historical house
26 Fitzroy Square, W1T 6BT
The Royal Society of Musicians is a charity founded in 1738 with the express purpose to support music professionals. As such it is the oldest music-related charity in Great Britain. The Society has a rich archive, including an extensive collection of fine portraits, that are on display in its ground-floor meeting room in Fitzroy Square.
Great Portland Street, Warren Street
Euston
134, 18, 205, 24, 27, 29, 390, 73
The Handel Room is on the ground floor, and is entirely level, but access from the pavement involves 2 shallow steps up.
Visitors will see the ground floor meeting-room, which is lined with a collection of portraits of musicians associated with the Society
13:30–17:00
Short informal talks about the room and the Society’s history will take place during the afternoon opening.
Set within the elegant surroundings of Fitzroy Square, one of London’s finest Georgian squares, the Handel Room offers a rare chance to step into nearly three centuries of the city’s musical life.
The room forms part of The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain, founded in 1738 by musicians who wanted to support one another in times of hardship. Among them was George Frideric Handel, whose name the room still bears today.
At first glance, the space is calm and elegant, in keeping with its Georgian setting. Look more closely, and the walls begin to tell a story. Portraits and historic images trace generations of musicians, supporters, and figures from Britain’s musical world, creating a powerful sense of continuity across time.
This is not a museum. The Handel Room remains part of a working charity. Meetings held here continue the same purpose established in the eighteenth century: supporting professional musicians and their families when they face illness, injury, or financial difficulty.
That combination is what makes the space distinctive. You are not only looking at history, you are standing inside it as it continues.
Open House visitors are invited to explore the room, take in its atmosphere, and discover how a tradition of musicians supporting musicians has endured from Handel’s time to the present day.
Located on the ground floor at 26 Fitzroy Square
Set within a historic Georgian building overlooking the square
Access is generally straightforward, though some limitations may apply
Drop in
community/cultural, gallery, concert/performance space, mixed use, institution/profession, art in the public realm, museum
Loughborough Pearson's red brick building is unimposing from the outside, but inside is a riot of Gothic Revival design. Golden mosaics reveal the character of the Grade II* listed chapel, built as part of the Middlesex Hospital.
J. L. Pearson, 1891
