St Peter, Vere Street, known until 1832 as the Oxford Chapel after its founder

Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (2 June 1689 – 16 June 1741) was an English Tories (British political party), Tory politician and peer who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1711 to 1724. Early life Edwa ...

, is a former Anglican church off

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

, London. It has sometimes been referred to as the Marybone Chapel or Marylebone Chapel.

History

The chapel was designed by

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was a Scottish architect. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transition between English Ba ...

in 1722. It was originally intended as a

Chapel of Ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

to supplement the parish church for the growing parish of

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

. The building was acquired by the Crown from the Portland Estate in 1817 and was dedicated to St Peter in 1832. In 1830, Parliament had passed an "Act for endowing the Parish Church of Newborough in the County of Northampton, and Three Chapels, called Portland Chapel, Oxford Chapel, and Welbeck Chapel, situate in the Parish of Saint Mary-le-bone, in the County of Middlesex, and also a Chapel erected on Sunk Island in the River Humber". It was licensed for marriages from 1722 to 1754 and between 1930 and its deconsecration: Margaret Bentinck (daughter of the 2nd Earl, and Duchess of Portland) married here. Incumbents included the theologian F. D. Maurice (1860–69), and William Boyce was the chapel's organist from 1734 to 1736. Its interior appears in plate 2 of Hogarth's print series '' Industry and Idleness''. It was also here that the French chef Jassintour Rozea married his French wife Mary Magdalen Bernard in April 1744. They lived on Duke Street close to Grosvenor Square. He became Master Chef to the Duke of Somerset, Charles Seymour, presenting sumptuous banquets for his guests. He wrote several cookery books on gourmet French cooking in the 1750s. St Peter's served the congregation of All Souls Church, Langham Place, from 1940 to 1951 whilst the latter was having war damage repaired, and then became a chapel of ease to it.

Architecture

The church is built of brick, with stone

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

. The main entrance is at the west end, with steps leading up to a Doric porch. The pediment once held a carved coat of arms of a member of the De Vere family; this was removed in 1832, when the building was renovated and named St Peter's. A tower rises from the ridge of the roof at the west end; the first stage is square, and of brick, while the second two stages are octagonal, and pierced on each side. At the east end is a Venetian window, with a pediment above. There was originally a stone vase on each corner of the building. Inside, the nave has an elliptical nave vault supported on

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

, flanked by cross-vaulted aisles. There are galleries in both nave and chancel. Victorian alterations included the installation of stained-glass windows by

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

, made by Morris & Co., which remain in place. Gibbs published plans of the building in his ''Book Of Architecture'', in which it is called 'Marybone Chapel'. Its ground plan was copied at St Paul's Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia, the earliest Anglican church in Canada, and the Holy Ghost plaque in the ceiling at St Thomas' Church, Stourbridge, is a close copy of that here.

Organists

* after 1923 the organist post was held by the organist of All Souls Church, Langham Place.'The Organs of All Souls Church, Langham Place, London & St Peter's Church, Vere Street, London by Colin Goulden FRSA (London : All Souls Church, Langham Place, 1976.). 13. * 1891–1923: Augustus Toop (?-?) * in 1881: Capt. C. H. Hullett (?–?) * in 1874: Walter Hermitage (?-?) * 1866–1871: Edward Francis Rimbault (1816–76)'Reviewed Work(s): Brother Musicians. Reminiscences of Edward and Walter Bache by Constance Bache'. The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Sep. 1, 1901, Vol. 42, No. 703 (Sep. 1, 1901), 612-13. * 1860?–1866: Walter Bache (1842–88) * (?-1860?): George French Flowers (1811–72). ** He became a Catholic around 1860 and so this may date his successor's appointment. * 1844-?: Kate Loder (1825–1904) * : ? * in 1773:

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicis ...

(1726–1814) * in 1764: Theodre Aylward (1730–1801)Miscellaneous
. The Musical Times, Vol. 53, No. 832 (Jun. 1, 1912), 405. Online resource, accessed 14 October 2024 * : ? * (n.d.): Jonathan Martin (1715–37) * in 1734: William Boyce (1711–79) * in 1725: Joseph Centilivre'News'. Daily Post. 15 Nov. 1725. (British Library 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection). Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.

External links

*
St Peter's, Vere Street
. ''Survey of London''. (London: UCL, 2016).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter, Vere Street Former Church of England church buildings James Gibbs buildings Grade I listed churches in the City of Westminster