St Alban's Church, Holborn, is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

, central London, for a time becoming one of two churches of its parish which retains the name ''and St Peter's Saffron Hill'' to serve the mixed-use zone, notable for jewel-setting and for law firms. It has been Grade II* listed since 1951. This land is commonly – other than mainly to state Holborn, meaning part of Holborn – called

Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourit ...

. St Peter's church is defunct, rationalising the number of churches in line with population changes of the district.

History

Beginnings

William Henry, 2nd Baron Leigh, gave the site for the church. It was built with funds from

John Hubbard, 1st Baron Addington John Gellibrand Hubbard, 1st Baron Addington PC (21 March 1805 – 28 August 1889), was a City of London financier and a Conservative Party politician. Background and early life He was born at Stratford Grove, Essex, the son of John Hubbard a ...

, and designed by

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a British Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was bo ...

in 1859. Construction occurred between 1861 and 1862 in yellow and red stock bricks with stone dressings and tiled roofs. In 1862 Alexander Mackonochie became its first

perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly ...

. He introduced a daily Eucharist, which featured

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

and significant ritual elements (e.g. the lighting of altar candles and the cleansing of eucharistic vessels at the altar). St Alban's was the first Anglican church to hold the three-hour devotion on Good Friday (in 1864) and one of the first to celebrate a Harvest Festival. Mackonochie also openly heard

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that ...

s. Mackonochie's pastoral ministry was typical of the 19th-century

ritualist A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

"slum priest". With his two curates, Arthur Stanton (who remained at the church until his death in 1913) and Edward Russell, and lay assistants he founded schools, soup kitchens, a working men's club, mothers' meetings, clothing funds and more. Though he remained until 1882 and remained as an assistant priest thereafter, he became known as "the martyr of St Alban's" from those making "regular"

Low Church In Anglican Christianity, the term ''low church'' refers to those who give little emphasis to ritual, often having an emphasis on preaching, individual salvation, and personal conversion. The term is most often used in a liturgical sense, denot ...

requests and moves to temper his

ritualism A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

. In 1891 a chapel was added to designs by Charles Henry Money Mileham (1837–1917), with the chapel's stained glass by

Charles Eamer Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lychg ...

added in 1898 – it now also contains two

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect, one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishm ...

. The 1890s saw the future bishop

Hensley Henson Herbert Hensley Henson (8 November 1863 – 27 September 1947) was an English Anglican cleric, scholar and polemicist. He was Bishop of Hereford from 1918 to 1920 and Bishop of Durham from 1920 to 1939. Henson's father was a devout follo ...

(then vicar of St Margaret's Barking) frequently visit as a guest preacher.

1900–present

In 1938 the church hosted England's first complete performance of

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

's ''

La Nativité du Seigneur ''La Nativité du Seigneur, neuf méditations pour orgue'' (''The Birth of the Lord, nine meditations for organ'') is an important work for organ, written by the French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1935 in Grenoble. It is a testament to Messiaen ...

'', organised by Felix Aprahamian and played by the composer himself. The church was burned out during the

London Blitz London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

in 1941, though the chapel survived. The main church was restored by

Adrian Gilbert Scott Adrian Gilbert Scott CBE (6 August 1882 – 23 April 1963) was an English ecclesiastical architect. Early life Scott was the grandson of Sir Gilbert Scott (George Gilbert Scott), son of George Gilbert Scott, Jr. (founder of Watts & Company ...

between 1959 and 1961, including a new organ by

John Compton Sir John George Melvin Compton, (29 April 1925 – 7 September 2007) was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first prime minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton ser ...

. Beside the church's entrance is a 1985 sculpture by

Hans Feibusch Hans Nathan FeibuschFeibusch, Hans Nathan< ...

entitled 'Jesus being Raised from the Dead' – the same artist had produced the church's current set of Stations of the Cross (date unknown) and a mural of the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

for the east wall (1966). On 9 June 1990 the church hosted the foundation of

Affirming Catholicism Affirming Catholicism, sometimes referred to as AffCath, is a movement operating in several provinces of the Anglican Communion, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States. In the US the movement is known as Affirming ...

, representing a liberal strand of Anglo-Catholicism, though the church itself is now considered a traditionalist

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

parish – as such, it is under the

Alternative Episcopal Oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction "are unable to receive the ministry of w ...

of the

Bishop of Fulham The Bishop of Fulham is a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of London in the Church of England. The bishopric is named after Fulham, an area of south-west London; the see was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by Order in Council ...

(now the

Rt Revd The Right Reverend (abbreviated as The Rt Revd or The Rt Rev) is an honorific style given to certain (primarily Western) Christian ministers and members of clergy. It is a variant of the more common style "The Reverend". Usage * In the Anglica ...

Jonathan Baker). The present incumbent, the

Revd The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style given to certain (primarily Western) Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and chu ...

Christopher Smith SSC, succeeded former Archdeacon of Egypt, the Ven. Howard Levett SSC (1944–2016), following his retirement in 2010. Appointed Vicar of St Alban's in 2011, Fr Smith also has the honour of serving as

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

to the Aldermanic Sheriff of London (for 2024/25), Gregory Jones KC.www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
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Organists

Gallery of architectural features

File:St Alban's Church (detail), Holborn - geograph.org.uk - 704805.jpg, West door inscription File:'Jesus Being Raised From the Dead', Hans Feibusch, The Church of S.Alban the Martyr, Holborn (6771909403).jpg, 'Jesus Being Raised From the Dead' by Hans Feibusch

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Alban's Church, Holborn Grade II* listed churches in London Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Camden Anglo-Catholic church buildings in the London Borough of Camden Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Churches completed in 1862 19th-century Church of England church buildings 1862 establishments in England William Butterfield buildings

Gothic Revival church buildings in London Adrian Gilbert Scott buildings

Buildings and structures in Holborn