Chelsea is world famous for so many things: Chelsea Flower Show, Chelsea FC, Chelsea Pensioners. There always seems to be a lot going on in Chelsea, particularly this month; I have included a couple of photos from Chelsea in Bloom 2025 at the end. A brief history: originally a rural Anglo-Saxon fishing settlement called Cealc-hythe meaning ‘chalk wharf. From Saxon times until 1900AD (over 1,000 years) Chelsea formed a manor and parish in the Ossulstone ‘hundred’ or subdivision of Middlesex. From 1900 it became the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea and then in 1965 along with Kensington, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The royal connections I will say more about next month, as ‘Churches in Chelsea’ will continue into June. Historically one of the most affluent areas of London, this part of the borough boasts high-end boutiques and restaurants, and estate agents displaying eye-wateringly expensive properties for sale. In the 1970s the term ‘Sloane Ranger’ was coined to describe the residents of the ultra-posh Sloane Square area.

Source: Wikipedia

Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street

Known as the ‘Cathedral of the Arts and Crafts’, the church is famous for its large East window designed by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, prominent artists and textile designers of the 19th century. The first church on the site was a Gothic design construction built between 1828 and 1830. This was completely demolished less than 60 years later, being too small for its growing congregation. The current church, built in 1888- 90, is twice the size of its predecessor, it was designed by the architect John Dando Sedding and paid for by 5th Earl of Cadogan, being located in his London estate. It is the widest church in London, exceeding St Paul’s Cathedral by 23cm (9 inches.) The church was badly damaged by incendiary bombs in World War Two but was faithfully restored in the 1960s. After that, there was an attempt by church authorities to close and demolish the building and replace it with a smaller one (how could they even think such a thing?) Happily, this was thwarted by a campaign led by the poet John Betjeman and the Victorian Society. Today the church has a large congregation and continues its long connection with the world of fine art and music. Because the pews have been removed and replaced by moveable chairs, the large nave provides flexible space for concerts and other events, including an annual summer festival, the Chelsea Schubert Festival.

Source: Wikipedia

St Luke’s and Christchurch, Chelsea

Of course, I had to visit Café Portico first – the Café in the Porch of St Luke’s. The church is situated just off the Kings Road, opposite the Royal Brompton Hospital; it is Grade 1 Listed in National Heritage and sits in beautiful Grade 2 listed gardens in Historic Parks and Gardens – photo at the top of this post. Designed by James Savage in 1819, the church is the earliest of the Gothic Revival churches in London to be a completely new construction. In the early 19th century Chelsea was expanding from a village west of central London to being part of the capital. St Luke’s replaced Chelsea’s original parish church, now known as Chelsea Old Church. It was one of the first group of Commissioners’ churches, being partly funded by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Act 1818. Another London church which lost stained glass during the Blitz, a replacement East window was installed in 1959, designed by prolific stained glass artist Hugh Eaton. Unusually, rather than depicting Biblical characters, the window incorporates the heraldic symbols and devices of the Evangelists, Apostles and Doctors of the Church. The most famous of people associated with St Luke’s is Charles Dickens who married Catherine Hogarth, a resident of Chelsea, here in 1836. The wedding took place two days after the publication of The Pickwick Papers, his first successful novel.

Source: Wikipedia

HTB Onslow Square

The map below shows that this church was once known as St Paul’s Parish Church. It is now part of the Holy Trinity Brompton church organisation which has six church sites across West London. The map shows the church’s proximity to South Kensington Railway Station (now Underground Station) and also shows St Luke’s Chelsea. I inherited from my late Dad Bartholomew’s Reference Atlas of Greater London published in 1949, which maps the whole of the Greater London area, and which I often look at to see ‘how things were.’ The Onslow Square church, while having all the latest tech required for the 21st century church, has retained many of its mid-Victorian features both inside and out. The church was built in 1859-60 in the Perpendicular style; it was extended to include a church hall and accommodation for the incumbents through the following 100 or so years, but by the 1980s congregation numbers had fallen and eventually services ceased altogether. Enter HTB and the church is thriving once again; there are three Sunday services including a specific youth service at 4.30pm. Being part of a para-church organisation, the church offers a range of courses and events, including the world famous Alpha Course, and also several social action projects.

Sources: htb.org/onslow; onslowsquare.org.uk/history-st-pauls-church

St Mary’s Cadogan Street, Chelsea

This church has some beautiful, modern stained glass windows; the church itself is one of the oldest Roman Catholic parishes in central London. In 1812 a Catholic chapel was erected close to the present church, one of the first since the Reformation. It was founded by Abbe Jean Voyaux de Franous who had arrived in London in 1793 and had been given special charge of the spiritual welfare of veterans soldiers at ‘Chelsey Colledge’, now the Royal Hospital and home of the Chelsea Pensioners, and the soldiers at Chelsea Barracks. When the Abbe died, his work was continued by Joseph and Mary (great names!) Knight who established a foundation to purchase 2 and a half acres of land, a site which now contains the church, a rectory, St Josephs’ Primary School and St Josephs’ Almshouses, all built between 1845 and 55. The church was designed by John Francis Bentley, a church architect, primarily of Roman Catholic churches. His chief work was Westminster Cathedral near Victoria Station. Today the parish has a diverse congregation including people from continental Europe, the Philippines, South America, the US and Africa.

Source: stmaryscadoganstreet.co.uk

And to finish, some photos from Chelsea in Bloom 2025

A diverse selection this month: a unique parish church, an innovative church building, a small park (formerly a cemetery) and a gem of a chapel. This is an area north-west of central London bordered by Euston Road to the north and Great Ormond Street, home of the famous children’s hospital to the south. Notable places of interest are the Charles Dickens Museum and the Foundling Museum, founded by 18th century philanthropist Thomas Coram. Several other interesting places to visit in the area, but as always, I’m focusing on the Christian aspects and locations!

Lumen United Reformed Church

This RIBA award-winning church was designed by architects Patrick Theis and Soraya Khan and includes this unique floor to ceiling ‘quiet space’, for use as a room to worship, pray or meditate, alone or with a few others. In 1808 the Highland Society of London set up funds for Gaelic language worship in London and also an orphanage for the children of Scottish soldiers in London. A ‘Gaelic Chapel’ was erected in Hatton Garden, at the time one of the poorest areas of London. The Society relocated to the present site and a new, larger church was built in 1827, and became known as ‘The National Scotch Church’. This church was destroyed in 1945 by one of the last V2 rockets of the Second World War. The church was rebuilt in 1965, the foundation stone being laid by Lord Reith, founder of the BBC. In 2007-8 the building was remodelled ‘for a new century of service’ to become the church we see today. The beautiful and striking stained-glass window contains more than 1,000 pieces of one-inch thick glass in 21 panels and was created by French Master glassmaker Francois Pierre Fourmaintraux (1896 – 1974). There are some other modern windows in the church made with traditional stained-glass window techniques. In 1972 the church became part of the United Reformed Church.

Source: Leaflets in the Church

St Pancras New Church

The church’s website describes it as ‘liberal Anglican Christianity in Central London.’ Located in Euston Road, it serves the communities of Euston, St Pancras and Somers Town. The church building was consecrated in 1822 and was known as ‘new’ St Pancras as it replaced the neglected and dilapidated ‘old’ St Pancras, which has since been restored as a parish church. The most celebrated features of the church are the two sets of caryatids: Greek statues copied from those on the Acropolis in Athens, designed by local architect William Inwood and his son, Henry Inwood. The statues are made of terracotta and were constructed in sections around cast-iron columns. They are certainly impressive at first sight. The total cost of the building was £76,679, making it the most expensive church to be built since the reconstruction of St Paul’s Cathedral following the Great Fire. The Crypt Gallery beneath the church is a spacious exhibition area hosting art displays, private events and film and photo shoots. The church holds lunchtime music recitals twice a week and a monthly Theological Reading Group. There is a Street Food stall in the church garden open Mondays to Fridays from 11.30 to 2.30 serving a variety of international food.

Source: stpancraschurch.org

St George’s Gardens

This is a small but attractive park behind the Coram Centre and Foundling Museum. From 1713 it was a cemetery serving two parish churches, both conveniently called St George: St George the Martyr Queen Square and St George Bloomsbury. By 1885 the burial ground was overcrowded and in a poor state of repair and was closed to burials. Thirty years later it was reopened as a public garden, part of a pioneering movement which redesigned overgrown urban graveyards into ‘open air sitting rooms’ in the words of housing reformer Octavia Hill. One notable burial in the cemetery is that of Eliza Fenning, a cook who was arrested in 1815 for allegedly poisoning her employers with arsenic. Sentenced to death, she was hanged outside Newgate Prison. More than 10,000 people joined her funeral procession from St George the Martyr to the burial ground. There was widespread belief that there had been a miscarriage of justice due to a reliance on circumstantial evidence alone, and highlighted the need for more accurate forensic science in crime scene investigation. The Friends of St George’s Gardens are currently consulting local residents about putting a memorial to Eliza on the wall of the Gardens. I shall go back in a few months’ time to find out if they decided to do so! In the Gardens there is a statue of Euterpe the Muse of Instrumental Music, this was one of nine which adorned the façade of the Apollo Inn on Tottenham Court Road, which was demolished in 1961.

Source: Notice boards in the Gardens

St Christopher’s Chapel, Great Ormand Street Hospital

And lastly, this exquisite little chapel at the world famous GOSH. The original hospital was built between 1871 and 1876 and the chapel was completed in 1875. It was designed by Edward Barry who donated his work to the hospital in memory of one of his children who died in infancy. When the old hospital was demolished in the 1980s could not be pulled down due to its Grade ll listing. Instead the whole chapel was moved to its new site, GOSH’s new Variety Club Building, by encasing it in a huge waterproof box and using hydraulic rollers to transport it. All the furniture, fittings and the stained glass windows were removed prior to relocation of the chapel. Six years after it was moved, following extensive renovation the chapel was reopened on 14th February 1994 by Diana, Princess of Wales. The chapel is designed in the Franco-Italianate style and influenced by Renaissance Revival. Some of the stained-glass windows depict Bible stories relating to children: Jesus welcoming the children and the boy Samuel with Eli the Priest. I particularly liked the Prayer Tree which was commissioned to celebrate the chapel’s 140th anniversary. The chaplaincy team offers pastoral support regardless of religious belief and the chapel hosts daily prayers. It offers a quiet place for reflection and prayer for families and houses the poignant but beautiful Book of Remembrance.

Source: gosh.nhs.uk

The Eastern or Orthodox Christian denomination is the third largest after Catholic and Protestant and has approximately 300 million adherents. It is the primary denomination of many East European countries including Ukraine, Romania, Greece, Serbia and Cyprus as well as Russia and some regions of North Africa. The history of Orthodoxy is complicated; the most important event was the Great Schism of 1056 which led to separation between the church of the West, Catholicism, and the Eastern Byzantine Church, now known as Orthodox. However, my interest was aesthetic rather than spiritual: the lavish splendour of the church interiors – stepping into such churches is like stepping out of London and into Eastern Europe!

Source: Wikipedia

Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Bayswater

Also known as Saint Sophia Cathedral, this church in Bayswater has an interesting but quite ordinary exterior which hides its breathtakingly-beautiful interior. When I visited, an event (not an actual service) was taking place so all my shots are of the ceiling and above people’s heads, so my photos don’t really do it justice! The cathedral was consecrated as the Church of the Holy Wisdom in February 1882 to serve the prosperous Greek community which had settled around Bayswater and Notting Hill. The architectural style is Byzantine Revival by architect John Oldrid Scott, who was also responsible for St Stephen’s Greek Orthodox Chapel in West Norwood Cemetery, another one for me to visit! The interior is decorated with gold and polychromatic marble and the overall effect is spectacular.

Source: Wikipedia

Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Knightsbridge

Also known as the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints, the building is the former Anglican church of a wealthy parish of the mid 1800s. The church was let to the Russian Orthodox Church and consecrated as an Orthodox church in 1956, again to serve the Russian community in the area. Finally in 1978 the building was purchased by the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh which covers Great Britain and Ireland. The Western façade was remodelled in 1891 to closely resemble that of the Basilica of San Zeno, Verona; the interior of the church is largely unchanged unchanged from the original Anglican church. When I visited, a baptism service was taking place, both the parents and the priest conducting the service seemed quite happy for people to be wandering around the church!

Source: Wikipedia

Serbian Orthodox Cathedral

The Cathedral of St Sava, Notting Hill, is the seat of the Serbian Orthodox diocese in Great Britain and Ireland. Another former Anglican church built in 1903, after the Second World War, the church was purchased and adapted for the divine services of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Funds to buy the building were raised with the support of Queen Maria Karadjordjevic and British Lady Paget who was a great friend to the Serbian people in London, and by generous donations from the congregation. My favourite thing about the church is the large murals showing stories from the Bible, perhaps an alternative to stained glass windows. Adjacent to the church is the Community Centre which serves as the Headquarters of the Serbian Church, a Sunday School for children to learn the Serbian language and history, and also accommodates the St Sava Choir and ‘Rastko’ folk dance group.

Source: spclondon.org.uk; Wikipedia

St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Kensington

Formerly St John’s Presbyterian Church which opened in 1863, the building was purchased from the Scottish Presbyterians in 1975. It is dedicated to St Mark the Evangelist and was the first Coptic Orthodox church in Europe. Copts are a Christian denomination originating in North Africa, primarily modern Egypt. Mark was a missionary companion of Paul and is credited with establishing the church in Alexandria in the first century AD, later the Coptic Orthodox Church. St Mark is symbolised by a winged lion, presumably to represent Africa; hence the lion in the stained glass window in the church. I was shown round the church by a lovely lady called Nora, who told me that St Mark’s has a thriving Young Peoples’ Ministry that meets in the basement of the church which attracts a diverse group of young people – it’s run by her nephew! The church holds services in English and Arabic to cater for the diverse congregation.

Sources: Wikipedia; stmark.org.uk; allsaintstories.com

Lastly, I’ve included these two photos of St Sarkis Armenian Church, just off Kensington High Street. I was not able to visit, but I liked its Eastern design surrounded by Edwardian red-brick mansion blocks!

This month I visited a few more chapels in and around the City. The difference between a church and a chapel is that churches have a permanent congregation with a minister to conduct regular services, whereas chapels are usually smaller places of worship and don’t have regular services (although some do, as I found out.) There are chapels in the grounds of hospitals, schools, private residences, and these days, in airports and workplaces. However, the four I explored are in none of these places! One is in a former monastery, one is part of the Inns of Court, and two are part of larger churches.

Chapel of the Charterhouse

The history of the Charterhouse Chapel is intertwined with the Charterhouse itself. In 1348, land which is now Charterhouse Square was used as an emergency cemetery to bury victims of the first Great Plague, which claimed the lives of 60% of the population of London. Later a chapel was built as a place of prayer for the souls of the dead. When London was finally free of the plague, the then Bishop of London founded a Carthusian monastery, known as Charterhouses, on the site. This thrived until 1538 when Henry Vlll’s Act of Supremacy led to the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Thereafter the chapel was used to store Henry’s hunting and jousting equipment. The lovely entrance to the chapel was the last phase of the Carthusian building, completed in 1521 and therefore only used as part of the chapel for 17 years. However, it was later adapted for use as a private chapel for a Tudor mansion, built from the ruins of the monastery. Then in 1611 Thomas Sutton, a civil servant and businessman, bought the Charterhouse to establish a school and ‘hospital’ (almshouses) for 40 ‘poor boys’ and 80 ‘poor brothers’. The ‘brothers’, elderly single people, still occupy the almshouses, which in 2017, opened its doors to include female residents. The chapel houses a magnificent memorial to Thomas Sutton.

Sources: thecharterhouse.org; nationalchurchestrust.org

Lincoln’s Inn Chapel

The most striking aspect of this chapel is the rib-vaulted ceiling of the undercroft. The current chapel was completed in in 1623, replacing the original chapel of the Bishops of Chichester, part of the Bishops’ Palace. It was a tradition of chapels in Bishops’ Palaces to be built above an undercroft, and this one is spectacular. The poet John Donne laid the foundation stone in 1620 as preacher of the Inn at that time. The chapel bell, cast in 1613, also has a connection with Donne. By ancient tradition, the bell is tolled at midday on the death of a bencher of the Inn. This practice is said to have inspired Donne’s poem ‘No Man is an Island.’ which concludes with the line ‘And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.’ In the 18th century, the undercroft became known as a place for mothers to leave babies if they couldn’t care for them. These ‘foundling’ children were initially cared for by the Inn and given the surname Lincoln. The stained glass of the East window comprises the Coats of Arms of the Treasurers of the Inn, including that of William Pitt the Younger, Treasurer in 1794 and future Prime Minister. The chapel holds Sunday services during ‘legal terms’ and is licensed to perform weddings and baptisms for those ‘with a connection to the Inn.’

Sources: livinglondonhistory.org; nationalchurchestrust.org

St Etheldreda’s Chapel, Ely Place

The chapel of St Etheldreda is all that remains of the London Palace of the Bishops of Ely. Around 1250 John le Francis, bishop of Ely, obtained a licence to build a chapel on land owned by St Paul’s Cathedral. Completed in 1290, the London palace grew up around the chapel, extending to 58 acres of farmland and gardens. So why did bishops from Ely and Chichester (Lincoln’s Inn Chapel) have palaces in London? From the 13th century, England’s bishops established households (albeit on a grand scale) in London in order to attend Parliament as many of them held civil, as well as clerical office. St Etheldreda, born about AD630, was the daughter of a Saxon king of East Anglia who founded Ely cathedral in Cambridgeshire. The chapel is unusual because it is a ‘double decker’ chapel, one built on top of the other. The upper chapel was the bishop’s private chapel, and the crypt or undercroft was a place of worship for local people. However, there is a theory that only the upper chapel was used as a church and the undercroft had other purposes. It’s possible that that it was divided into two or more rooms; there is evidence of a well and two chimneys within the walls, which suggests domestic use. Since the late 1800s the crypt has been used continually as a place of worship. My photos are of the atmospheric lower chapel with its beautiful modern stained glass windows.

Source: Booklet in the Chapel

Lady Chapel, St Bartholomew the Great

St Bart’s at Smithfields is another wonderfully atmospheric ancient church and on a recent visit, I came across the Lady Chapel. One of the miracles recorded in the Book of the Foundation of St Bart’s tells the story of a vision of the Virgin Mary in the 12th century to Cannon Hubert, one of the Austin (Augustine) Cannons living in the priory. She allegedly accused the cannons of laxity in devotion and worship to her and her Son Jesus. It was decided to build a much larger Lady Chapel at the East End of the church; chapels dedicated to saints are usually located in a side aisle. In the Reformation, Henry Vlll allowed St Bart’s to remain as a church and priory because of the attached hospital, but the Lady Chapel was separated from the main church and converted to commercial premises. By the 1700s it was a printer’s workshop and it was here that a young Benjamin Franklin began an apprenticeship as a trainee typesetter. The Lady Chapel was restored to the church in 1897 to be used again for worship and church services. A Eucharist service took place in the Lady Chapel on 21st September, in the week which celebrated Founder’s Day, marking 9002 years since the church was founded by Prior Rahere, councillor to Henry ll. The painting above the altar is of ‘Our Lady of Smithfield.’

Source: greatstbarts.com; livinglondonhistory.org

Another of my favourite parts of London is the historic Docklands. The instantly recognisable Isle of Dogs peninsula is shown above in a map from 1949 and a present day map. Once the world’s largest port, the Port of London was heavily bombed in World War Two; the docks and warehouses were damaged or destroyed along with much of the area’s housing. Plans to rebuild and redevelop the docks in the 1950s were abandoned due to the introduction of container ships worldwide; the River Thames and the docks themselves could not accommodate these much larger vessels. The docks closed and the area became derelict and poverty-ridden. Ambitious plans to regenerate the former docks were proposed in the early 1970s, when the name ‘London Docklands’ was first used in a Government report. The London Docklands Development Corporation managed the conversion of the area into residential, commercial and light industrial space in the 1980s and 90s and the Canary Wharf Project established a second business and financial district of London. Not without controversy, the LDDC was criticised at the time for favouring the construction of high-end luxury apartments rather than affordable housing for local people. Today, it’s also a tourist must-visit; there are the usual range of bars, eateries and shopping malls, plus the wonderful Museum of London Docklands, housed in a former warehouse. Two of the churches I visited are located somewhat to the west of Docklands but both have strong associations with the River and the docks.

Source: Wikipedia

St Mary’s, Rotherhithe

Situated on the south bank of the Thames, this church is close to the former Surrey Commercial Docks and the area is steeped in history: the nearby Brunel Museum charts the history of the Thames Tunnel, a Victorian feat of engineering constructed by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel. St Mary Rotherhithe Free School, founded in 1613 by mariners Robert Bell and Peter Hill for the education of the sons of seafarers, is located across the road from the church, which it predates. Although now located elsewhere, it is thought to be the oldest elementary school in London. On the wall of the church is a Blue Plaque commemorating the sailing of the Mayflower from Rotherhithe in 1620, and in the adjacent graveyard is a statue of the ship’s captain, Christopher Jones of Rotherhithe. The inscription on the statue reads: ‘To the memory of Christopher Jones, 1570 to 1622, Master of the Mayflower. He landed 102 planters and adventurers at Plymouth, Massachusetts 21st December 1620. They formed the Mayflower Company and the first permanent colony in New England.’ Interesting that they are referred to as Adventurers, not Pilgrims! The current church was constructed between 1714 and 1747, replacing a mediaeval building, but sadly I was not able to go inside.

Source: londonremembers.com

St Peter’s Wapping

If only that Tunnel had still been in use, it would have been an exciting route from St Mary’s to St Peter’s just across the River. As it was, I travelled one stop on the Windrush Line. This church has a legacy of caring for the poorest people of the dockland area, with the first Anglican mission to the poor of London being founded here by members of the Society of the Holy Cross. Wapping was one of the poorest districts, inhabited by criminals, prostitutes and unskilled dock workers. Work began on the building of the church in 1856 by the Reverend Charles Lowder, and the church was consecrated in 1866. Soon afterwards the East End was struck by cholera and Rev. Lowder, the other clergy and the Sisters of Mercy worked tirelessly caring for the sick at great personal risk. Thereafter Rev. Lowder was called ‘the Father’ by local people as he seemed like the father of the community. The work among the poor continued with the setting up of schools and clubs for children, canteens offering affordable food, and spiritual support. In 1873 Lincoln Stanhope Wainwright became Rector of St Peter’s under Rev. Lowder and continued the parish work, even giving away his own food and clothing to the destitute. Another priest beloved by the community, when he died in 1929, one of his parishioners wrote ‘Docklands was washed with tears because this tiny but indomitable figure, shabby, untiring, spendthrift of love, would not serve them on Earth any more.’ I loved St Peter’s bright, colourful interior.

Sources: stchrysostoms.wordpress.com; londonremembers.com

Christ Church and St John’s, Isle of Dogs

Travelling on the elevated Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is always fun and my journey to Island Gardens took me past Mudchute and Millwall Parks. This church is situated on Manchester Road at the tip of the Isle of Dogs peninsula, and the first thing I noticed when I arrived was that the church, the vicarage and a pub (the Waterman’s Arms) were the only buildings over 30 years old. The streets here have changed almost beyond recognition since the days of the docks. Building work on Christ Church began in 1852 by William Cubitt at his own expense on land donated by the Countess of Glengall and the church was consecrated in 1857. The church has some interesting features: the painted mural over the chancel arch was completed in 1914 and the wonderful organ with its decoration of angels was installed in 1911. A newsletter in the church informed me that the Vicar, Father Tom Pyke decided to celebrate Pentecost this year by having Scripture readings read by church members who speak languages other than English, literally ‘speaking in other tongues’ as the followers of Jesus did on the Day of Pentecost. The languages spoken by the multi-lingual congregation are: Welsh (Father Tom), French, Polish, Vietnamese, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Nepali, Zulu, Shona, Czech, Spanish, Urdu, Yoruba, Luganda, Farsi – and English. I wish I’d been at that service!

Source: Christ Church Isle of Dogs website: newsletter in church

I also liked the cross-beamed ceiling

St Peter’s Barge: London’s Floating Church

The most unusual of my visited churches, St Peter’s is unique in that it’s actually IN the dock, formerly West India Dock! The barge which houses a church is moored at West India Quay in the heart of the Canary Wharf business and financial district. A large part of this area lies within the parish of St Anne’s Limehouse, and following the redevelopment of the East London Docklands, St Anne’s started lunchtime outreach meetings in the pubs and bars for the 100,000 people working here. The project was supported by St Helen’s Bishopsgate in the City, but to grow the work, a permanent venue was needed; the vision to establish a floating church was realised with the formation of the St Peter’s Canary Wharf Trust. A Dutch freight barge was purchased in the Netherlands in 2003, refitted in situ and brought across the North Sea, where it has a permanent mooring here in the dock. A full-time Church of England minister was appointed in 2004; fast forward 21 years and St Peter’s holds regular Sunday morning services, including Sunday School for primary aged children in nearby London Docklands Museum – what a great place to have Sunday School! The lunchtime talks, part of the original outreach, take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and there are also cell groups, women’s and young people’s groups and a Toddler Group, appropriately named Little Ducklings. What a great location to ‘do church’!

Note: This month I visited four very different churches, each with a unique story to tell: histories of buildings and people and events from 300 years ago right up to the 21st century. As always, when I happened to meet church staff and volunteers (which happens a lot!) they were friendly and helpful. It’s one of the best parts of writing this Blog!