Church of St Paul Church of St Paul Covent Garden is a Grade I listed building in the Westminster local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 February 1958. A Renaissance Church. 2 related planning applications.
Church of St Paul Church of St Paul Covent Garden
- WRENN ID
- tilted-jade-bone
- 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
- Period
- Renaissance
- Address
- Church of St Paul Church of St Paul Covent Garden, Covent Garden Wc2, City of Westminster
- OS grid reference
- TQ 303 808
- Coordinates
- 51.51155, -0.12369
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Paul in Covent Garden is a parish church built between 1631 and 1638 by the architect Inigo Jones. It suffered damage from a fire in 1795 and was restored by Thomas Hardwick. In the 1870s, alterations were made by Henry Clutton, which included brick facings. The church is constructed of red brick and stone, topped with a slate roof, and is often referred to as "the handsomest barn in England."
The building features a plain rectangular hall without internal divisions. A monumental east portico faces the Piazza, characterized by deeply overhanging bracketed eaves on the pedimental gable end. This portico is supported by two square outer piers and two inner giant Tuscan columns that exhibit marked entasis. It includes a large architraved false doorway with a cornice on consoles, although the original plan included a west altar.
The side elevations are adorned with architraved round-headed windows. The west front is faced with brick and includes a central doorway flanked by vestry wings, topped with a deep-eaved gable. Inside, there is a Doric columned west organ gallery and a ceiling featuring large, richly ornamented panels. The altar is flanked by colonnades, with columns that were originally part of side galleries removed by Butterfield in 1872. The church also contains a finely carved early 19th-century pulpit among other notable features.
Local climate
Church of St Paul Church of St Paul Covent Garden 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
- Sale history — 2 transactions since 2004
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- 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
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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