London's first purpose-built mosque opened on Gressenhall Road on 3 October 1926. Saturday's centenary shuts part of the road, and 10,000 meals are pledged.

The Fazl Mosque in Southfields is 100 years old on Saturday. It opened on Gressenhall Road on 3 October 1926, the first building in London put up as a mosque.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK, which built it and still runs it, is marking the date with an evening reception at the mosque. It is also starting a year of charity work. The community says it will give 10,000 meals to homeless and needy people and put in 10,000 hours of volunteering across Britain. (Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK, 30 September 2026)

From October, the mosque will also appear on advertising on 100 London buses, with more across the UK to follow.

Saturday at the mosque

The centenary reception runs from 6pm at 16 Gressenhall Road, SW18 5QL. The published programme is:

  • 6pm: registration, a tour of a centenary exhibition, and refreshments
  • 7pm: introduction and guest speeches
  • 8pm: keynote address, followed by dinner

Registration has now closed, so this is not a drop-in event. The community asks anyone already registered with a question about their place to email externalaffairs@ahmadiyyauk.org. (Fazl Mosque Centenary, register page)

Neighbours should expect a road closure. Wandsworth Council’s roadworks bulletin lists Gressenhall Road closed from outside number 45 to the junction with Melrose Place on Saturday 3 October for the mosque centenary event. (Wandsworth Council, Roadworks and Events Bulletin, week commencing 28 September 2026)

Why this building matters

Historic England listed the mosque at Grade II on 9 March 2018. Its list entry calls it “the first purpose-built mosque in London and only the second in Britain”. The only earlier one is the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, which opened in 1889. (Historic England, list entry 1454338)

The plot was bought in 1920. At the time it held two detached houses and a small orchard. Building work began in September 1925, helped by volunteers from the community. The finished mosque cost £6,223, according to the list entry. That money was raised in India, mostly by women.

The community’s centenary brochure says women gave their jewellery and children gave their pocket money. Almost none of the donors would ever see the building. (Fazl Mosque Centenary)

The design came from TH Mawson and Sons, a firm better known for parks and gardens. Historic England praises its “gentle and harmonious fusion” of mosque design with “restrained 1920s British classicism”. It also notes that the dome on its square base resembles the twin towers of the original Wembley Stadium, built in 1923. Under the white render is a steel-framed concrete structure, planned so the building could be extended.

Timeline of the Fazl Mosque: plot bought 1920, foundation stone October 1924, building starts September 1925, opens 3 October 1926, international headquarters from 1984, Fifth Caliph elected there in 2003, listed Grade II March 2018, headquarters moves to Tilford in 2019, council green plaque March 2026, centenary reception 3 October 2026
The Fazl Mosque from purchase to centenary. Graphic by Wandsworth News.
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From Southfields to the world

For 35 years this small suburban mosque was the centre of a worldwide movement. In 1984 the community’s Fourth Caliph left Pakistan because of persecution and made the Fazl Mosque the community’s international headquarters.

The brochure lists what followed from the site:

  • the launch of the charity Humanity First, during the Bosnian conflict
  • the launch of Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International, which the community describes as the world’s first global Muslim television station
  • the election of the current, Fifth Caliph, in 2003

The headquarters moved in 2019, to the newly built Mubarak Mosque in Islamabad, Tilford, in Surrey. During the Covid-19 pandemic the Fazl Mosque served as a vaccination centre.

Rafiq Hayat, National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK, said in the centenary release: “This mosque has been a place of worship, a headquarters, a refuge, a global broadcasting centre and a vaccination centre.”

The building already carries a newer marker of its place in the borough. In March 2026 Wandsworth Council gave it one of its green heritage plaques.

What it means for you

  • If you live on or near Gressenhall Road, the road is closed between number 45 and Melrose Place on Saturday 3 October. Plan car journeys and deliveries around it.
  • If you hoped to attend the reception, registration has closed. Questions go to externalaffairs@ahmadiyyauk.org.
  • If you want to see the building, its white dome and minarets are visible from Gressenhall Road. It is a working place of worship, so contact the community before planning a visit inside.
  • If you run a local food bank or shelter, the 10,000-meal pledge runs for the year from Saturday. The community’s external affairs team is the contact.

For more places to visit across the borough, see our guide to things to do in Wandsworth.

Sources