
St Andrew Bobola Churchyard | Hammersmith & Fulham |
St Andrew Bobola was originally built in 1870 as St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, a stone church designed by Edmund Woodthorpe. In 1961 it was converted by A P Klecki to serve the Polish Roman Catholic community. The small churchyard has a few evergreen trees, the main feature being the many low dark brick walls set with copper memorial plaques.
The information shown above was correct at the time of the last update 01/04/2004
Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news.
www.rcdow.org.uk/polishchurch; www.stbobola.co.uk
The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.
Hammersmith has become the main centre in London for the Polish community in London, which grew particularly after WWI and WWII. St Andrew Bobola (1591-1657) was a Polish missionary of the Society of Jesus, who was brutally tortured and killed on 16 May 1657 during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, when he was captured in the village of Peredil, Lithuania by the Cossacks of Chmielnicki. When his body was discovered in the C18th it was found to be undecomposed, a sign of holiness. He was declared Blessed by Pius IX in 1853, and later canonized by Pope Pius XI on 17 April 1938. Since 16 May 2002 Andrew Bobola has been a patron saint of Poland and the Archdiocese of Warsaw.
LB Hammersmith & Fulham 'Ravenscourt & Starch Green Conservation Area Character Profile', 1999