London: St Joseph's Bunhill Row in Open House & Garden Festival

Mary, Mother of the City, Icon

For the first time. St Joseph's Catholic Church, Bunhill Row, off Old Street and on the edge of the Barbican, will be taking part in London's Open House & Garden Festival which runs from 8-21 September 2022 -

Buildings and other places of architectural or artistic interest, not usually open to the public, feature in the Festival. As St Joseph's Church, does not have a resident priest, it is normally only open for its Wednesday lunchtime and Sunday morning Masses, as well as quiet prayer on Fridays. The Festival will be an opportunity to see its treasures.

The church was originally built as a school chapel in 1902. It possesses two large stained-glass windows originally in the former St Mary Moorfields Church. More contemporary work can be seen in two Ethiopian-style icons, one of Mary, Mother of the City, where the Virgin Mary stands in a depiction of nearby Bunhill Fields; the other is of St Joseph, the church's patron saint. Created by the leading exponent of Neo-Coptic art, Stephane Rene, they are widely praised.

The church's prize-winning Quiet Garden, in memory of the late Cardinal Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, was developed in 2003 and is widely appreciated as an oasis in an otherwise concrete jungle of local offices and academic institutions. The Garden remains open from Easter to the end of October.

During the Open House London Festival Fortnight, both the church and garden will be open, from 8-21 September, Mondays-Fridays, 10am-5pm admission free.

LINKS

Read more about the icons: www.copticiconography.org/Iconographer.html

Open House Festival: https://open-city.org.uk/open-house-festival