The Grosvenor Chapel

The Grosvenor Chapel is an 18th-century chapel of ease, originally belonging to the parish of St. George’s Hanover Square. It was built between 1729 and 1730 by Benjamin Timbrell, and later altered internally in the early 20th century by Ninian Comper. The chapel is constructed of stock brick, with some later stucco dressings, and has a slate roof.

The design resembles St. Peter’s Vere Street, where Timbrell worked under Gibbs, though it is a bolder composition featuring massive pediment gables. The west front incorporates a short tower with an octagonal bell stage and a short spire. A four-column Tuscan porch is present, the original pediment having been removed in alterations made in 1828. It is likely that stucco scrolls and brackets were added to the tower’s main cornice at that time, and the tower quoins are dated to the late 19th or early 20th century. The sides of the chapel are six windows wide, with semicircular arched windows set within stucco architraves.

Inside, the chapel has three galleries supported by square pillars below and Ionic columns above. The nave ceiling is coved, and the aisles are groin vaulted. Ninian Comper's alterations from 1912 introduced a mixed style, including a High Altar reredos, giant Ionic columns, a rood screen, and a Lady Chapel within the original chancel. The original tripartite reredos is retained, articulated by pilasters behind Comper's Lady Altar. The chancel’s ceiling retains fine plasterwork dating from around 1730, and an original pulpit carved around 1730 remains. There are three windows designed by Comper within the south aisle.