On the northern corner of Blackfriars Road and Union Street stood the Surrey Chapel, built in 1783. It then took on a completely different persona.
The Surrey Chapel was one of the first octagonal churches, in England, and was constructed in 1783, by Reverend Rowland Hill. The chapel had innovative features that included gas lighting, underfloor heating and an organ that used thunder and lightning effects, He chose the octagonal design so that the Devil would not be able to lurk in the corners.
Able to hold 1,200 people, the eccentric Reverend Hill preached here for nearly fifty years, usually to a full congregation, from his pulpit that was situated in the centre of the chapel.
In 1881 the chapel closed and, by 1910, was converted into a boxing arena, by Dick Burge, who was a former British lightweight champion between 1891-1897, and his wife Bella. They replaced the pulpit with a raised, roped-in enclosure, with a circular stage surrounded by seats for spectators.
Dick Burge renamed the building 'The Ring', which stems from early literal ground-drawn fight circles used in the early bare-knuckle boxing days under London Prize Ring Rules.
It would become the first indoor boxing ring for the working classes and would go on to become one of the most popular boxing venues, in London, famous as a proving ground for boxing talent, where well-known prize-fighters took on apprentice fighters.
