The exterior of Brompton Oratory

Brompton Oratory

Kensington & Hyde Park

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The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known as the London Oratory and the Oratory of St Philip Neri, is a Roman Catholic church that in London is second in size only to the incomplete Westminster Cathedral. Built in Italian baroque style in 1884, the interior is swathed in marble and statuary; much of the decorative work predates the church and was imported from Italian churches. The church was employed by the KGB during the Cold War as a dead-letter box.

Light up a candle for loved ones for 45p. There is a busy schedule of services (five in English and Latin on weekdays, four on Saturday and throughout the day on Sunday), including a Solemn Mass in Latin on Sundays (11am).

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