Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury

The Church of Christ the King stands in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, a Grade I listed building designed by Raphael Brandon. Built between 1850 and 1854, it is an Early English Neo-Gothic structure of Bath stone with a tiled roof. The church remains incomplete, lacking two western bays and a planned crossing tower. It adjoins Dr Williams’s Library and overlooks University College London. The building combines 13th- and 15th-century Gothic features, reflecting Brandon’s study of ecclesiastical architecture. Its cruciform plan includes a nave, side aisles, sanctuary and Lady Chapel. The church is notable for its rich Gothic detailing and notable furnishings. The south transept windows depict Christ in Majesty with ranks of saints, apostles and angels, while the rose window is by Archibald Keightley Nicholson. The sanctuary lamp was designed by Augustus Pugin, and the Lady Chapel has a painted timber roof and stone angels. A fine organ by Gray and Davison was installed in 1853, with additions made in 1903. The church has been used by the Catholic Apostolic Church, the Anglican mission Euston Church, and Forward in Faith. Visitors find a grand interior with a hammer-beam roof in the nave, clustered columns in the crossing, and rib-vaulting in the sanctuary. The Lady Chapel, formerly the English Chapel, features arcaded lancet windows and a small rose window. The church’s exterior includes octagonal corner turrets, pinnacled buttresses, and gabled niches. The main entrance on Gordon Street leads through a gabled porch with angle buttresses. The building remains a striking example of mid-19th-century Gothic Revival architecture in central London.