The Welsh Presbyterian Chapel is a former

Presbyterian Church of Wales The Presbyterian Church of Wales (), also known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity based in Wales. The Calvinistic Methodist movement has its origins in the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival ...

church on

Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street), which then merges into Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direc ...

in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

, London, England. It was opened in 1888; the last service was held in July 1982. It was the site of the Limelight nightclub in the 1980s.

Design

The chapel was designed by

James Cubitt James Cubitt (1836–1914) was a Victorian era, Victorian Church (building), church architect specialising in building Nonconformist (Protestantism), non-conformist chapels.Romanesque Revival style Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a Architectural style, style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Reviv ...

and built in 1888. It is made from white brick 'Yorkshire parpoints' with

Ancaster stone Ancaster stone is Middle Jurassic Oolite, oolitic limestone, quarried around Ancaster, Lincolnshire, Ancaster, Lincolnshire, England. There are three forms of this limestone: weatherbed, hard white and freestone. Ancaster stone is a generic term f ...

dressings topped by a slate roof. Internally it is dominated by a large central square space with short

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") churches, in particular within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectu ...

to the east and west. An organ was situated above the gallery behind the pulpit. The chapel has a prominent octagonal dome. In 1984 it was converted internally for use as an office. The chapel was built as a Presbyterian church for the Welsh community in London. The interconnected Minister's house is located at 136

Shaftesbury Avenue Shaftesbury Avenue is a major road in the West End of London, named after The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It runs north-easterly from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. From Piccadill ...

and was the official entrance to the chapel. The building facing Shaftesbury Avenue housed the chapel's library. It is a four-storey house in red brick designed to be reminiscent of the medieval domestic architecture of

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. The chapel was listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

in February 1982.

History

The Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Connexion leased the site from the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the upper tier of local government for London between 1856 and 1889, primarily responsible for upgrading infrastructure. It also had a parks and open spaces committee which set aside and opened up severa ...

in November 1886. The creation of Shaftesbury Avenue in 1884 by the Metropolitan Board of Works had necessitated the move from the group's previous chapel in Nassau Street (now Gerrard Place). The freehold of the site was acquired by the group from

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

in 1889. The first marriage to take place at the chapel was between the educationalist Dilys Glynne Jones (born Davies) and John Glynne Jones from Bangor. Prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the chapel had the largest weekly attendance of any the Welsh chapels of London. In 1903 a Sunday service at the chapel was attended by 623 people. The chapel was perceived as the most 'fashionable' of London's Welsh chapels due to its location in the West End. The services were attended by prominent Welsh businesspeople, politicians, and lawyers based in London. The presiding minister, Peter Hughes Griffths, was a celebrity in his native Wales and served as the minister at the chapel from 1902 until his death in 1937. The chapel was the first of the Welsh chapels in London to close. The last service was held at the chapel on 9 July 1982. It was sold in March 1985 for £1 million. In the 1980s the chapel was the site of the Limelight nightclub, which saw performers such as

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

and

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

at the venue. It subsequently became a branch of the

Walkabout Walkabout is a term dating to the pastoral era in which large numbers of Aboriginal Australians were employed on cattle stations. During the tropical wet season, when there was little work on the stations, many would return to their traditional ...

Australian themed pub chain. It was bought by a Ukrainian philanthropist in 2011; it is owned by the charity Stone Nest. Stone Nest were granted approval by

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings ...

in 2018 to transform the site into a space for the performing arts as well as hosting a restaurant and bar. In November 2023 the former chapel and minister's house were put up for sale through

Knight Frank Knight Frank LLP is a global real estate consultancy and estate agency headquartered in London, England. Knight Frank's global network has more than 488 offices across 57 territories and more than 20,000 people managing commercial, agricultur ...

, with a guide price of £14,750,000."Mixed Use Property for sale in 136 Shaftesbury Avenue & 83 Charing Cross Road, London, W1D 5EZ Guide price £14,750,000"
knightfrank.co.uk, accessed 3 December 2023

References

External links

{{coord, 51.51287, -0.12915, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title 1888 establishments in England 1982 disestablishments in England 19th-century church buildings in England Churches completed in 1888 Former churches in the City of Westminster Grade II listed churches in the City of Westminster History of Christianity in Wales Presbyterian Church of Wales Presbyterian organizations established in the 19th century Soho, London Welsh diaspora in England