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), styled Lord Harley between 1711 and 1724, was a British politician, bibliophile, collector and patron of the arts. Background Harley was the only son of Rober ...

, 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 from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...

, 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 one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transi ...

in 1722. It was originally intended as a

Chapel of Ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a 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. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

to supplement the parish church for the growing parish of

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

. 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 Frederick Maurice (1860–69), and

William Boyce William Boyce may refer to: * William Boyce (composer) (1711–1779), English-born composer and Master of the King's Musick * William Binnington Boyce (1804–1889), English-born philologist and clergyman, active in Australia *William Waters Boyce ...

was the chapel's organist from 1734 to 1736. Its interior appears in plate 2 of Hogarth's print series ''

Industry and Idleness ''Industry and Idleness'' is the title of a series of 12 plot-linked engravings created by William Hogarth in 1747, intending to illustrate to working children the possible rewards of hard work and diligent application and the sure disasters at ...

''. It was also here that the famous London French Master 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. Jassintour's sister Anne Rozea married Robert Gunnell (St.George's Parish, Hanover Sqr.) of the House of Commons in 1745, who later with Lord North compiled the Tax Acts that led to the American War of Independence. indidle2

In 1830, Parliament 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 served the congregation of

All Souls Church, Langham Place All Souls Church is a conservative evangelical Anglican church in central London, situated in Langham Place in Marylebone, at the north end of Regent Street. It was designed in Regency style by John Nash and consecrated in 1824. As it is direc ...

, from 1940 to 1951 whilst the latter was having war damage repaired, and then became a chapel of ease to it. It is now deconsecrated and houses the

London Institute for Contemporary Christianity London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

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, t ...

. 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 A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian ar ...

, with a pediment above. There was originally a stone vase on each corner of the building. 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 St Thomas' Church, Stourbridge, is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Stourbridge. History The church dates from 1726. The chancel was added in 1890 by William Bidlake. List of vicars * Walter Hickman 1736 - 1742 * Cha ...

, is a close copy of that here.

References

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