St Etheldreda’s Church was the town chapel of the Bishops of Ely from about 1250 to 1570. It is the oldest Catholic church in England and one of only two remaining buildings in London from the reign of Edward I. It was once one of the most influential places in London with a palace of vast grounds. It was like an independent state, the Bishop of Ely’s place in London or Ely Place as it is now called, and its chapel took its name from one of England’s most popular saints of the day, Etheldreda.
In 1829, the Catholic Emancipation Act was passed and for the first time for 300 years it was no longer illegal for Catholics to have churches and say mass. In June of 1835, three Italian priests arrived at Tilbury. They were members of the Institute of Charity, founded by Antonio Rosmini, and later to become known as Rosminians. They introduced into England a new form of clerical dress, the Roman collar or dog collar.
The Rosminians had worked very successfully in the Nottingham and Leicester areas and later in North London. The Rector of the North London Mission was Father William Lockhart, an Oxford convert and friend of the man who was to become the great English Cardinal, John Henry Newman; and it was Lockhart’s conversion that finally convinced Newman that he too should become a Catholic.
The then Cardinal, Henry Manning, wished the Rosminians to serve in the slum areas of Holborn. Father Lockhart was chosen for this task. And in December 1873, he learned that the ancient Chapel of St Etheldreda’s was about to be sold by auction.
Father Lockhart faced competition from the Welsh Episcopalians, who had the backing of a Welsh steel magnate. But at the auction, the Welshmen made a mistake. They thought Father Lockhart’s agent was theirs, so they stopped bidding. And with the next bid of £5,400 St Etheldreda’s was knocked down to the Rosminians.
Parish Priests
St Etheldreda's Catholic Church
St Etheldreda's Church, 14 Ely Place, London, EC1N 6RY
http://www.stetheldreda.com/