St Paul's, Covent Garden
Encyclopedia
St Paul's Church, also commonly known as the Actors' Church, is a church designed by Inigo Jones
as part of a commission by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford
in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fitt for the habitacons of Gentlemen and men of ability" in Covent Garden
, London
, England.
As well as being the parish church
of Covent Garden, the church gained its nickname by a long association with the theatre
community.
, and redevelop it. The result was the Covent Garden Piazza, the first formal square in London.The new buildings were classical in character. At the west end was a church, linked to two identical houses. The south side was left open.
St Paul's was the first entirely new church to be built in London since the reformation. The design of the church, and the layout of the square, has been attributed to Inigo Jones since the seventeenth century, although firm documentary evidence is lacking. According to an often repeated story, recorded by Horace Walpole, the Earl of Bedford asked Jones to design a simple church "not much better than a barn", to which the architect replied "Then you
shall have the handsomest barn in Europe".
Work on the church was completed in 1633, at a cost of to Bedford estate of £4,886, but it was not consecrated until 1638 due to a dispute between the earl and the vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields. It remained a chapel within the parish of St Martin-in the -Fields until 1645, when Covent Garden was made a separate parish and the church dedicated to St Paul.
The building is described by John Summerson
as " a study in the strictly Vitruvian Tuscan Order". It has been seen as a work of deliberate primitivism: Summerson also points out that the Tuscan order
is one associated by Palladio with agricultural buildings.
The earliest existing detailed description, dating from 1708, says that the exterior was not of bare brick, but rendered with stucco . In 1789 it was decided to case the walls in Portland stone
as part of a major programme of renovation, which Thomas Hardwick
was chosen to supervise. At the same time the tiled roof was replaced with slate, the dormer windows, added in the 1640s, were removed, and the archways flanking the church, originally of stuccoed brick, were replaced with stone replicas. When Hardwick's stone facing was removed from the church in 1888; it was found to be a thin covering averaging two-and-a-half to three inches thick, poorly bonded to the brick. The building was then reclad in the present unrendered red brick.
There were originally six or seven steps leading up to the portico, but these disappeared as the level of the Piazza was raised gradually over the years. By 1823 there were only two steps visible, and none by 1887.
The church was burnt out by a fire, accidentally started by workmen on the roof in September 1795. A survey of the damage found that the outer walls had survived structurally sound, but that the portico would have to be reconstructed. It is unclear whether this was in fact done. The church was restored, again under the supervision of Thomas Hardwick, and reconsecrated, on 1 August 1798.
The puritan Thomas Manton
ministered from the pulpit of St Paul's until the Great Ejection
. On 23 September 1662 Simon Patrick
, later bishop of Ely, was preferred to the rectory of St. Paul’s where he served during the plague.
The first known victim of the 1665–1666 outbreak of the Plague
in England, Margaret Ponteous, was buried in the churchyard on 12 April 1665. In 1788 Thomas Hardwick
began a major restoration. However, in 1795 there was a terrible fire. Although much was destroyed, the parish records were saved, as was the pulpit
— the work of Grinling Gibbons
.
St Paul's connection with the theatre began as early as 1663 with the establishment of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
, and was further assured in 1723 with the opening of Covent Garden Theatre, now the Royal Opera House
.
On 9 May 1662, Samuel Pepys
noted in his diary the first "Italian puppet play" under the portico — the first recorded performance of "Punch and Judy
", a fact commemorated by the annual MayFayre service in May.
and dramatist W. S. Gilbert
(of Gilbert and Sullivan
fame), were both baptised at St Paul's. Among those buried at St Paul's are Samuel Butler
, Grinling Gibbons
, Sir Peter Lely, Thomas Arne (composer of "Rule Britannia") and the Australian conductor Sir Charles Mackerras. The ashes of Dame Ellen Terry
and Dame Edith Evans
rest in St Paul's. Memorials in the church are dedicated to many famous personalities of the 20th century, including Charlie Chaplin
, Noel Coward
, Gracie Fields
, Stanley Holloway
, Boris Karloff
, Vivien Leigh
and Ivor Novello
. The Avenue of Stars
, which commemorated many notable figures and groups from the entertainment industry, formerly passed outside the church.
There is also a Memorial plaque to Music Hall Star Bransby Williams 1870-1961, which was unveiled by Sir Michael Redgrave.
The portico of St Paul's was the setting for the first scene of
Shaw's
Pygmalion
, the play that was later adapted as the musical My Fair Lady
.
The church is surrounded by an award-winning graveyard garden, providing an area of tranquillity within busy central London
.
In 2002, the church hosted the first of two weddings (the other one was held in Los Angeles
) for famous musicians Gwen Stefani
and Gavin Rossdale
.
(OSP) is a professional chamber orchestra resident at the Actors' Church. In addition to a concert series in Covent Garden, the Orchestra of St Paul's gives regular performances all around the UK and makes annual visits to the Southbank Centre and St John's, Smith Square. The orchestra's musical director is Ben Palmer and its patron is Sir Roger Norrington.
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
as part of a commission by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford
Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford
Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford PC was an English politician. About 1631 he built the square of Covent Garden, with the piazza and church of St. Paul's, employing Inigo Jones as his architect...
in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fitt for the habitacons of Gentlemen and men of ability" in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, 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...
, England.
As well as being the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of Covent Garden, the church gained its nickname by a long association with the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
community.
History
In 1630, the fourth Earl of Bedford was given permission to demolish buildings on an area of land he owned north of the StrandStrand
A strand is a beach, a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles along the shoreline of a body of water.Strand or "the Strand" may also refer to:-Geography:British Isles...
, and redevelop it. The result was the Covent Garden Piazza, the first formal square in London.The new buildings were classical in character. At the west end was a church, linked to two identical houses. The south side was left open.
St Paul's was the first entirely new church to be built in London since the reformation. The design of the church, and the layout of the square, has been attributed to Inigo Jones since the seventeenth century, although firm documentary evidence is lacking. According to an often repeated story, recorded by Horace Walpole, the Earl of Bedford asked Jones to design a simple church "not much better than a barn", to which the architect replied "Then you
shall have the handsomest barn in Europe".
Work on the church was completed in 1633, at a cost of to Bedford estate of £4,886, but it was not consecrated until 1638 due to a dispute between the earl and the vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields. It remained a chapel within the parish of St Martin-in the -Fields until 1645, when Covent Garden was made a separate parish and the church dedicated to St Paul.
The building is described by John Summerson
John Summerson
Sir John Newenham Summerson CH CBE was one of the leading British architectural historians of the 20th century....
as " a study in the strictly Vitruvian Tuscan Order". It has been seen as a work of deliberate primitivism: Summerson also points out that the Tuscan order
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
is one associated by Palladio with agricultural buildings.
The earliest existing detailed description, dating from 1708, says that the exterior was not of bare brick, but rendered with stucco . In 1789 it was decided to case the walls in Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
as part of a major programme of renovation, which Thomas Hardwick
Thomas Hardwick
Thomas Hardwick was a British architect and a founding member of the Architect's Club in 1791.-Early life and career :Hardwick was born in Brentford, the son of a master mason turned architect also named Thomas Hardwick Thomas Hardwick (1752–1829) was a British architect and a founding...
was chosen to supervise. At the same time the tiled roof was replaced with slate, the dormer windows, added in the 1640s, were removed, and the archways flanking the church, originally of stuccoed brick, were replaced with stone replicas. When Hardwick's stone facing was removed from the church in 1888; it was found to be a thin covering averaging two-and-a-half to three inches thick, poorly bonded to the brick. The building was then reclad in the present unrendered red brick.
There were originally six or seven steps leading up to the portico, but these disappeared as the level of the Piazza was raised gradually over the years. By 1823 there were only two steps visible, and none by 1887.
The church was burnt out by a fire, accidentally started by workmen on the roof in September 1795. A survey of the damage found that the outer walls had survived structurally sound, but that the portico would have to be reconstructed. It is unclear whether this was in fact done. The church was restored, again under the supervision of Thomas Hardwick, and reconsecrated, on 1 August 1798.
The puritan Thomas Manton
Thomas Manton
Thomas Manton was an English Puritan clergyman.-Life:Thomas Manton was baptized March 31, 1620 at Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, a remote southwestern portion of England. His grammar school education was possibly at Blundell's School, in Tiverton, Devon...
ministered from the pulpit of St Paul's until the Great Ejection
Act of Uniformity 1662
The Act of Uniformity was an Act of the Parliament of England, 13&14 Ch.2 c. 4 ,The '16 Charles II c. 2' nomenclature is reference to the statute book of the numbered year of the reign of the named King in the stated chapter...
. On 23 September 1662 Simon Patrick
Simon Patrick
Simon Patrick was an English theologian and bishop.-Life:He was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, on 8 September 1626, and attended Boston Grammar School. He entered Queens College, Cambridge, in 1644, and after taking orders in 1651 became successively chaplain to Sir Walter St. John and vicar...
, later bishop of Ely, was preferred to the rectory of St. Paul’s where he served during the plague.
The first known victim of the 1665–1666 outbreak of the Plague
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
in England, Margaret Ponteous, was buried in the churchyard on 12 April 1665. In 1788 Thomas Hardwick
Thomas Hardwick
Thomas Hardwick was a British architect and a founding member of the Architect's Club in 1791.-Early life and career :Hardwick was born in Brentford, the son of a master mason turned architect also named Thomas Hardwick Thomas Hardwick (1752–1829) was a British architect and a founding...
began a major restoration. However, in 1795 there was a terrible fire. Although much was destroyed, the parish records were saved, as was the pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
— the work of Grinling Gibbons
Grinling Gibbons
Grinling Gibbons was an English sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including St Paul's Cathedral, Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court Palace. He was born and educated in Holland where his father was a merchant...
.
St Paul's connection with the theatre began as early as 1663 with the establishment of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, and was further assured in 1723 with the opening of Covent Garden Theatre, now the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
.
On 9 May 1662, Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
noted in his diary the first "Italian puppet play" under the portico — the first recorded performance of "Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring the characters of Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character...
", a fact commemorated by the annual MayFayre service in May.
Baptisms, burials and memorials
The artist J. M. W. TurnerJ. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
and dramatist W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
(of Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
fame), were both baptised at St Paul's. Among those buried at St Paul's are Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler (poet)
Samuel Butler was a poet and satirist. Born in Strensham, Worcestershire and baptised 14 February 1613, he is remembered now chiefly for a long satirical burlesque poem on Puritanism entitled Hudibras.-Biography:...
, Grinling Gibbons
Grinling Gibbons
Grinling Gibbons was an English sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including St Paul's Cathedral, Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court Palace. He was born and educated in Holland where his father was a merchant...
, Sir Peter Lely, Thomas Arne (composer of "Rule Britannia") and the Australian conductor Sir Charles Mackerras. The ashes of Dame Ellen Terry
Ellen Terry
Dame Ellen Terry, GBE was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Among the members of her famous family is her great nephew, John Gielgud....
and Dame Edith Evans
Edith Evans
Dame Edith Mary Evans, DBE was a British actress. She was known for her work on the British stage. She also appeared in a number of films, for which she received three Academy Award nominations, plus a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award.Evans was particularly effective at portraying haughty...
rest in St Paul's. Memorials in the church are dedicated to many famous personalities of the 20th century, including Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, Gracie Fields
Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...
, Stanley Holloway
Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady...
, Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
and Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello
David Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
. The Avenue of Stars
Avenue of Stars, London
The Avenue of Stars was London's version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It opened in 2005 with one hundred names.The Avenue of Stars was a walkway through Covent Garden passing St Paul's Church, commonly known as the "Actors' Church". It honoured individuals or groups from the entertainment...
, which commemorated many notable figures and groups from the entertainment industry, formerly passed outside the church.
There is also a Memorial plaque to Music Hall Star Bransby Williams 1870-1961, which was unveiled by Sir Michael Redgrave.
The portico of St Paul's was the setting for the first scene of
Shaw's
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
, the play that was later adapted as the musical My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
.
The church is surrounded by an award-winning graveyard garden, providing an area of tranquillity within busy central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
.
In 2002, the church hosted the first of two weddings (the other one was held in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
) for famous musicians Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
and Gavin Rossdale
Gavin Rossdale
Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush as well as an actor. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He...
.
Orchestra
The Orchestra of St Paul'sOrchestra of St Paul's
The Orchestra of St Paul's is a professional chamber orchestra resident at the famous Actors' Church in Covent Garden. In addition to a concert series in Covent Garden, the Orchestra of St Paul's gives regular performances all around the UK and makes annual visits to the Southbank Centre and St...
(OSP) is a professional chamber orchestra resident at the Actors' Church. In addition to a concert series in Covent Garden, the Orchestra of St Paul's gives regular performances all around the UK and makes annual visits to the Southbank Centre and St John's, Smith Square. The orchestra's musical director is Ben Palmer and its patron is Sir Roger Norrington.
See also
- List of churches and cathedrals of London
- Crown Court ChurchCrown Court ChurchA Scottish Presbyterian congregation was first established in London during the reign of King James I of England and VI of Scots, following the Union of the Crowns in 1603...
- located nearby - Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic ChurchSaint Malachy's Roman Catholic ChurchSaint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church is in Manhattan on West 49th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Parishioners have included Bob Hope and Gregory Peck.-History:...
, New York City, also known as Actors' Church - St. Lawrence's Church, Mereworth - partly modelled on this church.
External links
- St Paul's, Covent Garden entry from the Survey of LondonSurvey of LondonThe Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of the former County of London. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an Arts-and-Crafts architect and social thinker, and was motivated by a desire to record and preserve London's ancient monuments...
- 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...
- Orchestra of St Paul's
- Actors' Church
- Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret)