that same paint) will be revealed. The fourth and final phase will see the building of a new baptistry and side chapel — a Little Oratory — dedicated to St John Henry Newman. St Philip Neri’s gatherings took place, first in his own room, and then in a little makeshift chapel above the church of San Girolamo della Carità in Rome. This was the first Oratory. Here he would meet with his young friends to pray, read the scriptures, hear sermons and sing hymns — those things that would later become known as the exercises of the Oratory. In every Oratory there must be a chapel, a Little Oratory which is dedicated to the spiritual exercises of the Fathers and Brothers and especially the many groups of the Secular Oratory. Each evening the Fathers gather for silent prayer and for the traditional Oratory devotions which, at Oxford, stretch back beyond Newman to the Oratory in 18th Century Venice and from there to St Philip. An Oratory is first and foremost a place of prayer, and while the Oratory Church is the busy hub of the worship of God, the Little Oratory represents its praying heart. As the pinnacle of their development programme the Fathers will build a Little Oratory for the city of Oxford. Consciously designed in a Roman style, it will be a place of prayer for the Fathers and the many Oratory groups, as well a place for smaller Masses, small weddings and even exhibitions, musical recitals and talks. The adjoining baptistery will be the fulfilment of one of Hansom’s dreams for the church. This octagonal building, inspired by Florentine churches and so reminiscent of the place of St Philip’s own baptism, will make a clear statement about the sacraments and the life of every Christian — it is through the waters of baptism that we come to the altar, through which we are grafted on to Christ and by which we have a close relationship with him and the promise of heaven. The design team at ADAM Architecture, led by Robbie Kerr, have looked closely at Oratories in Italy and those churches in Rome associated with St Philip in order to create what is one of the most exciting church building projects in the UK. For more information or to support the works, please visit the website of the Oxford Oratory.We would certainly encourage our readers to lend your support to this fine project.
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