Holy Trinity Church of Marylebone

Holy Trinity Church stands alone on a small traffic island in Marylebone, Westminster. The Grade I listed building was designed by John Soane and completed in 1828. Its entrance features four large Ionic columns and a distinctive lantern steeple. The church was one of the ‘Waterloo churches’ funded by a million-pound parliamentary grant after Napoleon’s defeat. George Saxby Penfold became its first rector, having earlier served at Christ Church, Marylebone. An external pulpit on Marylebone Road remembers the Revd William Cadman, rector from 1859 to 1891, famed for his powerful preaching. The church’s history reflects changing uses over two centuries. After burials ended in 1853, it became a book warehouse for Penguin Books in the 1930s. A children’s slide once carried books from street level down to the large crypt. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge occupied the building from 1937 until 2006. In 2018, the ground floor and basement opened as The Wedding Gallery, the world’s first wedding department store. The first floor now hosts events as One Marylebone, run by One Events. Visitors approach the church through its Ionic portico on Marylebone Road. The lantern steeple rises above the traffic island, marking the building’s presence. Inside, the ground floor and basement house The Wedding Gallery’s displays and services. The first floor offers a high-ceilinged events space with original architectural details. The surrounding streets—Albany Street, Osnaburgh Street and Osnaburgh Terrace—frame the church’s unusual island setting.