Our Lady of Hal, Camden
Our Lady of Hal, Camden
Our Lady of Hal is a Roman Catholic parish church at 165 Arlington Road, Camden Town, London, in the Diocese of Westminster, built for the Scheut Fathers from Halle in Belgium.
- Location
- Camden, Greater London
- Country
- England
- County
- Greater London
- City / town
- Camden
- Address
- Arlington Road, Camden, Greater London, NW1 7EX
- Postcode
- NW1 7EX
- Built
- 1933
- Architect
- W C Mangan
- Denomination
- Catholic Church
- Dedication
- Mary
- Diocese
- Westminster
- Parish
- Camden Town
- Style
- continental basilican
- Materials
- Multi-coloured stock brick with pantile roof
- Opening hours
- Open every day.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets in church
Overview
Taking Stock records a church of 1933 by W. C. Mangan (Wilfrid Clarence Mangan), commissioned by the Belgian Scheut Fathers. The London mission was founded to serve Belgian refugees in the First World War. A temporary chapel opposite the present site opened in 1921; the permanent church followed in 1933, with a slightly later presbytery. The street front is four storeys of multi-coloured stock brick: a gabled centrepiece with long lancet windows above a triple-arched porch, flanked by bays of domestic windows under a steep pantile roof with large dormers. Mosaic decoration fills the entrance arches. A broad passage leads under a deep west gallery into a wide aisleless nave. Heavy chamfered concrete pointed arches on corbels carry a roof of exposed rafters and dormers. Side windows are round-headed lancets with red-brick reveals. A north-east side chapel is now glazed off; the sanctuary is apsed and semi-domed with three lancets on each side.
The dedication recalls the shrine of Our Lady at Halle, west of Brussels. A copy of the Halle statue stands in a south chapel. The church is not listed, but Taking Stock notes that the street frontage and presbytery contribute to the Camden Town Conservation Area. The parish website is that of the Diocese of Westminster.