Located on the Rue de L’Angleterre on the edge of the Medina (old city), the land on which the Church of St Andrew stands was a gift from the Sultan Hassan I to Queen Victoria over 140 years ago for the Anglican community living in Tangier. Fondly referred to by locals as ‘the English Church’ it is centrally located, just moments from the Gran Socco and within walking distance to all major amenities; including the main boulevard (Boulevard Pasteur), several banks, the Medina and souk (marketplace) as well as the chaplaincy flat.

The church was built in a Moorish style in 1894 and consecrated in 1905. Administratively, the church is in the Archdeaconry of Gibraltar as part of the Diocese in Europe of the Church of England.

The church grounds consist of the church, a caretaker’s cottage, a lavatory for parishioners and visitors, and an impressive, well maintained garden housing a cemetery for both the famous and the ‘infamous.’  The church and its community take very seriously the future of the church out of respect for, and the legacy of, the people (and their families and decedents who survive them) who are buried there.

The gardens and the church are open to the public each day of the week with the exception of Friday, which is an important day of prayer for Muslim people, and the onsite caretaker, Yassine, takes the day off to spend time in the mosque and the afternoon with his family.

A courtyard leading into the church is a meeting place for people of all faiths and walks of life for mint tea, coffee and conversation throughout the week.

The church interior is designed as a fusion of numerous styles, notably Moorish. The bell tower, shaped like a minaret, overlooks the adjacent cemetery.  Henri Matisse's painting of 1913, Landscape Viewed from a Window, depicts the church, and the Lords Prayer can be found carved in Arabic in marble tile detail framing the altar.

The church has a number of memorial plaques, including one to commemorate Emily Keene, (1849–1944), Sherifa Ouazzane, who introduced the cholera vaccine to Morocco. Keene was a British humanitarian who lived, and later died, in Tangier and who married the Shareef of Ouazzane, a local religious leader, and there is a plaque in the Western side of the church to commemorate her. Keene’s actual grave is in the Ouazzane family burial ground in the Mershan district of Tangier overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. Another memorial plaque commemorates Thomas Kirby-Green, one of the members of the Great Escape who was executed on re-capture and who also spent time in Tangier.

The churchyard holds the graves of a number of notable people:

• Christopher Gibbs, (1938–2018), antique dealer and collector, credited with inventing Swinging London

• Walter Burton Harris, (1866–1933), a British diplomat, journalist and author

• Claire de Menasce and her second husband Commander Roy Howell RN. Claude-Marie Vincendon, her daughter by her first marriage, was the third wife of Lawrence Durrell

• Paul Lund, (1915–1966), British gangster and friend of William Burroughs

• Sir Harry MacLean, (1848–1920), soldier and commander of the Moroccan Army

On the East side of the garden there are thirteen Commonwealth War Graves which mark the final resting place of three RAF Servicemen, two South Africans and eight others. The graves are managed and funded by the Commonwealth War Graves Trust in partnership with the Church of St Andrew, Tangier.

A communion service is held in English each Sunday morning at 11am for all Anglican people, and people of similar religious denominations are also most welcome.

Since April 2023 the church has welcomed a constant stream of dedicated and experienced locums, and in Summer 2025 the church will begin to advertise for a permanent part time priest to serve in Tangier.

For further information about the Church of St Andrew, please contact Pin Affleck, Church Secretary and FOSAT Trustee:

Telephone: +212 6 75 10 37 32

Email: desk@fosat.org.uk

Please see church opening hours and directions, as well as gallery of photos below.