Church of St James's Piccadilly is a Grade I listed building in the Westminster local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 February 1958. A 1676-84 Church. 1 related planning application.
Church of St James's Piccadilly
- WRENN ID
- lost-corbel-grain
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Westminster
- Constituency
- Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 February 1958
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St James's Piccadilly, Piccadilly W1, City of Westminster
- OS grid reference
- TQ 294 805
- Coordinates
- 51.50866, -0.13665
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St James's Piccadilly is a Grade I listed parish church located in the City of Westminster, built between 1676 and 1684 by Sir Christopher Wren. This large church is constructed of red brick with Portland stone dressings and underwent restoration after war damage from 1947 to 1954. The west tower is positioned at the front of the west end, and the spire, originally added in 1699-1700, was destroyed during the war and rebuilt in 1968 by Sir Albert Richardson. The north and south lobbies were added in 1856.
The church features two tiers of segment-headed and semi-circular arched upper windows on the sides, along with a Doric porch. The east end has a broad tripartite window with Venetian windows set above it. Inside, the church is spacious, with square pillars supporting a gallery from which rise Corinthian columns leading to a barrel vault in the nave, intersected by transverse aisle vaults. The low segmental arched reredos includes carving by Grinling Gibbons. The church also contains fitting monuments, new pews, and light fittings. It was built in connection with Lord St. Albans' development of the St. James's area, with the interior layout designed by Wren to be the most practical for Anglican worship.
Local climate
Church of St James's Piccadilly sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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