Churches - Archive Articles

Visit the ruins of London’s Lesnes Abbey

Sitting not far from central London can be found the ruins of a large Abbey, which if it were almost anywhere else would be a major tourist attraction.

A church with a routemaster bus stained glass window

On site of an ancient church stands its modern successor, and a most curious set of modern stained glass windows.

Take a tour of St Paul Cathedral’s hidden Triforum

If you were to walk up the spiral staircase to St Paul Cathedral's famous whispering gallery, you might notice locked doors leading to hidden places, and behind one of them lurks a marvel.

Your chance to photograph Southwark Cathedral in candlelight

Southwark Cathedral is planning a special night where the interior will be lit by candles, just for photographers.

Inside the restored Middlesex Hospital chapel

Until fairly recently, there was a large plot of empty land in central London, sealed off, and incongruously, a small church sat alone in the wasteland.

London’s last surviving Catholic Embassy Chapel of Penal Times

Located on a side street near Soho can be found a modest looking building with a history seeped in riot, anti-catholic executions, and war.

The year an observatory sat on top of St Paul’s Cathedral

In 1821, had a person looked up at the summit of St Paul’s Cathedral, a wonderous sight would have greeted their eyes.

There will be a religious election on Thursday

While secular law prevails and causes millions to ascribe a pencil cross on a slip of paper this coming Thursday, another election will also take place, of a religious variety.

Visit the Museum of Methodism

In 1778, a new chapel opened on the edges of the City of London for the new Christian movement known as the Methodists, and it's still there, just down the road from Old Street tube station, with a museum in its basement.

South London’s tallest church spire

A touch under 140 years ago, a new church was consecrated in the fast-growing area of Kennington with a mighty steeple that remains to this day the tallest in South London.

Matters of life and death in a 17th-century church

Just around the corner from Bank tube station, an exhibition exploring the fleeting nature of life and the spectre of death has opened, appropriately enough for the topic, in an old church.

The wonderfully restored interior of All Saint’s Margaret Street

Peeking out above the shops and offices just to the North of Oxford Street can be found one of the great hidden marvels of English church building.

A look inside the modern St Barnabas church in Dulwich

On the 7th December 1992, a Victorian gothic church on top of a hill in Dulwich burnt down, following an arson attack.

Chance to see inside the Lost Church under Charing Cross Station

There sits underneath the forecourt of Charing Cross railway station a hidden marvel, the remains of a Hawksmoor designed church that is today sealed off and hidden -- except for one prominent and often misattributed visible sign of its existence.

The 300 year old Chapel of Ease just off Oxford Street

Just behind Debenhams on Oxford Street can be found a building that looks like a church, but isn't. A building that was consecrated, but not as a church, even though it is used for worship.

A hidden oasis of calm next to Marble Arch

A quiet haven of peace sits on blood-stained land opposite Hyde Park. A living memorial to those who died for their beliefs in more troubled times.

Simon Jenkins on the English Church

I found a rather curious little series on Channel 4 a few weeks ago and recently finished watching the last of the six half-hour episodes.

Mayfair’s masterpiece of the Gothic Revival

Nestled in amongst the back streets of posh Mayfair you can find one of London's greatest Gothic Revival churches.

A look at the secular enclave within Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey, that mighty bastion of religion has an alien invader amongst its midst, a couple of buildings that were nominally religious, but have spent the past 800 years performing more secular duties.

King’s College Hospital’s Centenary Celebrations

It is one hundred years since an old hospital in the City of London moved away from its traditional home to the outskirts of the city, in what was at the time the small towns around Denmark Hill.

A rare oasis of calm in Camden Town

Camden town, that bustling heart of youth and arts has a seemingly rather overlooked oasis of peace and calm - sitting right next to the huge Sainsburys.

A look around St Mary-at-Finchley Church

A short walk from Finchley Central tube station can be found the area's oldest church - a site of Christian worship that can be reliably dated back at least 800 years.

A look around St Pancras Old Church

Behind St Pancras station sits an old church. It only became an old church when a new church was built nearby, and while considered to be very old, it is actually fairly new, but on the site that is quite old, but probably not as old as some people claim.

The docklands church built from bits of Old London Bridge

Around 160 years ago, a gleaming white Christian edifice was erected at the southernmost end of the Isle of Dogs that is rumoured to include remains of the old London Bridge in its structure.