Union Chapel is a working church, live entertainment venue and charity drop-in centre for the homeless in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

, London, England. Built in the late 19th century in the

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, the church is Grade I-listed. It is at the north end of

Upper Street Upper Street is the main street of the Islington district of inner north London, and carries the A1 road. It begins at the junction of the A1 and Liverpool Road, continuing on from Islington High Street which runs from the crossroads at Pentonv ...

, near

Highbury Fields Highbury Fields is an open space in Highbury, in the London Borough of Islington. At 11.75 hectares (29 acres), it is the largest open space in the borough. It extends north from Highbury Corner almost as far as Highbury Barn. As well as parkl ...

As a venue

Union Chapel hosts live music, film, spoken word and comedy events. There are around 250 events per year. It was voted London's Best Live Music Venue by readers of ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

'' magazine in 2002, 2012 and again in 2014. It has a reputation for great acoustics, thanks to its design.

Margins Homelessness Project

The Margins Project, based in the Union Chapel, provides a range of support services to people facing homelessness, crisis and isolation. It operates Monday & Wednesday drop-in that provides advice around accessing benefits, support showers and laundry facilities. There is also a Supported Employment Programme which provides opportunity for people who have experienced homelessness and crisis to get back into work. Plus a Winter Night Shelter and support services such as access to therapy.

Union Chapel Church

Union Chapel is a Congregational church and part of the

Congregational Federation The Congregational Federation is a small Christian denomination in Great Britain comprising 235 congregations, down from 294 in April 2014. The Federation brings together Congregational churches, and provides support and guidance to member church ...

. The church describes itself as "An open community exploring and revitalising the faith in challenging times" and meets every Sunday for worship. The church meets every Sunday at 11am and is committed building community and encouraging social justice. It also runs Culture Cafe 11am - 2pm each Wednesday to help tackle social isolation and provide a space for conversation and creativity.

History

The congregation first met in 1799 in a house in Highbury Grove as a union of evangelical Anglicans and non-conformists. Between 1805 and 1809 a new chapel was built by Henry Leroux on the present site in Compton Terrace, just off

, and the congregation moved to it in 1806. The new chapel was a two-storeyed building in the classical style with a central pediment, and with two houses on either side. A girls' school was founded in 1807 and a boys' founded in 1814. The Rev. Thomas Lewis, the father of the historian Samuel Lewis, was minister of the chapel from 1804-52, and lived next door at number 19. His successor, the Rev.

Henry Allon Henry Allon (1818–1892) was an English Nonconformist divine. Life He was born on 13 October 1818 at Welton, Elloughton-cum-Brough, near Hull, in Yorkshire. Under Methodist influence Henry Allon decided to enter the ministry, but, deve ...

, was minister from 1852 to 1892 and greatly increased the congregation as the local population grew. The building became "inconveniently crowded", and by the 1870s the Chapel had been enlarged and given a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

. It was replaced by the current building in the Victorian gothic style of architecture, designed by

James Cubitt James Cubitt (1836–1914) was a Victorian church architect specialising in building non-conformist chapels.Loughton and built between 1874 and 1877, with further additions from 1877 to 1890. Its Gothic style is almost unique among non-conformist churches, and its plan is based on the church of Santa Fosca in Torcello. It provided seating for 1,700 worshippers, and a Sunday School Hall (currently

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

) for 1,000 children. Two Liberal prime ministers,

William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

and

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

, were at different times members of the congregation. The solid tower was completed in 1889. The chapel was used for a major scene in the 1982 film, ''

Who Dares Wins ''Who Dares Wins'' (Latin: ''Qui audet adipiscitur''; el, Ο Τολμών Νικά, ''O tolmón niká''; french: Qui ose gagne; it, Chi osa vince; Portuguese: ''Quem ousa vence''; German: ''Wer wagt, gewinnt'') is a motto made popular in the ...

''. Since 1982 and facing demolition the charity Friends of Union Chapel has helped conserve the buildings. The charity Union Chapel Project established in 1991 organises activities including gigs and events to help raise money for the building and open it up. Behind the church is the large Sunday School, built on the

Akron Plan The Akron Plan was a scheme for the design of churches and other religious buildings that housed Sunday schools. It was characterized by a set of wedge-shaped classrooms that radiated from the direction of a central superintendent's platform. Do ...

Ministers

* Thomas Lewis 1804–1852 *

1844–1892 * Hardy Harwood 1891–1914 * Charles James Barry MA (Cantab) ? * Ronald Taylor 1940–1980 * Gareth Trevor Jones 1981–1986 * Janet Wootton 1987–? * Karen Stallard 2010–2018 * Vaughan Jones 2017–present

Organ

The Organ at Union Chapel was designed and built specially for the size and acoustics of the new Chapel building in 1877 by master organ builder Henry "Father" Willis. Neither James Cubitt, the architect of the Chapel, nor Rev Henry Allon, the minister at the time, wanted the congregation to be distracted by the sight of an organ or organist: they wanted the music itself to be the focus during worship. So the organ is deliberately hidden away behind ornate screens under the rose window, which itself actually hints at the organ's importance, with its depiction of eight angels all playing different musical instruments. It is one of just two organs left in the United Kingdom, and the only one in England, with a fully working original hydraulic (water powered) blowing system, which can be used as an alternative to the electric blowers. The organ was restored in 1946 by Monk & Gunther; and by Harrison & Harrison in 2013.

Organists

* John Henry Gauntlett 1852–1861 *

Ebenezer Prout Ebenezer Prout (1 March 1835 – 5 December 1909) was an English musical theorist, writer, music teacher and composer, whose instruction, afterwards embodied in a series of standard works still used today, underpinned the work of many British cl ...

1861–1873 * Fountain Meen 1880–1909 *John Hooker 1973–2002 *Claire M Singer 2012–present

Organ ''Re''framed

Organ ''Re''framed, launched in 2016, is an annual music festival at Union Chapel with an experimental approach to the use of the organ. It is curated by composer and Music Director of the organ at Union Chapel, Claire M. Singer. Partners include

London Contemporary Orchestra The London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO), founded in 2008 by Hugh Brunt and Robert Ames, is an ensemble of young musicians whose stated aim is "to explore and promote new music to an increasingly wide audience". LCO staged its inaugural season a ...

and Spitfire Audio. Commissions have included work from Éliane Radigue, Low, Hildur Guðnadóttir,

Adam Wiltzie Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie (born September 17, 1969, New York City, NY) is a composer and sound engineer based in Brussels, Belgium. Early life Wiltzie was born in New York City, NY. Originally a champion youth tennis player, a knee injury sustain ...

Phil Niblock Phill Niblock (born October 2, 1933 in Anderson, Indiana) is an American composer, filmmaker, videographer, and director of Experimental Intermedia,Alan Licht, ''Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020'', Blank Fo ...

, Darkstar, Philip Jeck,

Sarah Davachi Sarah Davachi (born 1987 in Calgary) is a Canadian experimental musician and composer of Electroacoustic music, electroacoustic and Minimalism, minimalist music. She is a pianist and organist. She is a graduate of the University of Calgary and hol ...

, and Mark Fell.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Music venues in London Churches in the London Borough of Islington Grade I listed churches in London Chapels in London 1799 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Islington