St Augustine's

St Augustine’s stands on a narrow, angled plot off Queen’s Gate in South Kensington. The church was designed by William Butterfield in 1865 and built in two stages, with the nave ready by 1871 and the chancel finished in 1876. Its brick walls and steep roof give it a plain, uncompromising look typical of Butterfield’s style. The site once lay beyond the end of Queen’s Gate, reached only through Reece Mews, which explains why the building sits at an unusual angle. Inside, the seating once held 853 people, arranged in long rows of pitch-pine pews. The church is worth visiting for its architectural clarity and its unusual place in Anglican history. Gerald Hocken Knight served as organist from 1931 to 1937, playing in the grand acoustic of the nave. In 2010 it was joined to Holy Trinity Brompton, yet it kept its Sung Eucharist, vestments and incense. The Revd Paul Cowley, trained at Oak Hill College, learned the High Mass and introduced seasonal stoles while preserving original pews for display. In 2018 the Revd Tom Jackson took over, continuing the tradition of choral worship at 11 am. Visitors find a lofty interior lit by tall lancet windows and lined with exposed brick. The original pews remain in parts of the church, while flexible chairs allow for other uses. The weekly 11 am Sung Eucharist draws a congregation that values ceremony and music. Outside, the modest entrance on Queen’s Gate opens into a quiet corner of South Kensington, far from the busier museums nearby.