Fitzrovia Chapel

a golden ceiling off oxford street

A tiny former hospital chapel hidden in a Fitzrovia courtyard, free to visit, with a breathtaking ceiling of glittering gold mosaic like a slice of Venice off Oxford Street.

Free to visit · Fitzrovia · Goodge Street · W1T 7AU

Opening: Open select days, usually Mon to Wed · check What's On

From the outside it is easy to walk straight past, a small plain building tucked in a courtyard behind Oxford Street. Step inside the Fitzrovia Chapel and you get one of the great free gasps in London, a ceiling encrusted with thousands of gold mosaic tiles that glows like the inside of a jewellery box.

It was built from 1891 as the chapel of the Middlesex Hospital, designed by the gothic revivalist John Loughborough Pearson, and the shimmering mosaic ceiling was added by his son Frank in the late 1920s. When the hospital was demolished the chapel was saved and beautifully restored, and now sits marooned in a modern development, never consecrated and open to all.

It is free to visit on its open days, with a donation box if you want to give. Allow yourself fifteen quiet minutes to sit and look up, because the longer you stare the more detail the gold gives back.

Getting there: In Pearson Square inside the Fitzroy Place development, a few minutes north of Oxford Street near Goodge Street.

Best time to go: Check their website for open days before you go, then catch it on a quiet weekday.

Insider tip: It only opens select days, often Mondays to Wednesdays, so check the What's On page first. Go on a bright day so the mosaics really catch the light.

Official site: https://www.fitzroviachapel.org

Free things to do in London · London Free Guide