St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, has launched a restoration project to save the church’s unique historic murals, in partnership with the Commonwealth Heritage Forum.
The service of thanksgiving on Sunday 1st March was led by Reverend Emily Kolltveit, Vicar of St Jude’s, and attended by The Bishop of Edmonton, The Rt Revd Dr Anderson Jeremiah, Councillor Danny Rich the Mayor of Barnet, parishioners, and partners in the conservation programme.
Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, St JudeontheHill has stood as a prominent spiritual and architectural landmark in North London for over a century. Its interior is adorned with Britain’s most complete cycle of early 20thcentury ecclesiastical murals, painted by Walter Percival Starmer between 1921 and 1930. These vivid biblical scenes and striking portrayals of female saints and heroines hold deep artistic and theological significance for the Diocese and wider community.
Despite ongoing structural repairs, the murals have remained vulnerable, with the church listed for many years on Historic England’s Register of Heritage at Risk. The newly launched restoration programme, developed in partnership with the Commonwealth Heritage Forum and supported by a £300,000 grant through its Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Commonwealth Heritage Skills Training Programme, marks a critical step in securing their future.
A distinctive feature of the project is its interfaith and international collaboration. Two young women, Iqra Asim and Maryam Baig, from Pakistan have joined the project team in London as conservation interns. Having worked previously on the restoration of sacred iconography in Lahore, they will contribute their technical expertise under the supervision of the UK’s leading specialists at Cliveden Conservation. Their participation reflects St Jude’s longstanding commitment to hospitality, cultural exchange and nurturing emerging talent in the heritage sector.
Philip Davies OBE, the Founder and Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Heritage Forum (CHF), said:
“The CHF is a global charity delivering over 70 projects in 30 countries. It is a measure of the national significance of St Jude’s and its stunning Walter Starmer murals that this is the only project we are funding in the UK. It is a ground-breaking example of inter-faith collaboration sharing rare skills and expertise between Commonwealth countries and cultures to help save heritage that is universally valued both here and overseas.”
Reverend Emily Kolltveit, the Vicar of St Jude’s, said:
“This project is about far more than preserving extraordinary art, it is about safeguarding the future of a church that sits at the heart of our community’s spiritual life. Over the past three years, St-Jude-on-the-Hill has become an even more vibrant and welcoming space where people from all walks of life can grow and flourish. Through this restoration, we honour our parish, strengthen our shared sense of community, and hope to secure the future of this remarkable space for centuries to come.”
Sarah Sackman, Member of Parliament for Finchley and Golders Green, said:
“St Jude-on-the-Hill is a remarkable building at the very heart of Hampstead Garden Suburb. Safeguarding these astonishing murals ensures we can continue to inspire both the parish and the wider community. I am delighted to see such rich interfaith collaboration at the heart of this work in the suburb.”
