religious
John Nash, 1824
Langham Place, W1B 3DA
All Souls Church was consecrated on 25 November 1824. It was part of John Nash's development of Regents Street, & benefitted from the newly set up Church Building Commission in 1818. In the mid 1970's All Souls went through a major refurbishment in order to provide a hall under the main church. It has always attracted large congregations & its focus has always been to teach the Christian faith.
Oxford Circus
453, 88, 390, 10
There is lift access to the Church and the basement Hall. Entrance is at pavement level to the left of the main doors.
The church is a light open space (apart from traffic noise) The Hall is in the basement with no natural light. Free tea and coffee available
All Souls Church was built as a result of the Government's Church Building Act of 1818 for ‘promoting the building of additional churches in populous parishes’. The sum of £1M was allocated, with a limit of £20,000 to which each Vestry could apply.
Marylebone Vestry quickly applied and was granted Crown land at the south end of Portland Place. John Nash was already developing the Regent Street area and made sure that he was appointed to design the church, as the site would resolve his problem of how to join the new Regent Street up to Portland Place. All Souls is Nash's only remaining church building.
In 1940 a landmine exploded in Portland Place, lifting the roof of All Souls and damaging its spire. The building was declared unsafe, and was not re-opened until 1951.
In the 1970's the need for extra space at the Church became acute. The church architect, Robert Potter discovered John Nash's original 13 foot inverted brick arches. The decision was made to build a Hall under the Church. The congregation took on the project and raised most of the funds themselves. They were delighted when the new Waldegrave Hall, with a kitchen, dining room and cloakroom was re-opened in 2nd November 1976.
The stonework and interior has been repaired many times over the years, but in 2023 the need for a new roof became critical. Once again the church was swathed in scaffolding and emerged with a new roof and cleaned and repaired stonework.
Guided tour
historical house, institution/profession, museum
Grade II* listed building with neoclassical portico. Highly decorated meeting rooms throughout the building with ceiling and wall mouldings, and artwork featuring Venus the Goddess of Love and the Greek Muses.
Robert and James Adam, 1776
Drop in / Guided tour
community/cultural, gallery, concert/performance space, mixed use, institution/profession, art in the public realm, museum
Loughborough Pearson's red brick building is unimposing from the outside, but inside is a riot of Gothic Revival design. Golden mosaics reveal the character of the Grade II* listed chapel, built as part of the Middlesex Hospital.
J. L. Pearson, 1891
