The Blackheath Historic Buildings Trust was set up in 1999 to raise funds for the repair and conservation of Boone’s Chapel.  It is a registered charity. 

Boone’s Chapel is a single-storey rectangular building of just 45 square metres.  Tiny in plan, the design of the exterior is grand, combining fine brickwork with detailing in Portland stone under a complex, pyramidal roof topped by a cupola.  It occupies a prominent corner of the Merchant Taylors’ Company almshouses site on Lee High Road in Lewisham. 

The original almshouses and chapel were commissioned by Christopher Boone, a London merchant and, like Sir Christopher Wren, a member of the Merchant Taylors’ Company, and built in 1683.  Income from the Boone family estate in Herefordshire helped provide relief for the elderly poor of Lee and for the education of 12 poor children.  The original row of almshouses stood next to the Chapel facing directly on to Lee High Road.  These almshouses were demolished in 1875 but a U-shaped block, dating from 1825 and listed Grade II, remains further up the hill.  After demolition of the original almshouses, the Chapel continued to function as a reading room, but fell into disuse after 1945.

It is likely that Wren was commissioned to build the Chapel and almshouses but the work was probably carried out by Robert Hooke, a close friend and colleague and another member of the Merchant Taylors’ Company.
 

The Chapel was in a very poor state of repair and was one of only two Grade 1 listed buildings in the London Borough of Lewisham and is high up on the English Heritage “Buildings at Risk” register. 

It has now been fully restored - the success of this project was due to the Blackheath Historic Buildings Trust, the energy of its Chairman, Sir Ian Mills and his colleagues, funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, the London Borough of Lewisham, various livery and other companies and also the support of many local residents, together with the Lee Manor and Blackheath Societies.

Sir Ian Mills (Chair)
Tim Barnes QC
Charles Batchelor
Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield
Penny Jonas
Julia Maynard
Sir David Nicholas

Contact

The Blackheath Historic Buildings Trust
60 Belmont Hill
Lewisham
London SE13 5DN

Tel: 020 8852 2457
Email: ianmills@mysector.co.uk