The
Commission for Building Fifty New Churches (in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
and the surroundings) was an organisation set up by
Act of ParliamentAn act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament....
in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1711, with the purpose of building fifty new churches for the rapidly growing conurbation of London. It did not achieve its target, but did build a number of churches, which would become known as the
Queen Anne Churches.
The specific enactment was the
New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710 (9 Anne c.
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The
Commission for Building Fifty New Churches (in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
and the surroundings) was an organisation set up by
Act of ParliamentAn act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament....
in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1711, with the purpose of building fifty new churches for the rapidly growing conurbation of London. It did not achieve its target, but did build a number of churches, which would become known as the
Queen Anne Churches.
The specific enactment was the
New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710 (9 Anne c. 17).
Churches built
Most of the churches were designed by
Nicholas HawksmoorNicholas Hawksmoor was a British architect born to a humble family in Nottinghamshire.His career formed the brilliant middle link in Britain's trio of great baroque architects...
, with John James,
Thomas ArcherThomas Archer was an English Baroque architect, whose work is somewhat overshadowed by that of his contemporaries Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Archer was born at Umberslade Hall in Tanworth-in-Arden in Warwickshire, the youngest son of Thomas Archer, a country gentleman, Parliamentary...
and
James GibbsJames Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...
also participating.
- Christ Church Spitalfields
Christ Church, Spitalfields is an Anglican church built between 1714 and 1729 to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor. Situated on Commercial Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, on the eastern border and facing the City of London, it was one of the first of the so-called "Commissioners'...
Hawksmoor 1714-29
- St Alfege's Church, Greenwich
St Alfege Church is a Church of England place of worship in the town centre of Greenwich in the eponymous London Borough.-History:The church is dedicated to, and reputedly marks the place where Alfege , Archbishop of Canterbury, was killed by Viking raiders on 19 April 1012.The second church built...
Hawksmoor 1712-18
- St Anne Limehouse Hawksmoor 1714-30
- St. George's Church, Bloomsbury
St George's Church, Bloomsbury is a parish church in Bloomsbury, London Borough of Camden, United Kingdom.-History:The Commissioners for the Fifty New Churches Act of 1711 realised that, due to rapid development in the Bloomsbury area during the latter part of the 17th and early part of the 18th...
Hawksmoor 1716-31
- St George in the East
St George in the East is an Anglican Church and one of six Hawksmoor churches in London, England, built from 1714 to 1729, with funding from the 1711 Act of Parliament...
Hawksmoor 1714-29
- St George's, Hanover Square James 1720-25
- St John Horsleydown
St John Horsleydown was the Anglican parish church of Horsleydown in Bermondsey, London.It was built between June 1727 and 1733 , as one of the last churches built for the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches...
Hawksmoor and James 1727-33
- St. John's, Smith Square
St John's, Smith Square is a church in the middle of Smith Square, Westminster, London. Sold to a charitable Trust as a ruin following firebombing in World War II, it was restored, the internal layout altered somewhat, and is now used as a concert hall....
Archer 1713-28
- St Luke Old Street
St Luke is a historic Anglican church building in the London Borough of Islington. It is now used as a concert hall by the London Symphony Orchestra and known as LSO St Luke's.- History :...
Hawksmoor and James 1727-33
- St Mary le Strand Gibbs 1714-23
- St Paul Deptford Archer 1713-30
St Mary WoolnothSt. Mary Woolnoth is an Anglican church in the City of London, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, located on the corner of Lombard Street and King William Street near the Bank of England.- Early history :...
was rebuilt from 1716-24.
The Commission funded in part five other churches – St George Gravesend,
St George the Martyr SouthwarkSt George the Martyr is a church in the historic Borough district of south London. It lies within the modern day London Borough of Southwark on Borough High Street at the junction with Long Lane, Marshalsea Road, and Tabard Street....
,
St Giles in the FieldsSt Giles in the Fields is a church in the London Borough of Camden, in the West End. It is close to the Centre Point office tower and the Tottenham Court Road tube station. The church is part of the Diocese of London within the Church of England...
,
St Mary Magdalen WoolwichSt Mary Magdalen Woolwich is an Anglican church dedicated to Mary Magdalen in Woolwich, sited at the extremity of a spur reaching northwards towards the Thames...
and
St Michael, CornhillSt Michael, Cornhill is a medieval parish church in the City of London with pre-Norman Conquest parochial foundation. The medieval structure was lost in the Great Fire of London and the current church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren between 1670-1677....
. It bought and altered
St George the Martyr HolbornSt George the Martyr Holborn is an Anglican church located at the south end of Queen Square, Holborn, London Borough of Camden. It is dedicated to Saint George, and is so-called to distinguish it from the later nearby church of St...
and bought
St John ClerkenwellSt John Clerkenwell is a parish church in Clerkenwell, London. It is housed in a rebuild of the old Priory church of Clerkenwell Priory , purchased by the fifty new churches....
.