Union Chapel
Welcome to the Union Chapel, a Grade I listed church and iconic music venue with history dating back to the eighteenth century.
The Union Chapel is a union church by name and nature, meaning that it has always been based on being a chapel for Christians of all backgrounds and beliefs. It was founded in 1799 as a united worshipping community, when a group breakaway Anglicans from the nearby St Mary’s Parish church and local Nonconformists such as Baptists, Congregationalists and Methodists set up a meeting room at 19 Higbury Grove.
Here, they could collectively practice their faith, away from the hierarchical structures and persecution of non-conformists by the Church of England. They focused more on preaching, working with the local community and general Christian unity.
It is in this context that the idea of a union of alternative Christians was born, as a “Friend for all” church, an expressed principle of the Union Chapel that states its inclusivity and communal spirit. Because of this, the church was given by Americans a fragment of Plymouth Rock which stands over a doorway by the pulpit, as a constant reminder of religious freedom.
As the congregation grew bigger, a permanent chapel was needed instead of crowded houses as meeting rooms.
In 1806, they moved into a new chapel designed by Henry Leroux on the present site which later added girls and boys schools between 1807 and 1814.
The chapel continued to run schools for the local poor of the nearby areas of Essex Road – it is important to know that mandatory education wasn’t implemented until much later in 1880, so it shows that the church participated in charitable works, giving back to the community – in this case providing education and thus opportunity.
By the 1870’s, however, the chapel had physically outgrown its means, becoming “inconveniently crowded”, so it was decided that with it’s congregation’s membership expansion, it was time for a rebuild.
James Cubitt, a popular nonconformist architect was employed to build the new chapel. He decided to breakaway from the classical tradition of the old chapel, and adopt the popular Gothic Revival.
Between 1874 and 1877, he built his chapel based on designs of the Santa Fosca church in Torcello in Italy.
The chapel opened in 1878, and would go on to be used for regular Sunday worship, Sunday School, midweek meetings and extensive mission work with the local community.
Cubitt’s design is beautiful, symbolic and practical. It was built in an Akron Plan to accommodate the attached Sunday schools. The chapel has a cruciform plan with an octagonal interior, ensuring that all 1,700 seated worshippers have unobstructed views of the pulpit – reflecting the church’s principles of equality and participation – and also to provide excellent acoustics making it then and now the perfect space for musical events.
One of the church’s most magnificent features is the Willis Organ. Built in 1877 by Henry “Father” Willis, instrument maker for St Paul’s Cathedral and the Royal Albert Hall, the Union Chapel houses one of the world’s finest organs. Hidden from view, the organ has over 2,000 pipes, providing an amazing range of sounds, designed to fully benefit from the acoustics of the church.
The chapel has repeatedly been voted London’s Best Live Music Venue by Time Out magazine. Hosting musicians from all genres, including Amy Winehouse, Adele, U2 and much more!
Throughout it’s history over all sites, the Union Chapel has focused heavily on humanitarian aid. In the early nineteenth century, it was a prolific anti-slavery congregation, hosting abolitionist meetings connected to wider networks of reformers. The church was heavily influential on education and welfare reform in British politics, one of the chapels parishioners was Herbert Asquith who became Prime Minister in 1908. His government, known as the “Chapel Government”, laid the foundations of the modern welfare state.
During the Second World War, the chapel provided shelter for local residents. Refuge continues to play a crucial part of the church’s role today, providing help through the “Margins Project”, a frontline charity providing hot meals, support and more to the homeless.
Musicians, comedians, parishioners, politicians, the needy and the general community have for generations populated this church – making it a special part of Islington’s and London’s history.