St Yeghiche Armenian Church () is the largest church of the

Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic Church, belongs to the Arme ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. It faces Cranley Gardens,

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

, London. The church was privately built in 1867 as St Peter's Anglican Church by highly successful developer,

Charles James Freake Sir Charles James Freake, 1st Baronet (7 April 1814 – 6 October 1884) was an untrained English architect and builder, responsible for many famous 19th-century façades in London, including Eaton Square, Exhibition Road and Onslow Square ...

, whose widow came to live later in life in one of the adjacent houses. It became the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of Kensington (St Peter's). By an Order in Council of December 1972 Saint Peter's was declared

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with the intention that the building be leased to the Armenian Orthodox Church. Anglican services ceased in January 1973. The building was purchased by a benefactor in 1998 and restored, with the addition of features required by the Armenian Divine Liturgy. Another Armenian church in Kensington, of the traditional Armenian style, is St Sarkis.

References

External links

Photos of the church on FlickrSpecification of the four-manual Willis/Walker organ
Grade II* listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Churches in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Church of St Yegiche Armenian Apostolic churches in the United Kingdom Former Church of England church buildings Church buildings converted to a different denomination South Kensington Churches completed in 1867 {{coord, 51.489394, -0.177845, display=title, region:GB_scale:1000