St Mary with St Alban

The magnificent Grade II* listed building in which the Landmark Arts Centre is housed was formerly the Church of St Alban the Martyr. Though the church was operational from 1889 there had been insufficient funds to complete the building to its original design and its west end was closed by a ‘temporary’ wall of asbestos sheeting, giving it a ‘bomb damaged’ appearance. The church was used for worship until the early 1970s, being informally known as the ‘Cathedral of the Thames Valley’ in recognition of its towering presence.

The church, originally designed for a congregation of 1200, became redundant and was neglected for many years. However, a passionate campaign by local people and others interested to preserve Victorian architecture meant that the building was rescued to become the home of a new charitable art centre charged with mounting a dynamic and varied arts programme for the benefit of the local community and beyond.

The Landmark Arts Centre has a year-round arts programme featuring jazz, blues, choral, classical music, opera and dance. It also holds regular arts fairs as well as running many arts, dance and music groups for children.

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