St Benet's was first built as a large Church of England mission church in 1872 and was destroyed by bombing in 1940.
St Benet's was rebuilt in 1962 as the University of London chaplaincy.
In 1964 the interior walls of the circular domed chapel were decorated with a series of unique murals, designed and executed by the renowned Polish ceramicist, Adam Kossowski.
In June 2014 the chapel and murals received a Grade II listing from English Heritage [PDF 277KB].
The murals feature seven scenes from the last book of the Bible, the Revelation of St John and form one of the most impressive examples of 'sgraffito work in England. 'Sgraffito is an ancient technique which essentially involves scraping through a thin layer of soft plaster to reveal a darker base.
The book of Revelation was written at the end of first century AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian, a period of extreme suffering for the early church. The readers/viewers of Revelation are encouraged to see their present suffering against the whole background of human history and eternity. It was the underground resistance literature of its time, using elements of symbolism both to hide its message from the persecutors and to reveal a message of ultimate triumph to the faithful.