Church House, Westminster

Coordinates: 51°29′52″N 0°7′46″W / 51.49778°N 0.12944°W / 51.49778; -0.12944
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

51°29′52″N 0°7′46″W / 51.49778°N 0.12944°W / 51.49778; -0.12944

The Church House facade from Dean's Yard in 2016

The Church House is the home of the headquarters of the

UN Security Council. It has more recently been the venue for several notable public inquiries
.

Origins

The idea of a central meeting and administrative building for the Church of England had been raised twice in the mid 19th century and was finally acted upon in 1886 when Harvey Goodwin, Bishop of Carlisle, suggested in a letter to The Times that the Church should construct a "Church House" as a memorial of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Accordingly, a charity called the Corporation of the Church House was founded by royal charter on 23 February 1888, with the aim of raising the necessary funds and executing the project.[1]

A site was selected in Dean's Yard, close to Westminster Abbey and

Anglican societies, and were inaugurated as the first Church House on 21 July 1888.[3]

Church House (1896)

Prince George, Duke of York. From 1899 the Great Hall contained a fine 3-manual pipe-organ by the London firm of T. C. Lewis; the gift of the Hon. Richard Strutt.[6]

Fund raising for the western block of the project was quickly under way; which was to include a library and a hall for meetings of the

Convocation of Canterbury. This hall was to be named after Henry Hoare, who had been instrumental in the revival of the Convocation in 1852 (its first meeting since 1717). The hall was opened by Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 28 January 1902. The rest of Blomfield's projected building was never completed.[7]

Church House (present)

The current building, designed by

King George VI on 10 June 1940. The Assembly Hall had a three-manual pipe-organ built by the The John Compton Organ Company of London.[9]

After the building's Assembly Hall was directly hit during

Central Hall, on 10 January 1946.[10] The Security Council met for the first time a week later, 17 January 1946, in Church House.[11]

Today, the building is the headquarters of the Archbishops' Council, the Church Commissioners and all its boards and councils (since 2007),[12] as well as of the Church of England Pensions Board and the National Society. It is the meeting-place of the General Synod of the Church of England each February (alternating with York in July) and for special and inaugural sessions, usually in November. Areas of the building are available on a private hire basis for conferences and events.[13]

The Church House is also the meeting-place of the Annual Bond Solon

Expert Witness
Conference each November, which is the largest gathering of expert witnesses in the UK.

The building was made a Grade II listed building in 1988,[14] and is currently used as a conference centre when the general synod is not in session.

In December 2020, the Church House hosted 2 boxing events organised by boxing promoter Frank Warren and headlined by Daniel Dubois v Joe Joyce and Anthony Yarde v Lyndon Arthur on the following weekend. There were no spectators due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

References

  1. ^ "The Church House 1888–1988 p. 3". www.churchhouse.org.uk. The Corporation of Church House. 1988. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  2. ^ The Church House 1888–1988 p. 4
  3. ^ The Church House 1888–1988 p. 5
  4. ^ The Church House 1888–1988 p. 6
  5. ^ The Church House 1888–1988 p. 7
  6. ^ 'Church House Westminster' in Dictionary of Organs and Organists by Frederick W. Thornsby (London, 1912) p. 130. Online resource, accessed 5 February 2024.
  7. ^ The Church House 1888–1988 p. 8
  8. ISBN 0-10-512672-1
    .
  9. ^ The Musical Times Vol. 80, No. 1157 (Jul., 1939) p.2 and p.528. Online resource, accessed 5 February 2024
  10. ^ "History of the United Nations 1941–1950". United Nations. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  11. ^ "What is the Security Council?". United Nations. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Church Commissioners complete sale of Millbank site". www.churchofengland.org. The Church of England. 29 March 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  13. ^ "Venue and event hire - London to Liverpool and across the UK | eve".
  14. ^ Historic England, "Church House (1264037)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 2 April 2018

Bibliography

External links

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