St Francis Xavier Church, Hereford

The foundation stone of St Francis Xavier’s was laid 19 September 1837 and Queen Victoria sent her personal representative to the ceremony. The church was designed by Charles Day, an architect from Worcester, It was opened on 7 August 1839, before the restoration of the English Catholic hierarchy in 1850, because of this, the church has no windows, fearing that any would be broken during the early 19th century. The church was built on the site of a chapel used by the Society of Jesus during the reformation, hence it was dedicated to St Francis Xavier, a Jesuit missionary from the 16th century who travelled to eastern and southern Asia. The Jesuits were in charge of the Catholic mission to…

The exterior comprises columns and a frieze made of stucco. There is a dome at the back of the church. The front comprises two fluted Doric columns either side of the entrance. The interior is ornate with a decorated ceiling made of plaster. The church is lit by a lightwell. The altar is flanked by two Ionic columns.