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Although
in the heart of London, Pimlico was built only relatively late. It was
only in the mid-nineteenth century that the area was developed by Thomas
Cubitt. The first Catholic church in Pimlico was in Claverton Street, a
former Methodist chapel which was converted into a Catholic church and
dedicated to the Holy Apostles in 1917. This was not a parish church but a
chapel-of-ease served by the priests of Westminster Cathedral. Being
close to Victoria Station, Battersea Power Station and the bridges over
the River Thames, Pimlico suffered heavy and sustained bombing during the
Second World War. In the heaviest air raid of the War up to that point,
the old Holy Apostles’ church was hit on the night of 16 April 1941. The
roof was completely destroyed and the church was unusable. Amid the
wreckage of the raid Fr. Hadfield jumped on his bicycle to take the
Blessed Sacrament to Westminster Cathedral. For
over 16 years the Catholics of Pimlico were without a permanent church of
their own. Mass was said in the Ambulance Station in Dolphin Square,
houses in St. George’s Square and Warwick Square and then, from November
1945, in a pre-fab built on the site of the old church in Claverton
Street. There are still many parishioners who were baptised or married in
these makeshift churches. With
the end of the War and the need for new housing, the site of the old
church was requisitioned as part of the project to build the Churchill
Gardens Estate. For a time the future was uncertain. There were those who
argued that Pimlico Catholics should go to Mass at the Cathedral. Fr.
Hadfield was having none of it. He had not ministered to the local
Catholics throughout the War to give up his position in peace time. With
so great a need for housing, the authorities refused to release land for a
new church, so Fr. Hadfield cycled around the parish at night planting
Miraculous Medals on bombsites. Finally, the site on Winchester and
Cumberland Streets became available. Even then there were difficulties in
obtaining building licences. Fr. Hadfield was the son of an architect and
used his father’s Sheffield firm to build the new presbytery and church.
That was done through the generosity and enormous sacrifice of the
parishioners, but the new church was formally opened by Cardinal Godfrey
on 1 December 1957. Canon
Hadfield, as he later became, held the extraordinary record of priestly
ministry in the same area for two generations. Indeed, he remained parish
priest of Pimlico until his death in 1982. There are still many strong
memories of this forthright and traditional Yorkshireman who did so much
to build up the parish. As he successor said, Canon Hadfield “was
Pimlico.” That successor was Fr. Alastair Russell, a much-loved former
Army chaplain, who was to be parish priest for the next twelve years.
Since then, parish priests have come and gone. There has also been a
succession of curates, sisters, deacons and seminarians who have given
loyal service to the Catholics of Pimlico over the best part of a century. In
terms of building the church and running the parish organisations, so much
has been done by the parishioners themselves. With a high proportion of
Irish residents, Pimlico has always been a Catholic area. Parish life and
devotions have reflected the times and today the rich traditions we have
received are supplemented by a more cosmopolitan congregation. No one
knows what the next century holds for the Catholics of Pimlico, but we
look forward to witnessing in the locality to Our Risen Lord with faith,
hope and charity. Priests
in Charge & Parish Priests
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