All Souls Church in London is located in Langham Place, next to the BBC Broadcasting House. It is an Anglican Evangelical church and has a very active membership as well as being a popular tourist destination. The church was commissioned by King George IV and designed by his favourite architect, John Nash. All Souls actually stands as the last surviving church designed by Jon Nash.

All Souls was designed as part of the larger redevelopment plan for Regent Street, which included plans for parks, a canal, villas, and terraced houses.

The church was completed in 1823 at a cost of about £18,323 and finally opened to the public in 1824. It was built of Bath stone and features cherubs perched on Corinthian columns that are based on Michaelangelo’s original design.

The church’s somewhat unusual design was not universally accepted, and there was quite a bit of outcry against it at the time. It features a slender spire rising above a classical rotunda, and was derisively referred to in the press as “an extinguisher on a flat candlestick”.

All Souls suffered extensive roof damage from a landmine in 1940, which required the congregation to relocate to St Peter’s, Vere Street until repairs were completed in 1951.

In the 1970s it was discovered that the foundation of the church went down into the ground thirteen feet, and an ambitious plan was hatched. The area under the church was excavated to make a large hall for meetings, and at the same time the interior of the church was redesigned to make it more functional for modern day worship services.

The BBC broadcast their daily service at All Souls from 1951 to 1994 when their religious programming department relocated to their Manchester facility.

The church conducts four services each Sunday, an early mass at 8 AM, two morning services at 9:30 and 11:30 AM, and an evening service at 6:30 PM. Approximately 2500 worshipers and visitors make their way through the church’s doors each week.

Some of the more famous rectors have been John Stott, the author of more than 40 books on Christianity, and Rico Tice who developed the renowned “Christianity Explored” course.

All Souls Church in London is an active modern church with a very significant history.

Visiting All Souls Langham Place

2 All Souls Place, Fitzrovia, W1B 3DA

Telephone: 020 7580 3522

Photo courtesy: Ian Muttoo

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