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We offer daily services and a cultural programme of talks, events and concerts. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate
Saturday 5 July, from 11am
Pride Party in the courtyard, garden and church. Street food, bar, drag DJ sets, face-painting and craft stall. And quiet space for contemplation in the church.
Sunday 13 July at 3pm in the Southwood Garden
Join St James’s Piccadilly Music Scholars for a summer afternoon of music and refreshment as they raise essential funds for their annual summer tour.
St James’s hosts inclusive services and a cultural programme. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate.
St James’s is a place to explore, reflect, pray, and support all who are in need. We are a Church of England parish in the Anglican Communion.
We host a year-round creative programme encompassing music, visual art and spoken word.
We offer hospitality to people going through homelessness and speak out on issues of injustice, especially concerning refugees, asylum, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ issues.
St James’s strives to advocate for earth justice and to develop deeper connections with nature.
We aspire to be a home where everyone can belong. We’re known locally and globally for our unique history and beauty, as well as faith in action, creativity and the arts, and a commitment to social and environmental justice.
We strive to be a Eucharist-centred, diverse and inclusive Christian community promoting life in abundance, wellbeing and dignity for all.
St James’s Piccadilly has been at the heart of its community since 1684. We invite you to play your part in securing this historic place for generations to come.
The work of St James’s, it costs us £5,000 per day to enable us to keep our doors open to all who need us.
A reimagined St James’s realised. A redesigned garden, courtyard and new building capacity—all fully accessible— will provide beautiful spaces for all as well as improving our environmental performance.
Whether shooting a blockbuster TV series or creating a unique corporate event, every hire at St James’s helps our works within the community.
St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL
Directions on Google Maps
Any concert or performance at St James’s is steeped in cultural history
St James’s Church Piccadilly, one of the few churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren outside of the City of London, is a beautiful and dramatic venue for concerts and performances.
St James’s has a rich cultural history and became known as “the artist’s church” and has rich associations with artists and thinkers: Mary Beale, William Blake, Angelika Kaufman and Ottobah Cugoano, to name a few.
Musically, it is associated with Handel, Purcell, Haydn, Mendelssohn, the pianist Therese Jansen and organist and conductor Leopold Stokowski. And, indeed, it is a well-established venue for classical music, able to accommodate up to 60 musicians.
But, it musical history is not confined to classical genres. Adele, Bronski Beat, Biffy Clyro, Patti Smith, REM and Emeli Sandé, among others, have all performed here.
The church has also been used for other performed arts, such as festivals including spoken word, fashion shows and performance art. And it proves an atmospheric venue for discussions and author’s talks.
The church has a seated capacity of 282 in the ground-level pews. However, it can be increase to 450 if additionally using the wooden galleries on three sides of the building. We are experienced in working with external production companies to facilitate using their own sound and audio-visual equipment or set installation, if relevant. However, we also offer offer several audio-visual facilities and services relevant to concerts and performed arts.
Venue hire bookings can be made up to two years in advance. Prices start from £1,650. This includes the cost of our experienced technical, front-of-house and security team, which we require to manage all concerts and performances. However, an additional fee is charged if opening the gallery, primarily due to staffing costs. Please also check for other add-on services and facilities we can provide via the link below. Because we are a church, we do not charge VAT.
Please note that the church is a sacred space and therefore not suited to all forms of music or performed arts. We will ask you to provide accurate information of concert and performance content before confirming a booking.
What audiences say:
“…great place for an intimate concert with great sound. Well organised to get people to the correct seat.”
Sharon Corr
Corinthian Orchestra
Biffy Clyro
Chaps Choir
Nicola Benedetti with Corinthian Chamber Orchestra
Bao Lai Jian Shan Indigenous Youth Choir
St James’s Cabaret
The courtyard and Southwood Garden at St James’s can be hired for concerts or performances, although each is suited to different types and scales of performances.
The Courtyard The courtyard already hosts outdoor music and irregular events that require the installation and deinstallation of sound equipment and crowd management, thus our production, events and security teams are experienced at working effectively with live music in the courtyard.
The courtyard can also be used for other forms of performed arts ranging from performance art to interactive installations or circus arts.
The courtyard can accommodate standing audiences of up to 400.
The Southwood Garden The Southwood Garden is suited to forms of music that do not require complex staging such as folk or vocal music or music performed by small ensembles. It may also be suited to spoken word and other forms of performed arts.
