Please contact the Vicar for enquiries about baptisms, weddings and funerals,
and for general enquiries about visiting the church.
Church Bookings (for recordings, rehearsals and concerts):
Susie Gregson
susiegregson@gmail.com
020 8458 1675
07817 158951
Church Rooms (Hall) Bookings:
The Church Rooms are managed by the Central Square Minyan
Contact: Chaim Coutts
07984 169911
General Information for Church Hirers
The church has been used for many years as a recording and filming venue, due to its excellent acoustics, its size, its quiet location, good transport links, ease of parking and its Father Willis organ.
Examples of recordings made at St Jude’s can be found here and here.
Accoustics
“There are few real moments of arrival in this line of work, since it is mostly about making sure that artists are able to perform to their best, but the first time I opened the fader in St Jude’s with a Baroque orchestra at the other end was one of the best of them”. Philip Hobbs
“We all aim for those magical moments that music can give us. During the summer of 2010, I was at St Jude-on-the-Hill Church, which has a stunning acoustic, recording Rutland Boughton’s opera “The Queen of Cornwall”. Sometimes when you’re recording and you listen to everything as a whole, you get a feeling about a certain moment, that something indefinable yet very special has been captured, and that’s what making good records is all about”. Mike Dutton
Size
For a photographs of the interior of the hurch – see below and also the “Church Guide” and “Welcome to St Jude’s” pages of this website. The church measures 122 feet from the West door to the Chancel steps so can accommodate large orchestras and/or choirs. It has chairs rather than pews which can all be easily moved. The northwest porch is a small lockable room which is often used by engineers as their control room, alternatively the choir vestry at the southern end of the church can be used for this purpose too.
Location
The church is located on Central Square, easily accessible from Golders Green (see “Visiting the Church” page of this website). It is in a quiet residential area with no parking restrictions, and also has a car park for sole use of hirers which can accommodate approximately 20 cars.
Availability and rates
The church is let daily Monday to Saturday from 9am to 9pm at a rate of £650
On Sundays the church is available after the morning service from 12.30pm onwards at a reduced rate £510.
Provisional bookings can be made without payment of a deposit. A deposit of 25% is only payable to hold a date, should there be an enquiry for the same date from another hirer
[Note: each Thursday there is a half hour service in the side chapel at 9am. Hirers are welcome to be in the church throughout the service and do not need to alter their set up in any way, but must remain quiet during this time.]
Extra Charges –
During winter months we ask for £50 contribution towards heating.
Father Willis Organ charged at £100 per day (tuning to be paid for by hirer if necessary).
Any deliveries/collections outside the hiring period are charged at £35.
The Organ
Built by Henry “Father” Willis (one of England’s most distinguished organ builders) the organ in St Jude’s was originally installed in St Jude’s Whitechapel in 1899. It was moved to St Jude’s in Hampstead Garden Suburb when the Whitechapel church was demolished. Originally installed at the west end of the church on a gallery, it was subsequently moved to its present position on the north and south sides of the choir. It underwent a major restoration in 1935 by Hill Norman & Beard.
A further comprehensive restoration and refurbishment was completed in October 2002 by David Wells Organ Builders of Liverpool.
Specification
GREAT | SWELL | CHOIR | PEDAL | ||||
Bourdon | 16 | Open Diapason | 8 | Wald Flöte | 8 | Violone | 16 |
Open diapason I | 8 | Lieblich Gedackt | 8 | Viola de Gamba | 8 | Bourdon | 16 |
Open diapason II | 8 | Salicional | 8 | Harmonic Flute | 4 | Lieblich Bourdon | 16 |
Claribel Flute | 8 | Vox Angelica | 8 | Nazard | 22/3 | Octave | 8 |
Principal | 4 | Gemshorn | 4 | Fifteenth | 2 | Bass Flute | 8 |
Flûte Ouverte | 4 | Fifteenth | 2 | Tierce | 13/5 | Super Octave | 4 |
Twelfth | 22/3 | Mixture | III | Clarinet | 8 | Contra Fagotto | 16 |
Fifteenth | 2 | Contra Fagotto | 16 | Harmonic Posaune | 8 | Trombone | 16 |
Mixture | IV | Cornopean | 8 | Tremulant | Resultant Bass | 32 | |
Trumpet | 8 | Oboe | 8 | ||||
Tremulant |
Couplers:
Swell – Great
Choir – Great
Swell – Choir
Great – Pedal
Swell – Pedal
Choir – Pedal
Swell Octave
Swell Suboctave
Swell unison off
Some pictures of the church
(or how the chairs should be rearranged after a booking)