The Lord Mayor's Chapel

The Lord Mayor’s Chapel is the only remaining building of the Hospital of Saint Mark. When it was built in about 1230 it was connected to the Abbey of St Augustine, known today as Bristol Cathedral. Along with the Abbey of St Augustine, it closed in 1539 when Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church to form the Church of England. The Hospital of Saint Mark was bought in 1541 by the Bristol Corporation. In 1722 the Lord Mayor’s Chapel became the official place of worship of the Lord Mayor of Bristol. It is one of the only two remaining Lord Mayor’s churches in the country, with the other one being St Lawrence Jewry in London. The Lord Mayor’s Chapel is Grade I listed and features some of the most stunning examples of medieval architecture in Bristol. Visitors will be awed by the fan vaulted ceiling and the ornate Spanish tiled floor in the side chapel, as well as big stained-glass window from William Beckford’s ill-fated Gothic Revival masterpiece Fonthill Abbey.