Ilford Hospital Chapel

The hospital was built on the south side of Ilford Hill on land owned by the Benedictine Abbey of Barking.

The charitable trust that now manages the property believes that this survival was probably due to the function of the chapel as a place of public worship as well as part of the hospice.

[4] In 1572 Elizabeth I granted the ownership of the foundation to Thomas Fanshawe, who was obliged to provide "a Master, a Chaplain and support for six poor men".

[1][4] The latter remained owners until 1982, when the sixth Marquess handed over the foundation to the Diocese of Chelmsford, which set up the Abbess Adelicia Charity that now manages the site.

[5] Chaplains of the hospital have included the writer Bennet Allen in the 1780s;[6] the orientalist James Reynolds from 1837 to 1866;[7] the future Bishop of Durham, Hensley Henson from 1895 to 1900;[8] and W J Sparrow Simpson, librettist of John Stainer's The Crucifixion, who held the post from 1904 to 1952.

[10] The building underwent drastic Victorian attempts at restoration in 1889–90 when the north porch, organ chamber, south aisle, chapel and vestry were added and in the view of English Heritage, the nave was probably extended westwards.