St Alfege, Greenwich

I must have been to Greenwich 50 times but had  never been into the large 18th century which greets visitors coming from the old railway station into the town. Maybe it had been locked, and the entrance is at the back as you walk along the street.... Yes I am trying to find excuses and I had known it was Hawksmoor for several years...... Maybe I read that it was badly damaged in the war.....Also maybe the lure of the nearby Royal Naval College, with its Chapel and Painted Hall- just about the finest Baroque in England- had always been too strong.

Yet here we have Hawksmoor's first church, built 1712-14. The collapse of the roof in a severe storm in 1710 had led to the Commission for the Rebuilding of 50 New Churches and therefore Greenwich benefitted from this. Hawksmoor's design broke new ground in English church architecture. His projected tower was never built however.  Instead the old medieval one was recased and in 1730, after public lobbying, a new exterior and steeple by John James were added.A pity because the original Hawsmoor design was stronger with the octagonal lantern that appeared later at St George-in-the-East.

The inreior was badly damaged in the blitz but skilfully restored. There are galleries on three sides. Original Grinling Gibbon s woodwork has survived in the chancel and in the west entry. The Gibbons pulpit was lost and replaced by a smaller version.It seems a large intrior and almost square.

More interesting to me is the dedication to St Alfege. Forgive this digression : I am a resident of St Albans place of the protomartyr in England! I knew nothing of Alfege the Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury, who was taken hostage by the Danes in 1012 after they had burnt his cathedral. (I guess its not a very glorious part of our history so we dont talk about it much - how fairly soon after the Danes conquered us and King Canute the Dane was in charge,,,,)Thy took Alfege to Greenwich and wanted to ransom him for 3000 gold marks. He refused to be ransomed and therefore was martyred here in Greenwich. There was a comemoration of the martyrdom in 2012, see here  and there is a commemorative plaque in the church infroont of the chancel.

Alfege was formerly Bishop of Winchester and while there in the late 10th century installed the famous organ which was said to be audible over a mile away and needed 24 men to operate! There may be some exaggeration here.

The church is also famous because Thomas Tallis and his wife Joan are said to be buried under the chancel. Apparently he lived in nearby Stockwell Street and was active in the church building that was here  in the 16th century. He died in 1585. There is an organ console at the back of the church which his fingers may have touched (now in a glass case...)

Finally General James Wolfe of Quebec (d.1759) fame was buried in the crypt here.

So the Hawksmoor connection is only the start of the fascinating history of this notable building.

Chancel with Gibbons woodwork

Remember St Alfege

The Tallis organ console