St Mary-le-Strand
Encyclopedia
St. Mary le Strand is a Church of England
church at the eastern end of the Strand
in the City of Westminster
, London
. It lies within the Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret) within the Diocese of London
. The church stands on what is now a traffic island to the north of Somerset House
, King's College London
's Strand campus building and The Temple, and south of Bush House. It is the official church of the Women's Royal Naval Service
, and has a book of remembrance for members who have died in service. The nearest tube station is Temple
, with the now-closed Aldwych
station nearly opposite the church. It is known as one of the two 'Island Churches', the other being St. Clement Danes.
to make way for Somerset House. The parishioners were promised a new church, which was never built, forcing them to move to the nearby church of St. Clement Danes and afterwards to the Savoy Chapel
. The site now occupied by the modern church was formerly occupied by a great maypole
which had been the scene of May Day
festivities in the 16th and 17th century but was severely decayed by the early 18th century.
The new St. Mary le Strand was the first of the fifty new churches built in London under the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches
, at a cost of some £16,000. Construction began in February 1714 under the architect James Gibbs
, being his first major project following his return from Italy
. The steeple was completed in September 1717, but the church was not consecrated for use until 1 January 1723, when Rev. John Heylyn
became first rector of the rebuilt church. Bonnie Prince Charlie is alleged to have renounced his Roman Catholic faith in the church to become an Anglican during a secret visit to London in 1750. John Dickens
and Elizabeth Barrow
, the parents of Charles Dickens
, were married here in 1809.
The church narrowly escaped destruction twice during the 20th century. At the start of the century the London County Council
proposed to demolish the church to widen the Strand; a campaign involving the artist Walter Crane
succeeded in averting this, although the graveyard was obliterated and the graves moved to Brookwood Cemetery
. The London Blitz of the Second World War caused much damage to the surrounding area but again the church avoided destruction, though it did suffer damage from a nearby bomb explosion.
over the west end and no steeple. Instead of the latter, a column 250 feet (76 m) high surmounted with a statue of Queen Anne
was to have been erected a short distance to the west of the church. A great quantity of stone was purchased and brought to the spot, but the plan was abandoned on the death of the queen in 1714. Instead, the architect was ordered to reuse the stone to build a steeple, which fundamentally altered the plan of the church. Gibbs explained:
The extravagant Baroque
ornamentation of the exterior was criticised at the time, and matters were not helped when one of the decorative urns surmounting the exterior of the church fell off and killed a passer-by during a procession in 1802. The prominent situation of the church has also been problematic; even in the 18th century, parishioners complained of the traffic noise.
Even so, the church — Gibbs' first public building — won him considerable fame. The interior of the structure is richly decorated with a plastered ceiling in white and gold, with a ceiling inspired by Luigi Fontana
's work in the church of Santi Apostoli
and Pietro da Cortona
's Santi Luca e Martina
, both in Rome
. The porch was inspired by Cortona's Santa Maria della Pace
. The walls were influenced by Michelangelo
and the steeple shows the influence of Sir Christopher Wren
.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
church at the eastern end of the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
in the City of Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It lies within the Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret) within the Diocese of London
Diocese of London
The Anglican Diocese of London forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.Historically the diocese covered a large area north of the Thames and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north and west. The present diocese covers and 17 London boroughs, covering most of Greater...
. The church stands on what is now a traffic island to the north of Somerset House
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
, King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
's Strand campus building and The Temple, and south of Bush House. It is the official church of the Women's Royal Naval Service
Women's Royal Naval Service
The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...
, and has a book of remembrance for members who have died in service. The nearest tube station is Temple
Temple tube station
Temple is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster, between Victoria Embankment and Temple Place. It is on the Circle and District lines between Embankment and Blackfriars and is in Travelcard Zone 1. The station entrance is from Victoria Embankment...
, with the now-closed Aldwych
Aldwych tube station
Aldwych is a closed London Underground station in the City of Westminster, originally opened as Strand in 1907. It was the terminus and only station on the short Piccadilly line branch from Holborn that was a relic of the merger of two railway schemes. The disused station building is close to the...
station nearly opposite the church. It is known as one of the two 'Island Churches', the other being St. Clement Danes.
History
The church is the second to have been called St. Mary le Strand, the first having been situated a short distance to the south. The date of its foundation is unclear but it was mentioned in a judgment of 1222, when it was called the Church of the Innocents, or St Mary and the Innocents. It was pulled down in 1549 by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of SomersetEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
to make way for Somerset House. The parishioners were promised a new church, which was never built, forcing them to move to the nearby church of St. Clement Danes and afterwards to the Savoy Chapel
Savoy Chapel
The Savoy Chapel or the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy is a chapel off the Strand, London, dedicated to St John the Baptist. It was originally built in the medieval era off the main church of the Savoy Palace...
. The site now occupied by the modern church was formerly occupied by a great maypole
Maypole
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer...
which had been the scene of May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
festivities in the 16th and 17th century but was severely decayed by the early 18th century.
The new St. Mary le Strand was the first of the fifty new churches built in London under the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches
Commission for Building Fifty New Churches
The Commission for Building Fifty New Churches was an organisation set up by Act of Parliament in England in 1711, with the purpose of building fifty new churches for the rapidly growing conurbation of London...
, at a cost of some £16,000. Construction began in February 1714 under the architect James Gibbs
James Gibbs
James Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...
, being his first major project following his return from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The steeple was completed in September 1717, but the church was not consecrated for use until 1 January 1723, when Rev. John Heylyn
John Heylyn
John Heylyn was an Anglican divine, who had a major influence on religious thought in eighteenth century England. Because of his interest in mysticism he was known as the Mystic Doctor....
became first rector of the rebuilt church. Bonnie Prince Charlie is alleged to have renounced his Roman Catholic faith in the church to become an Anglican during a secret visit to London in 1750. John Dickens
John Dickens
John Dickens was the father of English novelist Charles Dickens and was the model for Mr Micawber in his son's semi-autobiographical novel David Copperfield.-Biography:...
and Elizabeth Barrow
Elizabeth Dickens
Elizabeth Culliford Dickens was the wife of John Dickens and the mother of English novelist Charles Dickens. She was the source for Mrs...
, the parents of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, were married here in 1809.
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
proposed to demolish the church to widen the Strand; a campaign involving the artist Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
succeeded in averting this, although the graveyard was obliterated and the graves moved to Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in western Europe.-History:...
. The London Blitz of the Second World War caused much damage to the surrounding area but again the church avoided destruction, though it did suffer damage from a nearby bomb explosion.
Architecture
The architecture of St. Mary le Strand proved controversial from the outset and the architect later expressed unhappiness at the way that his plans had been altered by the Commissioners. According to Gibbs, the church was originally intended to be an Italianate structure with a small campanileCampanile
Campanile is an Italian word meaning "bell tower" . The term applies to bell towers which are either part of a larger building or free-standing, although in American English, the latter meaning has become prevalent.The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa...
over the west end and no steeple. Instead of the latter, a column 250 feet (76 m) high surmounted with a statue of Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
was to have been erected a short distance to the west of the church. A great quantity of stone was purchased and brought to the spot, but the plan was abandoned on the death of the queen in 1714. Instead, the architect was ordered to reuse the stone to build a steeple, which fundamentally altered the plan of the church. Gibbs explained:
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
ornamentation of the exterior was criticised at the time, and matters were not helped when one of the decorative urns surmounting the exterior of the church fell off and killed a passer-by during a procession in 1802. The prominent situation of the church has also been problematic; even in the 18th century, parishioners complained of the traffic noise.
Even so, the church — Gibbs' first public building — won him considerable fame. The interior of the structure is richly decorated with a plastered ceiling in white and gold, with a ceiling inspired by Luigi Fontana
Luigi Fontana
Luigi Fontana was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect. He is the father of Lucio Fontana.He was born at Monte San Pietrangeli, in the Marche, and was a pupil of Gaetano Palmaroli...
's work in the church of Santi Apostoli
Santi Apostoli
The Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles is a 6th century Roman Catholic parish and titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, dedicated originally to St. James and St. Philip and later to all Apostles...
and Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona, by the name of Pietro Berrettini, born Pietro Berrettini da Cortona, was the leading Italian Baroque painter of his time and also one of the key architects in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was also an important decorator...
's Santi Luca e Martina
Santi Luca e Martina
Santi Luca e Martina is a church in Rome, Italy, situated between the Roman Forum and the Forum of Caesar and close to the Arch of Septimus Severus.-History:...
, both in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. The porch was inspired by Cortona's Santa Maria della Pace
Santa Maria della Pace
Santa Maria della Pace is a church in Rome, central Italy, not far from Piazza Navona.The current building was built on the foundations of the pre-existing church of Sant'Andrea de Aquarizariis in 1482, commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV. The church was rededicated to the Virgin Mary to remember a...
. The walls were influenced by Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
and the steeple shows the influence of Sir Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
.
External links
- Website at stmarylestrand.org
- Hidden London
- Mystery Worshipper Report at the Ship of Fools websiteShip of Fools (website)Ship of Fools is a UK-based Christian website. It was first launched as a magazine in 1977. The magazine folded in 1983 and was resurrected as a website on April Fool's Day, 1998. Subtitled "the magazine of Christian unrest", Ship of Fools pokes fun and asks critical questions about the Christian...
- Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret)