The Royal Foundation of St Katharine is one of the oldest religious charities in Great Britain, with a history spanning 900 years.

Originally known as St Katharine’s by the Tower, it has seen many re-inventions throughout the years. But it has always maintained, as it does now, a clear focus on worship, hospitality and service. St Katharine’s was founded by Queen Matilda, the wife of King Stephen, as a hospital for the poor outside the walls of the Tower of London. It remind there for 678 years until the construction of St. Katharine Docks in 1825. In 1948, after 123 years in Regent’s Park, Queen Mary moved the Foundation back to East London to the site of St. James ratcliffe Church which had been bombed in the Second World War. In 2011, the Foundation opened its doors to the general public. Today, it provides an extraordinary urban oasis for groups and individuals to stay, meet, reflect or retreat.