St Gabriel's, Pimlico

St Gabriel’s is an Anglo-Catholic Church of England parish church in Warwick Square, Pimlico. Thomas Cundy the younger designed the building and work ran from 1851 to 1853 as part of Thomas Cubitt’s plan for the area on behalf of the Marquess of Westminster. The church stands on land given by the Marquess and a grant of £5,000. It is listed at Grade II* and belongs to the Diocese of London. The vestry was added later, in 1887–8, by James Piers St Aubyn. The interior was improved in the 1890s with funds from Lord Edward Pelham-Clinton. John Francis Bentley, architect of Westminster Cathedral, designed the new high altar. Italianate mosaics by James Powell and Company line the chancel walls, and the floor is paved in red and white marble squares. Charles Eamer Kempe’s East Window shows Christ in Glory with Saints. Some of the original reredos, possibly by George Gilbert Scott, now stands in the Lady chapel added to the south of the chancel. Visitors enter a space of rich marble and alabaster, with solid marble steps leading to the altar. The chancel walls gleam with Italianate mosaics set against red and white marble floors. Kempe’s East Window fills the east end with figures of Christ and saints. The Lady chapel to the south holds the reused reredos, its details softened by time. The church’s proportions and materials give a quiet dignity to Warwick Square.