St Etheldreda’s

The present-day church dedicated to St Etheldreda is the surviving chapel of the London palace of the bishops of Ely, located in Holborn. After the Reformation, the condition of the palace deteriorated, until it was demolished in the 1770s, when the chapel, the sole surviving palace building, was altered to accord with Georgian taste. By the Victorian period the chapel was surrounded by slums, and its condition was lamented by those with an interest in London’s ancient buildings. It was purchased for the Institute of Charity (Rosminians) and returned to the Catholic faith. The first Mass was said in 1876 and a thriving community soon grew up around St Etheldreda’s. During the Second World War it was hit by a bomb, which destroyed what was left of the stained glass. The damage was repaired and stunning, modern glass installed.