Churches - Archive Articles

Islington’s Union Chapel gets £1 million heritage grant

The Union Chapel, a nearly 150 year old church that has been for the past 30 years also a music venue, has received a £1 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The refurbishment of the 200-year old St John’s Waterloo church

In the run up to its 200th anniversary, a large church in Waterloo has undergone a substantial refurbishment, in part to undo some 1950s repairs but also to make it fit for modern uses.

The unexpected interior of a Mayfair Church

If you're wandering down Mayfair's Curzon Street, you might spy a grand-looking church. You might want to pop inside for a look, and oh, that's not what I had expected.

St Matthias – London’s only interregnum church

On a side street in Poplar, East London, is an old church that's now used as a playschool -- and is London's only church that was built during the Interregnum, the time England was a republic.

Inside the 200-year old St Pancras New Church

Built to serve the growing population of London, when it opened 200 years ago, St Pancras New Church was the most expensive church built in London since the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral

The mysterious floating coffin of Pinner

There's a grave in Pinner, in northwest London, that is quite remarkable -- it has a coffin floating in the air right through the middle of it.

Chelesea’s unusual Moravian burial ground

Not easy to find in Chelsea as it's hidden behind high Tudor brick walls is an unusual burial ground - for the Moravian Church.

Tickets Alert: Tours of St Alfege Greenwich’s church crypt

Sitting in the heart of Greenwich town centre is the imposing St Alfege Church, and they've started offering semi-regular tours of the crypt underneath the church.

Visit London’s Ukrainian Cathedral

For obvious, and less obvious reasons, right now is a very good time to pay a visit to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London, which can be found just off Oxford Street in central London.

Tours of a restored neo-gothic church – St Mary Magdalene Paddington

A neo-gothic church with a remarkable ceiling that was falling into ruin, and was recently restored is now open for regular tours.

The unexpected interior of the City Temple

Sitting next to the Holborn Viaduct is a grand Victorian church, with a totally modern interior.

See inside St Mary’s Cadogan Street

A couple of blocks away from Chelsea's posh shops is a large Catholic church that owes its origins to one of the earliest post-reformation Catholic chapels in the country.

St Mary Moorfields – the City’s only Roman Catholic church

Just around the corner from Liverpool Street station is a building that if glanced at briefly looks like a conventional Edwardian office block, but is in fact the City of London's only Catholic Church.

A visit to St Mary le Strand church

Sitting in the middle of the road outside Somerset House on Strand is a grand church with a tall steeple it shouldn't have.

Pay a visit to St Albans Cathedral

In the centre of St Albans is a Cathedral, called an Abbey that's also a church,  was built by the Normans but is mostly Victorian.

Inside the Pugin designed St George’s Cathedral, Southwark

You'd probably not realise it at first glance, but the modern-looking church in Southwark was actually designed by the king of the gothic revival, Augustus Pugin.

You can climb up Hackney’s medieval clock tower

In the heart of Hackney is a medieval clock tower, and occasionally it's open to the public to climb up and stand on the roof for some pretty decent views across East London.

Inside Kilburn’s famous Tin Tabernacle

On a Kilburn side street is a large corrugated iron church-like shed that's looking rather sorry for itself - this is the famous Kilburn Tin Tabernacle.

Going inside the Annunciation Marble Arch

Tucked away on a side street near Marble Arch is a solidly built brick church from the outside, that's a richly decorated church on the inside -- the Annunciation Marble Arch.

Sir Richard Burton’s curious “tent tomb”

In southwest London is a most unusual mausoleum to an unusual man (and his wife), that's in the shape of a Bedouin tent. Oh, and it has a ladder to climb up and peer inside it.

See the 700-years old murals of St Nicholas Church, Charlwood

A church near Gatwick Airport contains a remarkable survivor inside -- a set of historically significant series of murals that date to around 1300-1350.

An unexpected entrance for St Mary Abbots church

This large but at a glance seemingly ordinary church in Kensington has a wonderful feature -- a cloister like covered walkway to the entrance.

London Churches: St Margaret’s Lothbury

A stone-clad church that can be found around the back of the Bank of England has been on this site since at least the 12th-century.

A visit to St Columba’s Church of Scotland

On a side street not far from Harrods can be found a large but slightly dour-looking grey stone church.