Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane
A hidden Victorian Catholic church a step off the Strand, free and open daily, an oasis of calm in Covent Garden long loved by actors from the surrounding theatres.
The lowdown
You could blink and miss it. Corpus Christi sits on narrow Maiden Lane behind the Strand, a modest Victorian brick front that hides a glowing Gothic interior, and it is free and open every day. It was opened in 1874 by Cardinal Manning, designed by F H Pownall, with its floor sunk below street level to keep the neighbours happy.
Wedged among the theatres of Covent Garden, it became known as the Catholic actors' church and is still the base of the Catholic Stage Guild, with players from the nearby stages slipping in between shows. Graham Greene wove it into his novel The End of the Affair.
In 2018 it was lavishly restored and made the Westminster Diocesan Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament. For a church this central, this beautiful and this calm, the fact that it costs nothing feels like a small Covent Garden secret.
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