This is indicated by the Latin dedication above the portal arch: Domine Jesus Rex et Redemptor per Sanguinem tuum salva nos (English translation: 'Lord Jesus, King and Redeemer, heal us through your blood'). In 1895, the cathedral was dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The consecration ceremony took place on 28 June 1910, although the interior was never finished. Under the laws of the Catholic Church at the time, no place of worship could be consecrated unless free from debt and having its fabric completed. For reasons of economy, the decoration of the interior had hardly been started and still much remained to be completed. One of the first public services in the cathedral was Cardinal Vaughan's requiem the cardinal died on 19 June 1903. The cathedral opened in 1903, a year after Bentley's death. At the luncheon which followed, the speakers included Cardinal Vaughan, Cardinal Logue, the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Acton, Henry Matthews MP, Lord Edmund Talbot, and Sir Donald Macfarlane.' Charles Cox, rendered, among other pieces, Webbe's 'O Roma Felix' and 'O Salutaris'.

A procession composed of Benedictines, Franciscans, Jesuits, Passionists, Dominicans, Redemptorists, and secular clergy made the circuit of the grounds. After the 'recitation of the Litanies, Cardinal Logue celebrated Low Mass coram episcopo. The foundation stone blessing by Cardinal Vaughan took place on a Saturday morning, June 29, 1895, before a 'distinguished' gathering. The cost of the building was anticipated at £150,000 and its area 54,000ft, the cathedral to be 350ft long by 156ft wide by 90ft high. The land was acquired in 1884 by Wiseman's successor, Cardinal Manning, having previously been occupied by the second Tothill Fields Bridewell prison.Īfter two false starts in 1867 (under architect Henry Clutton) and 1892 (architect Baron von Herstel), construction started in 1895 under Manning's successor, the third archbishop, Cardinal Vaughan, with John Francis Bentley as architect, and built in a style heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture. In the late 19th century, the Roman Catholic Church's hierarchy had only recently been restored in England and Wales, and it was in memory of Cardinal Wiseman (who died in 1865, and was the first Archbishop of Westminster from 1850) that the first substantial sum of money was raised for the new cathedral. ( May 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. This section needs additional citations for verification.

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