Context!

Just visiting a mosque in Britain these days is nothing special as we have loads of them. It’s like just visiting a church. I’ve been to a few in the UK, including London’s Central Mosque and some smaller ones in the Midlands, but most of the mosques in Britain aren’t really tourist attractions in their own right. They’re often open to the public (there’s even a “Visit my Mosque” open day, where the imam will open their doors and hold talks for locals), but a lot of mosques in the UK aren’t really old enough to be historically interesting. Even the London Central Mosque only dates back to the late 1970s.

But there are a couple of exceptions. Shah Jahan Mosque, in Woking (about thirty miles outside of London) is the oldest purpose-built Islamic place of worship in the UK. Older mosques do exist, but these were set up in pre-existing buildings – Shah Jahan, built in the 1880s, is the oldest mosque in the UK that was actually built with the intention of being a place of worship.

The mosque was originally built by a university professor, who interestingly wasn’t a Muslim himself, in the 1880s as a place for foreign diplomats and students to worship – Abdul Karim, Queen Victoria’s famous Muslim attendant, used to pray here regularly. Hospitalised Muslim soldiers during the First World War also attended the mosque as they recovered from their injuries.

The Experience

The mosque is open to the public, but as the inside is very small there might not be anyone inside to show you around. I turned up and asked a guy watering the flowers if I could go inside – he said that the doors tend to be unlocked so you can just turn up and look around.

Inside it’s… a mosque, surprisingly enough. This is still an active place of worship and not a museum, so there’s not much in the way of signage. I only spent a few minutes looking around, appreciating the architecture. It’s essentially one big room, but a really lovely one.

It’s definitely a beautiful place to sit down and contemplate, but as a non-Muslim there’s not much I could really do other than stand there and go “Wow this is a lovely building”. If you’re a Muslim this seems like a really cool place to come and worship, although it’s a bit out of the way.

Outside there’s some gardens to enjoy. It’s a very small site, but a historically important one – it’s now Grade 1 listed. The mosque is well taken care of and I’m glad I finally got to have a look round.

But that’s not all! While I was sat in the mosque garden reading more about the building’s history, I found there’s a related site nearby – the Islamic Peace Garden. The site is only a fifteen minute walk away in nearby Horsell Common, an open area where HG Wells had the Martians crash-land in his book.

This site is actually a former Muslim cemetery, built when some of the aforementioned injured World War One soldiers from Muslim areas of the British Empire died of their wounds while in hospital. The cemetery was intentionally built close to the Shah Jahan Mosque – nineteen soldiers were buried here, joined by five more who died during World War 2.

In the 1960s their remains were moved and reinterred elsewhere, and the cemetery became a peace garden, a memorial to all the Muslim soldiers who died in both World Wars. A few years ago the Muslim community gave the garden a massive facelift, turning it into the peaceful oasis it is today.

The garden is always open – there’s a memorial to the fallen Muslim soldiers and some benches to rest on. There’s also an information sign outside with some detailed info on the history of the former ccemetery. After spending so long in busy London I appreciated the sense of peace the garden gave me.

The Shah Jahan Mosque and Islamic Peace Garden are both far away from central London, but as they’re not huge sites you could feasibly see them in the morning and be back in London in time for lunch. If you’re getting tired of walking around endless ruined castles and Georgian stately houses, visiting these unique historic sites could be the breath of fresh air you’re looking for.

Helpful Information

• Both the Shah Jahan Mosque and the Islamic Peace Garden are free to enter – the mosque seems to be open during the day, and the Peace Garden seems to be open 24/7.

• Getting to the sites requires a bit of walking – the Peace Garden in particular is near a busy road.

• There’s a form for arranging a group tour on the mosque website, where they can arrange for someone to show you around – although I’m not sure if they’d do it for solo travelers (I just turned up).

• As far as I could tell there’s no toilets at either site.

• The mosque is still in use today for daily prayers, so keep this in mind if you plan a visit! The prayer timetable can be found here.