St Joseph's, Highgate

Designed by Albert Vicars, the church is a blend of two architectural styles: Romanesque and Byzantine. It stands at 66’ tall; is 55’ wide and 146’ long. The great copper dome- a landmark in the north London skyline- weighs 2,000 tons. St Joseph’s has survived two world wars. The city of London was the target of frequent Zeppelin attacks, with one such raid narrowly missing the monastery. Again during WWII, frequent near misses [occurred] and one indirect hit causing extensive damage. A contemporary church entry records: ‘the stained-glass windows were blown in … including the leaded light windows high up in the dome. The heavy church doors were smashed open, the iron bar across the inside being bent almost double … the roof slates and the tiles [were blown] from their places’ (8). Thankfully, that was the extent of the damage to the building during the first and second world wars.

Internally, the church boasts an elaborately carved high altar, which was a gift to the church by a parishioner in memory of her late husband. It is made of white Sicilian marble and is decorated with angels. This is highlighted by marble pillars, which support a white marble baldachin. The altar is immediately beneath the dome of the church. The ceiling itself is of interest for it is segmented with carved wooden ribs and is decorated with 228 painted panels. These were painted by William Westlake, and are considered his finest work. Adorning the sanctuary is a large light, which is made of finely pierced metal. The mosaic pavement is made from material that was taken from the river Severn and is famed to be more precious and durable than marble. These mosaics contain representations of a pelican feeding her offspring with the blood from her own breast.

Two small chapels enclose the sanctuary: the chapel of St Paul and the chapel of the Sacred Heart. There are fourteen Stations of the Cross in the nave. They are mock-sculptures created in plaster, in the arts and crafts style. Throughout the church there are paintings of saints devoted the Sacred Passion, including St Winifred, St Gregory and St Edward the Confessor. Unfortunately, many of the finely executed paintings have been painted during previous attempts at restoration. There have been, however, recent effort at restoring these works, especially those images within the dome’s drum; four evangelists were painted within this space and restoration work has

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