I WORK in an office which fronts on to one of the most horrible roads in the whole of Europe. The Highway, Wapping, is a congested route designed to rob any passing pedestrian of peace. It is an intolerable generator of carbon monoxide, dust and noise, a smog-laden tunnel of traffic between the Docklands and the City. Forced to pay a congestion charge to get here every day, as there is no readily-accessible public transport, I survive by indulging in fantasies of tying Ken Livingstone to a traffic light at the junction with Dock Street and watching as he struggles to breathe against the dust and fumes.

It is appropriate, therefore, that just off the Highway, an ancient oasis of tranquillity re-opened recently after an 18-month programme of modernisation. The foundation, a Church of England retreat and conference centre, is named after St Katharine, the 4th-century martyr tortured by being broken on a wheel. When the machine failed to kill her and broke down, the Emperor Maxentius had her beheaded.

There could not be a better place to seek spiritual sustenance away from the tortures of the modern wheel. We were in the chapel, the “hub” of the wheel, for a service of rededication by the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres. The little church, whose west door is inscribed with the foundation’s threefold vocation to “worship, hospitality and service”, has been transformed into a place of light and space.

At the centre of the new floor is a rock brought back from the ancient Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai, while at the heart of the reredos is an eye-catching marble relief of the Adoration of the Magi.

It is generally agreed that no one in this country can do a blessing quite like the Bishop of London. Brandishing a bushy sprig of rosemary, he went from window to altar to door to garden, delivering liberal sprinklings of holy water, pronouncing arcane and mystic-sounding benedictions as he went “We are the temple of the living God, and the spirit of God dwells within us. The temple of God is holy and that temple we are,” said the Master. Our first lesson, from Genesis and about the house of God, was read by Viscount Churchill.

After the sermon, the Bishop prayed for the new chapel. “May this place be an oasis of peace in an unquiet world, a pulpit for the proclamation of your prophetic word and a sanctuary for the celebration of the holy sacraments.”

The original Hospital of St Katharine by the Tower was founded in 1148 by Queen Matilda, wife of King Stephen, next to the Tower of London on land granted by the Augustinian Priory of Holy Trinity, Aldgate.

Unlike similar institutions, St Katharine’s did not evolve into a charitable institution but became an independent body caring for the poor, infirm, travellers and strangers, under the control only of successive queens of England.

In the 16th century, it became a backdoor to immigration because unlike in the City there were no restrictions, and by 1572 the precincts housed 452 foreigners. By the end of the 18th century there were 3,000 and the place was little more than a slum.

Bankers, merchants and shipowners in the City had everyone evicted in 1825, and the present St Katharine’s Dock is on the site of the old precinct. The foundation was granted a small precinct instead in Regent’s Park, with a building that was then sold.

Just 50 years ago the foundation was moved back to East London and the new Royal Chapel built on the site of St James’ church in Butcher Row. Today it is the Church’s only retreat centre in the centre of London.

A five-star guide

EVENT: Rededication of St Katharine’s Foundation, London

MASTER: Prebendary Ronald Swan

SERMON: The Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, preached on the spiritual joys and ecstasy of clubbing

ARCHITECTURE: Re-ordered with west window by the late Alan Younger, gifted stained glass artist who was vice-president of the British Society of Master Glass Painters

MUSIC: Organ and choir sang traditional anthems and hymns

LITURGY: Brief service of blessing

SPIRITUAL HIGH: Wheeled further into Life

AFTER-SERVICE CARE: Celebratory feast of wine, water and canapes