A New Era for Temple Church

2026 is proving to be a landmark year of endings and beginnings for Temple Church, 841 years since its consecration. The retirement of the Rev. Robin Griffith-Jones after 27 years as Master of the Temple coincides with the start of the church's most significant conservation and renovation project in more than 80 years.

The £6.7 million scheme, known as Restoration and Renewal, is being delivered in two phases. First comes the conservation of the great West Doorway (c. 1163), for which the Temple Church Trust (TCT) was granted diocesan consent (known as Faculty) in April 2025. Rev. Griffith-Jones has long held an ambition to see this spectacular 'portal to Jerusalem' (one of a handful of surviving Romanesque structures in London) restored to its 12th Century glory. It is hugely gratifying that a gifted team of stone carvers and specialist technicians started on site on Monday, 1 June – just in time for Robin to see his dream fulfilled and his legacy enshrined in the very fabric of the building of which he has been such a longstanding custodian.

Robin's family trust has been a significant donor to the project, but we have been touched also by the generosity of the Inns, their Benchers and members, private individuals and numerous trusts and foundations. Thanks to these and the concerted efforts of TCT's fundraising committee, we have raised more than £6 million toward the total project costs – enough to secure the building and conservation works at current prices. However, with the risk of costs rising in an unstable geopolitical and economic climate, we remain in active fundraising mode to ensure that we are able to close any financial gap that emerges before the second phase of the project – of which more below – is completed.

Whilst the physical works on the West Doorway are scheduled to be finished in December 2026, preparatory work has been underway for decades. Extensive archival research, scientific analyses and on-site investigations have been undertaken, leading to fascinating new insights into this important structure. They will all be revealed in the high-quality book being commissioned to commemorate every aspect of the project.

The door was last subject to a major restoration in the 1840s but the stone used was of poor quality and quickly eroded. Some of the carved detail is now so compromised it is illegible and affecting the integrity of the structure as a masterpiece of medieval art, architecture and carving. The planned works include replacing certain badly eroded stones forming the capitals and arches above, together with some of the demi-figures in the course below.

Purcell Architects – who have a long-established reputation for the care, preservation and adaptation of ecclesiastical buildings – have been appointed to oversee the works. These will be undertaken by Nina Bilby, a highly skilled Master Stonemason who has undertaken many high-profile prestigious commissions and is one of the country's most respected heritage craftworkers. Nina is being supported by a team of masons, craftspeople and conservators (notably mason Gary Newton, David Odgers of Odgers Conservation, and his colleague Angus Lawrence).

All of the high-quality replacement stone has been sourced from Caen in Northern France, from which the Round Church was originally built. The stones have been housed at, and pre-cut to appropriate block size in, the masons' yard at Canterbury Cathedral before being shipped to the carvers' studios in Norfolk and Kent. The individual stones will then be carefully transported to Temple and shaped with hand power tools prior to final carving by hand in situ.

Site set-up commenced on Wednesday, 20 May 2026 and involved the installation of a scaffold working platform within the West Porch, with an associated lightweight frame to allow informational boards to be erected within the archways to completely enclose the porch. The West Doorway will also be boxed in from inside the church; to minimise its visual impact, a full-scale photographic image of the door will be erected on the internal hoarding.

Transforming the Vestry and building a new Song School

With the restoration of the West Doorway completed, TCT will be ready to embark on phase II of the project in April 2027: the building of a new Song School for our gifted girl and boy choristers, and a major overhaul of all our 'back-of-house' facilities.

Among other developments will be the creation of step-free access throughout the building, a new ramp from Inner Temple Lane to the West Door via the churchyard, the quadrupling of public restrooms and (through the installation of new air-source heat pumps and environmentally friendly planting) a significant improvement in our carbon impact. The Vestry scheme has also been developed over several years with Purcell Architects who – given the huge physical constraints of the site – have responded with a pragmatic but beautifully elegant and fully functional architectural response.

Our planning application for the new Vestry was submitted on Wednesday, 1 April 2026 following supportive feedback from the City of London planning department and the statutory bodies with which we needed to consult – including the Diocesan Advisory Council, Church Buildings Council, English Heritage and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

We will remain open as an active place of worship, fellowship, community and contemplation throughout both phases of the works, and we view the whole project as an exciting new way to engage with the many thousands of tourists and pilgrims who visit us every year. Such is the international interest in the project that it will even feature in a new French television documentary on the legacy of the Normans in England, due to be screened later this year.

We are immensely proud of our past, but the Restoration and Renewal project ensures we will have a sustainable future. It not only restores an historically significant structure but also provides vastly improved facilities for our congregation and paying tourists, our outstanding choirs, visiting artists and their audiences – all whilst maintaining the spirit and welcome of this truly special place.

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