Chapel throws open doors on bright new future

By Jim Sales Account Executive

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Thirty years ago, Westminster Chapel was listed as a Grade II building by Historic England – and today it has been given a new lease of life. Westminster Chapel was built in the mid-1860s as a major force for good near an area of London once named “The Devil’s Acre” by author Charles Dickens, who witnessed people living in great poverty.

The chapel, in Buckingham Gate, is the lesser-known religious building in Westminster which includes the Abbey and Cathedral, but a renewal scheme led by architects ScottWhitbyStudio, who specialise in community-led heritage projects, has repositioned the church as an important landmark.

For many years, Westminster Chapel was only open for Sunday services, but the refurbishment allows public access throughout the week. The building is now entered through a series of York Stone steps and a ramp leading to gold-coloured, filigree gates. Passers-by are encouraged to enter a portico under three arches that features a terrazzo and an inlaid bronze floor.

The large worship space has been transformed into a 1,500-seat, triple-tiered room with a raised stage where performances have been upgraded thanks to acoustic paneling to the standard of the Royal Festival Hall.

Alex Scott-Whitby, of London-based ScottWhitbyStudio, says “this has been a long and cautious project, with big aspirations”.

He added: “We’re so pleased to see the chapel throw open its doors to the public, with a thriving atmosphere already burgeoning in the café and through the new activities in the main hall.”

The New Acre Café is now a welcoming place for people to meet or work. Baked goods are supplied by charity Breadwinners, whose mission is to improve the well-being of refugees, while Old Spike Benedict coffee is served with 65 percent of its profits directly supporting people experiencing homelessness.

More than 41 percent of children in Westminster live in poverty and the chapel’s on-site Trussell Trust Foodbank provides nutritious food to residents who are experiencing financial crisis.

Westminster Chapel by Scott Whitby Studio. Copyright Jim Stephenson 2022

Westminster Chapel by Scott Whitby Studio. Copyright Jim Stephenson 2022

The Devil’s Acre

The long tradition of helping the less fortunate members of society in the Devil’s Acre area started in 1840, two decades before the chapel was built. Just a short distance from the chapel was the notorious area – a centre of disease, poverty and crime that could easily have been the inspiration for Dickens’ Oliver Twist because at one time the author worked just around the corner as a Parliamentary reporter.
In 1850, Dickens wrote an article for the Household Words magazine about the slum describing it as an area which contained the “most deplorable manifestations of human wretchedness and depravity”.

Westminster Chapel was designed by the architect William Ford Poulton (1822–1901) in a Lombard Romanesque Revival style while the four-manual pipe organ was built by the eminent organ-builder Henry Willis (1821–1901), and restored and enlarged in the 1920s by Messrs Rushworth and Draper. The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) registers the chapel as a Grade II listed building (first listed in August 1973).

Chapels make up a great part of the UK’s history and many are listed. Some are still used for their original purpose, others have been turned into unique homes. All properties like this deserve custom, comprehensive insurance cover put together by people who understand their needs and nuances that come with them.

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