This is an excellent surviving example of an eighteenth-century estate church—that is, a chapel built to accommodate residents of the new homes developing around Cavendish Square. It was commissioned by Edward Harley, earl of Oxford, and completed in 1724.
The architect was James Gibbs, who was at the same time working on St Martinin-the-Fields and was able to use some of the same construction crew. Outside, St Peter’s is a plain brick building with quaint double cupolas topped by a dome, all set on top of a square tower. The original clocks still grace the tower. A Tuscan-style portico is the approach to the main entrance off Vere Street. Inside, the visitor sees a beautiful east window of Christ and the Woman at the Well, executed by the Pre- Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833–98). A gallery runs around three sides, supported by columns, and there is a fine curved ceiling.
The setting of this church today, just a few steps off Oxford Street, is one of modern department stores and office blocks, to which it is a pleasant contrast. St Peter’s, Vere Street, is now a chapel of ease to All Souls, Langham Place, and the facilities house the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. Lectures by well-known scholars are usually announced on a large chalkboard at the entrance.