Fitzrovia Chapel

The Fitzrovia Chapel is located at Pearson Square, London W1, standing in the centre of the Fitzroy Place development, bordered by Mortimer Street, Cleveland Street, Nassau Street and Riding House Street in Fitzrovia, Westminster.

Designed by John Loughborough Pearson RA, the chapel was built 1891–92 with its interior completed 32 years after his death in 1929, the works being overseen by his son Frank Loughborough Pearson (1864–1947).^[1]

Built in the central courtyard of the former Middlesex Hospital, which was rebuilt in 1929–35 before being demolished in 2008–15, the hospital chapel was preserved as a Grade II*-listed building and renamed as the Fitzrovia Chapel.

The chapel is noted for its opulent

The

Unusually, the chapel is aligned approximately on a north–south axis instead of the traditional alignment towards the liturgical east.^[2]

Interior features

• 
  The baptistery
• 
  An arch mosaic
• 
  Its fresco
• 
  The ceiling
• 
  The

  aumbry

Notable people commemorated at the Fitzrovia Chapel

• Diana Beck, the first female neurosurgeon.

• Rudyard Kipling

• HSH Prince Francis of Teck

The Fitzrovia Chapel Foundation

The Fitzrovia Chapel is managed by a charity, the Fitzrovia Chapel Foundation. It is a secular chapel, and is a venue for non-religious ceremonies such as weddings, civil partnerships, baby namings and memorials.

Exhibitions and events

The Fitzrovia Chapel is also used by artists, galleries and art organisations for exhibitions.

In May 2017 the Horiuchi Foundation presented a series of photographs at the chapel by Tomohiro Muda. The exhibition was called Icons of Time: Memories of the Tsunami that Struck Japan.^[7]

The Richard Ingleby Gallery hosted an exhibition during Frieze London in October 2017, including works by David Batchelor, Jonathan Owen, Kevin Harman and Peter Liversidge.^[8]

In July 2017 Erskine, Hall & Coe presented Claudi Casanovas's Minvant at the chapel.^[9]

The

In January 2019 the photographer Richard Ansett presented his portrait of the artist Grayson Perry at the chapel. It was called Birth and depicted Perry's alter ego, Claire.

The Fitzrovia Chapel has been used by recording artists including Katie Melua, Allman Brown and the Vickers Bovey Guitar Duo.^[12]

Fashion brands have used the chapel as a backdrop to shows, shoots and presentations. These have included Phoebe English, Alistair James, Mother of Pearl, Alighieri and Sharon Wauchob.

"The Ward"

Leading up to

The chapel's exhibition in 2019 focused on the Welsh artist (and former Fitzrovia resident) Nina Hamnett. The exhibition was called Nina Hamnett - 'Everybody was Furious'. It featured pieces from Tenby Museum & Art Gallery, in the town where the artist was born.^[13][14]

"Portraits of NHS Heroes"

Tom Croft created a virtual exhibition (installed and scanned observing COVID-19 government guidelines) at the Fitzrovia Chapel, showcasing portraits of

The performance artist Leigh Bowery was celebrated during an exhibition in 2022 which included costumes and video. The Charles Atlas film, The Legend of Leigh Bowery, was included in the show.

"Lee Miller: Nurses"

The exhibition showed images of nurses taken across Europe by the photographer