In pictures: last surviving John Nash church restored in time for bicentenary

Mill Hill contractor Quinn Lonon has completed restoration work on the last surviving church designed by John Nash ahead of its 200th anniversary.

All Souls Church in Langham Place, a landmark on the junction between Regent Street and Portland Place, central London, is opposite BBC Broadcasting House.

The original building was finished in 1824 by Nash, a leading architect of the Georgian and Regency eras. A series of bicentenary celebrations are planned for the building next year.

The grade I listed church is in a Regency style with a slender conical spire rising above a rotunda made of Bath stone.

“It’s rare that a project involves scaffolding around a spire and it needed exceptionally detailed planning,” Nick Mole, project manager for Quinn London said.

“It took more than three months to complete the scaffolding which extended from ground level to the top of the 71 metre spire.

“We added a temporary roof to protect the church roof during the works, and as there was no other space available, we incorporated storage space together with a temporary canteen on the gantry.”

The church remained open to thousands of worshippers throughout the year-long restoration project.

All Souls stood for more than a century until a parachute mine exploded during the Blitz in 1940 causing the roof to collapse.

It closed for a decade before being restored in 1951. Further restoration and modification took place in the 1970s.

Quinn’s £1.8m contract included installing a new slate roof lined in lead and replacing existing flat copper roofs with lead to mirror the church’s original design.

All the external stonework was cleaned up and repaired, together with the worn and uneven front steps to the building while lighting has also been added to turn the 71m spire different colours. Architect on the scheme was London firm Matthew Lloyd Architects.

Nash is famous for his work on Buckingham Palace, Regent’s Park and Regent Street in London as well as for redesigning the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.