List of churches in London
London has many famous churches and cathedrals, in a density unmatched anywhere else in England. Before the Great Fire of London in 1666, the City of London alone had over 107 churches in an area of only one square mile (2.6 km²). Of the 86 destroyed by the Fire, 51 were rebuilt along with St Paul's Cathedral. The majority have traditionally been regarded as the work of Sir Christopher Wren, but although their rebuilding was entrusted primarily to him, the role of his various associates, including Robert Hooke and Nicholas Hawksmoor especially, is currently being reassessed and given greater emphasis. The designs of the Wren office have provided a benchmark for church architecture ever since. Their character of pragmatism and fitness for purpose combined with a joyous inventiveness do seem to reflect Wren's personality in particular.
Wren also designed a number of churches outside the City, including St. James's Piccadilly and St. Clement Danes. After Wren, Hawksmoor was by common consent London's most significant church architect, being responsible in his own right for six great churches of which most still stand in the East End of London.
London's churches are extraordinarily numerous and diverse. Most lie in the Diocese of London to the north and the Diocese of Southwark to the south. There are still some two thousand churches across the capital, of every age and style, to the design and evolution of which at least six hundred different architects have made contributions. Although many were lost entirely or in part to 19th century demolitions and bombing in the Second World War, London's churches are still renowned worldwide for their historical and architectural value.
Today, London's greatest concentrations of historic churches and cathedrals are in the City of London and the neighbouring City of Westminster.
A number of the churches are mentioned in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons.
Camden
- All Saints, Camden Town (originally St Stephen's, and now All Saints Greek Orthodox Cathedral)
- St George's, Bloomsbury
- St John's Chapel, Bedford Row
- St Pancras New Church
- St Pancras Old Church
- Whitefield's Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road
City of London
- All Hallows-by-the-Tower
- All Hallows-on-the-Wall (1767)
- All Hallows, Staining (partly destroyed)
- Christ Church, Greyfriars (also known as Christ Church Newgate - partly destroyed)
- St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe (1695)
- St Andrew, Holborn (1690)
- St Andrew Undershaft (1532)
- St Anne and St Agnes (1680)
- St Augustine, Watling Street (partly destroyed)
- St Bartholomew-the-Great (12th century)
- St Bartholomew-the-Less
- St Benet, Paul's Wharf (also known as St Benet Welsh Church) (1683)
- St Botolph-without-Aldersgate (1791)
- St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate (1729)
- St Bride's, Fleet Street (1698)
- St Clement, Eastcheap (1687)
- St Dunstan-in-the-East (partly destroyed)
- St Dunstan-in-the-West (1833)
- St Edmund, King & Martyr (1679)
- St Ethelburga, Bishopsgate (1411?)
- St Etheldreda, Ely Place (1251)
- St Giles' Cripplegate (c.1550)
- St Helen's, Bishopsgate (13th century)
- St James, Garlickhythe (1683)
- St Katherine Cree (1631)
- St Lawrence Jewry (1687)
- St Magnus the Martyr (1676)
- St Margaret Lothbury (1690)
- St Margaret Pattens (1687)
- St Martin, Ludgate (1684)
- St Mary Abchurch (1686)
- St Mary Aldermary (1682)
- St Mary-at-Hill (1676)
- St Mary-le-Bow (Bow Church) (1683)
- St Mary Woolnoth (1727)
- St Michael, Cornhill (1672)
- St Michael, Paternoster Royal (1694)
- St Nicholas, Cole Abbey (1677)
- St Olave, Hart Street (c.1450)
- St Paul's Cathedral
- St Peter upon Cornhill (1682)
- St Sepulchre-without-Newgate (also known as Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Holborn))
- St Stephen Walbrook (1677)
- St Vedast alias Foster (1673)
- Temple Church (12th century)
East End of London
- Christ Church, Spitalfields
- Church of Good Shepherd
- St Anne's Limehouse
- St Dunstan's, Stepney
- St George in the East
Greenwich
Rotherhithe
Southwark
- St George's Cathedral - Roman Catholic
- St George the Martyr (1122}
- Southwark Cathedral (St Saviour & St Mary Overie) (1220) - Church of England
- Metropolitan Tabernacle
Westminster
- All Saints, Margaret Street (1859)
- All Souls, Langham Place (1824)
- Crown Court Church (1711, rebuilt 1909) - Church of Scotland
- St Clement Danes (1682)
- St George's, Hanover Square (1724)
- St James's, Piccadilly (1684)
- St Margaret's, Westminster (1523; orig. 12th century)
- St Martin-in-the-Fields (1726)
- St Mary-le-Strand (1717)
- St Paul's, Covent Garden (1638)
- Westminster Abbey (parts 1065; orig. 616)
- Westminster Cathedral (1903)
Churches which do not meet in traditional Church buildings
Growing numbers of London churches do not own their own buildings. Many meet in schools or community halls. Some of the more unusual venues include:-
- Vinopolis, home of Christ Church London
- Hillsongs meets at the Dominion Theatre
- One charismatic / pentecostal church meets in London's largest multiplex cinema.
External links
- Churches and their famous residents
- Diocese of London and Diocesan Advisory Committee (Church of England)
- Friends of the City Churches (City of London churches)
- Love's Guide to the Church Bells of the City of London