About Farm Street Church (Immaculate Conception Church) in London, England:
The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, also known as Farm Street Church, is a Gothic Renaissance Revival church designed by architect Joseph John Scoles. Farm Street Church opened its doors in 1849 as the Jesuits’ flagship city center London church.
After Catholic emancipation in 1829, when the position of Catholics in England became easier, a plan was conceived on a bold and imaginative scale for a permanent Jesuit church in London. It showed extraordinary vision and courage on the part of the Superior of the English Jesuits, Fr Randal Lythgoe, to have a church built to seat as many as 900 people.
In the 1840s the Jesuits first began looking for a location for their London church, they found this site in a quiet back street. (The name derived from Hay Hill Farm which extended in the 18th century from the present Hill Street eastward across Berkeley Square and beyond).
From 1849 until 1966 they were not a parish as such, but the Jesuit Church in central London, specializing in preaching, pastoral care, patronage of the arts and a place of refuge for many becoming Catholic or returning to faith. The church was open to the public but not the center of worship for a parish community. Sacraments such as marriage and baptism could not be celebrated in the church and the reputation of Farm Street rested on the pulpit and the confessionals. They became famous for the work of many Jesuit priests whose guidance given to those seeking advice gently led many to embrace the Catholic faith
Since 1966 the church has also been a parish of the Diocese of Westminster in the center of a constantly changing London. Farm Street now attracts its congregation not only from all over London and its surrounding area, but visitors from all over the world.
Traveling to Farm Street Church (Immaculate Conception Church) in London, England:
Address: 114 Mount St, London W1K 3AH, United Kingdom.
Note: the main entrance is in Farm Street, though it can also be accessed from the adjacent Mount Street Gardens.
Visit the official website of Immaculate Conception Church in London, England.