History of the church

In the 1662, King Charles II granted a charter to develop part of the estate that belonged to St James’s Palace. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, St James’s was consecrated in 1684 and is now a Grade 1 listed building.

Situated opposite the Royal Academy, it is known as the Artists’ Church and throughout its history has had many associations with artists and other eminent figures. It is the place where Angelica Kauffman, one of the founders of the Royal Academy, was married in 1767. Caricaturist James Gillray (1756-1815) and portraitist Mary Beale (1633-1699) were buried in the courtyard. William Blake (1757-1827) and abolitionist Quobna Ottobah Cugoano (c1757-c1791) were baptised in the Grinling Gibbons font and Mary Delany (1700-1788), an artist who created intricate ‘paper mosaiks’ of botanical specimens, has a memorial (although sadly only recognising her as a daughter and wife and not for her creativity).  

In 1940, the church was bombed and severely damaged. Until it could be restored, the south aisle was given a temporary roof and wall and continued to serve as the parish church. Restoration took place between 1947-1954 under the supervision of architect Sir Albert Richardson and rebuilding the church in a style sympathetic to Wren’s original design. The church was reconsecrated in 1956.

Today St James’s seeks to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate and has a reputation for being a force for good and a pioneering ‘church of firsts’. It was the first historic church to install solar panels, and the first central London church to hold funerals and memorials of men who died from AIDS. The Rector, Revd Lucy Winkett, was one of the first generation of women to be ordained priest in the Church of England.

Architecture

Considered amongst Sir Christopher Wren’s finest churches, the church is built of red brick with Portland stone dressings. Wren was given considerable freedom when designing the church, prioritising light, simplicity and an open interior which at the time would hold 2,000 people and allow them all to hear the service and see the preacher. Particularly notable are the clear glass windows that flood the church with natural light.

Art and features of the church

The art collection at St James’s ranges from the 17th to the 21st century, and includes paintings, sculptures in wood and marble, metalwork, stained glass, and both historic and contemporary work, both within the church and in the garden.

The ornate reredos which sits behind the altar rail in St James’s Church is the work of 17th-century sculptor, Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), one of Britain’s most famous and renowned woodcarvers and is considered one of his finest works. The font and organ case are also by Gibbons and make up a trio of incomparable 17th-century artworks unique to the church.

A series of four paintings by Che Lovelace are also on display. Created to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Quobna Ottobah Cugoano's baptism in St James's Church on 20 August 1773. The four paintings illustrate Lovelace's interest in the intersecting lives of the people and natural beauty of Trinidad, where he lives, and one of the Caribbean islands that was scarred by the trade in enslaved people trafficked from Africa. Infused with rich colours and bold shapes, his paintings straddle the boundary between magical realism, abstraction, theology, and the beauty of the natural world.

Commemorating Quobna Ottobah Cugoano

One of the most prominent opponents of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade in 18th-century London, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano is a significant but largely forgotten figure in Black British history. His baptism at St James’s Church Piccadilly in 1773 is one of the only places and times that can with confidence be ascribed to his life. Later, in 1787 he wrote Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery, the first book written by an African calling for the total abolition of the Transatlantic Chattel Slave Trade. He was also a member of the Sons of Africa alongside Olaudah Equiano. This influential figure in Black British history deserves to be recognised more widely and his contribution celebrated, the commissioning of artworks by St James’s Church, the place of his baptism, looks to do this. It is the first permanent art commission to commemorate Cugoano’s life anywhere in the world.