Great Ormond Street Hospital’s, St. Christopher’s Chapel celebrates 150th anniversary

Despite 150 years of building, innovation and technological advances at the hospital, the chapel has remained the same since its construction in 1875, offering a quiet space of reflection and solace to patients, families and staff.

In the late 1980s the entire chapel was boxed up and lifted into its current home in GOSH’s new Variety Club Building rather than being de-constructed like old parts of the hospital. It was reopened with the new hospital building in 1994, by HRH Diana, Princess of Wales. The chapel is a Grade II listed building designed by Edward Milton Barry and is one of the oldest children’s hospital chapels in the UK.

It is also home to the Children’s Book of Remembrance, a book that records the names and ages of each child and young person who has sadly died at GOSH on that day. This book forms a special part of the chapel’s annual ‘Time to Remember’ event which brings together bereaved families to honour a child who has died.

The chapel has always been a central place for those who come to GOSH and work here. The Chaplaincy team is fully funded by Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH Charity), provides spiritual, religious and pastoral care for children, families and staff of all faiths and none. The team provide a 24-hour on-call service and visit the wards daily to offer a sense of community to all.

Reverend Dorothy Moore Brooks, GOSH’s Lead Chaplain said: “In these 150 years we have grown and changed to represent our staff, patients and families, making it an inclusive and significant place in the hospital.

“It is a wonderful time to celebrate St. Christopher’s chapel and its place in this special hospital’s history.”

With over 5,000 encounters a year at the chaplaincy, it is the stories of those who visit that show the importance of GOSH’s place of worship.

Maxwell was born in Hertfordshire on 29th June 2024 and from there taken straight to GOSH’s NICU. 

At GOSH it was discovered that Maxwell, had a mass on his liver and it was found to be cancerous. This meant Maxwell and mum, Claire would have to spend a lot of time GOSH for his treatment. During this time Claire, was drawn to the chapel.

Claire said: “You look for light and comfort in dark times; I couldn’t take my baby home like planned and my mum, who passed in 2021 was religious and would pray.

“So, I visited the chapel. It is a place of peace and calmness. It felt as though you were leaving the hospital and became somewhere my family and I would regularly visit.”

The chaplaincy would visit Claire and pray with her and her family, but they also provided social support such as asking about their day and plans. It gave them some normalcy in the tough situation.

Claire said: “It was a big goal for us, to be able to take Maxwell to the chapel. The little milestone of getting him off the drip long enough for him to go was such as great thing.

“Anytime, friends or family visited, I would make sure I had time to take them to the chapel. It is such a beautiful and amazing place and played a part in our time at GOSH which I am so thankful for.”

Maxwell was christened at the chapel on April 4th, two days after he rang the bell at GOSH to signify the end of his cancer treatment. Family, friends, nurses and staff were able to attend Max’s christening.

When Maxwell comes back for appointments, every few months, it is part of his and mum, Claire’s routine to visit the chapel and place a note on the prayer tree in the entrance of the chapel.

Anne Dellows, originally from Hackney, was a patient at GOSH in August 1951 for treatment of burns on her feet.

As it was summertime, there was no school lesson being taught at the hospital so children would go to the chapel and have lessons and prayers there. Anne, despite only being six, vividly remembered her time at the chapel.

This year, Anne turned 80 and she never expected to see the chapel again. Despite this, she wrote an article about the chapel for her local church magazine and then re-visited the chapel, 74 years since she last visited.

Anne said: “I walked through the door to the chapel, and I was just transported back to being six years old. It felt like the exact same experience. I walked into this beautiful golden room that hadn’t changed.

“Seeing it again filled me with emotions; I’ve lived such an amazing life and to come back to see it again at 80 was something I never expected.”