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Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame-de-Boulogne de Lens is a Catholic church located in the north-east of Lens, a city marked by its mining history. Its construction was decided after the Second World War to meet the spiritual needs of this expanding working area. In 1949, the Diocese of Arras acquired land from the Houillères de Lens, and work began in 1950 under the direction of Father Fernand Pentel, a diocesan priest and architect. The building was completed in 1954, offering a place of worship dedicated to Notre-Dame de Boulogne, a devotion particularly venerated in Boulonnais and Artois.

The architecture of the church is distinguished by its sober and functional style, evoking an industrial building. Built of concrete on a slab of cement and covered with plaster board, it adopts a rectangular shape under a single-pan roof, suggesting a possibility of future enlargement. A concrete pillar surmounted by a discreet metallic cross signals his religious vocation. In 1959, parish halls and a dwelling were added, forming an ensemble in L. La nave, illuminated by south-west-facing windows, reminding the Lensois of their mining heritage, making this church a unique local symbol.

The church of Notre-Dame-de-Boulogne is today an active place of worship, where early Sunday Mass is celebrated every Saturday at 6 p.m. It is dependent on the parish of Saint-François-d的Assise de Lens, created in 2003 to bring together the old parishes of the city. Its name, rare in the region, reinforces its distinctive character and its anchor in the collective memory of the inhabitants, linked to the industrial and religious history of the mining basin.

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