Five places in England with Ukrainian history
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At the end of World War II, approximately 11 million people were forced to leave their homes. Among them, more than two million Ukrainians, of which more than 20 thousand came to the UK. Ukrainians brought their culture there as well.
Here are a few places in England whose history is connected with our compatriots.
Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London
It was originally a Protestant church. In 1940, the building was damaged by a bomb, and only in 1953 the cathedral was restored. For several years it was a chapel for the US Navy, and in 1968 it was acquired by the Ukrainian Catholic community under the leadership of Bishop Augustine Gornyak.
The church has undergone certain internal changes, but its general structure has remained unchanged. On the wall at the northeast entrance, there is a carving of the Blessed Family, rescued from Safron-Gill Church, the first place of worship for the Ukrainian Catholic community.
Ukrainian cross in the village of Mylor Bridge
Ukrainian refugees lived in a hostel near this village. In gratitude for the shelter, the Ukrainians built a cross here, in 1948 Roman Catholic priests consecrated the cross and the chapel nearby.
In 2008, the cross was re-consecrated - in honor of the 60th anniversary. This ceremony was attended by some of the descendants of the then refugees who live here.
Japanese garden in Chipping Norton
The modernist building was built here in 1964 by the architects Stout and Lichfield. They were supposed to create a garden nearby, but it was designed by a son of Ukrainian emigrants, artist Vyacheslav Atroshenko, who was born in Shanghai. He was not only an artist, but also a scientist in the field of construction and architecture.
St Mark's Church in Coventry
The church was built in the second half of the 19th century for the inhabitants of the city. In 1941, a bomb hit it and the church was rebuilt only in 1947. When Orthodox and Lutheran communities appeared in the city after the Second World War, services of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church were held here.
In 1973, the building of the temple was converted into a hospital department, but in 2006 the building was returned to the ownership of the church. Since 2017, periodic Christian services have been held here again.
Holy Trinity Church in Hampton
This is a typical village church emerging here in the 19th century directly from the Oxford Movement.. Above the main altar hangs a painted cross carved by Ukrainian prisoners of war.
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