London, UK: The Fitzrovia Chapel has this year provided the backdrop for King Charles’s Christmas Broadcast. Loved by many as an enchanting jewel of Byzantine inspired architecture, the Chapel is located in the heart of London’s Fitzrovia community. As the former Chapel of the Middlesex Hospital, it is a place of meaning, memory and sanctuary, and today is an enriching cultural space for health and wellbeing, hosting concerts and exhibitions, free to visit and open to all (please check website for opening days and hours which vary according to season).

The Chapel’s Director, Madeleine Boomgaarden said,

‘We are honoured and thrilled that His Majesty The King has chosen this very special place from which to deliver the Christmas Message. After it has been seen in the broadcast in countries across the world, the Chapel will bask in some limelight, and we hope this means that more people will be able to discover for themselves this beautiful space for quiet reflection, discovery and celebration. We look forward to connecting with ever more diverse communities in the coming months.’

Loved by many as an enchanting jewel of Byzantine-inspired architecture, the Chapel is located in the heart of London’s Fitzrovia community. As the former Chapel of the Middlesex Hospital, it is a place of meaning, memory and sanctuary, and today is an enriching cultural space for health and wellbeing, hosting concerts and exhibitions, free to visit and open to all (please check our website for opening days and hours which vary according to season).

Key facts about The Fitzrovia Chapel

• No longer a religious building, the Chapel is now cared for by the Fitzrovia Chapel Foundation, a registered charity. It is open to everyone of all faiths, beliefs, backgrounds and cultures.
• The Fitzrovia Chapel is the only remaining building of the former Middlesex Hospital which closed in 2006 and had been on this site since 1755. The Middlesex Hospital itself dated back to 1745 – in another location.
• A Grade II* listed building, work on the Chapel was begun in 1891 by distinguished architect John Loughborough Pearson.
• The tablets and carved names that line the narthex of the Chapel record many men and women associated with the Middlesex Hospital as distinguished physicians or faithful servants of the hospital. Every plaque tells a story.
• The interior style is Gothic Revival with Byzantine inspired architecture.
• There are 555 stars in the gold leaf ceiling and more than 40 different types of marble.
• The Chapel hears the stories every week of former patients, nurses and families who have found solace, joy and sanctuary within these walls. Nurses in the middle of a nightshift, patients having been told difficult news, doctors joyfully celebrating their wedding or the baptism of their child.
• The hospital itself closed in 2006 and was demolished around 2008. The Chapel reopened in 2016 after a £2 million restoration project.
• Religious services such as mass or baptism are no longer held at the Chapel but you can get married, hold a cultural event, attend an open day, sit, reflect or pray, come to a talk or tour or listen to a concert.
• The Fitzrovia Chapel Foundation operates without public subsidy and its charitable activities and preservation of the building are mostly funded through commercial hire. This includes weddings, exhibitions, book launches and shoots.
• The Chapel offers a distinctive artistic programme, supporting emerging and established artists, wellbeing charities and learning opportunities.
• The Chapel has its own cultural programme with exhibitions that often reflect the emotional and historical connection with the hospital and the patients, hospital staff and families who visited it. Its focus is also on creative wellbeing.
• The Chapel offers the space for community groups, new artists or local organisations, as well as free tours and a volunteer programme to tell the public about its history and architecture.
• The Chapel is a space for quiet reflection, discovery and celebration, connecting a diversity of communities, visitors and partners.
• The Chapel holds regular Quiet Days without the distraction of noise or chatter when people can sit in the calm of its marble walls.
• The Chapel is generally open to the public from Monday to Wednesday and at least one Sunday a month. During exhibitions, it is open every day. Admission is always free.

_{Photo by Joe Twigg Photography}

_{Photo by Joe Twigg Photography}

_{Photo by Joe Twigg Photography}

_{Photo by Joe Twigg Photography}