All Hawksmoor's churches are quirky. That's probably why I like them. St George's is perhaps the weirdest of all. Near the British Museum it might be expected to be on the tourist list. (Apparently some tourists even mistake it for the British Museum!)Alas it is more often passed by and the exterior can still give an air of neglect. Despite major resoration and reopening in 2006 it is often closed to visitors. The opening of a Comedy Museum underneath might have led it to be more often visited. It also contains a fascinating exhibition about the church.
It is the last and most complex of the 6 churches Hawksmoor designed in London.It is one of the churches built by the Commission of 1711 to provide for the expansion of London east and west. (12 were built in all from 1716 to 1731). I am not clear how it obtained its original appearance and why it was given a spire relating to the Mausoleum at Harlicarnassus with George I on top! It is so unlike Christchurch Spitalfields or St Mary Woolnoth. Mind you those are also unusual too to put it mildly!
The mighty portico at the front could have been modelled on the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbeck in the Lebanon.
Sir John Vanbrugh had earlier submitted a design in 1715 which had been accepted. It was a constricted site and a north south orientation seemed the best solution. Apparently the site was not yet paid for and Vanbrugh's plans were set aside in favour of those of Nicholas Hawksmoor. Work started in 1716 with a portico and entrance at the front at right angles to the axis of the church, spire at the side, and altar at the east end. By 1721 church and tower were at cornice level, ready to roof in 1723 and the steeple built 1724. Consecration came in 1731.
Hawksmoor had the altar in the east in an apse with a carved wooden reredos, and semi-dome enriched with cherubs, ears of wheat, mires, croziers, clouds and a pelican. When entering from the portico there was a gallery overhead and opposite. Parishioners also had a west gallery added later.In 1780 the orientation of the seating was moved north-south and the altar and reredos moved. In Victorian times more changes were made to accomodate the larger congregation. In the 1970s a decoration scheme also changedthe character of the interior.
It was ripe for restoration and the World Monuments Fund stepped in. Generous donations from the estate of Paul Mellon, the Heritage Lottery Fund, and many others have enabled World Monuments Fund to restore the building, enhancing its architectural significance and enabling greatly enhanced use by both the local community and many others.
For more detail and excellent photos see the
World Monuments Fund site.
If you are fortunate enough to get inside today you are in for a treat. This interior has real splendour and atmosphere.A splendid 17th century chandelier from a church in the Netherlands on long loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum enlightens the nave. The reredos from Hawksmoor's time is back in the east end. Made of West Indian mahogany it depicts John the Baptist, St Philip, and the Holy Family. A joy to see rather than the customary Ten Commandments in our London Baroque churches!
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| The tip of the spire with Georege ! just appearing at th top of SDhaftesbury Avenue |
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| The grandiose front of St George's |
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| The portico |
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| Looking out |
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| The majestic interior |
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| View as you enter |
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| Into the vault |
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| View down toward the altar and reredos |
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| The reredos |
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| THe 18th century pulpit |
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| View from altar back toward the tower |
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| View in 1799 Temple at Baalbek |
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| These plans show how the internal layout was altered from Hawkesmoor's original intentions so that the altar was on the north wall facing you as yiu enter and the galleries were over the west and east sides. This has been reversed and what you see today is the altar resored in the east side and seating west to east. |
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