St Anne's Limehouse is a Hawksmoor

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

, in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

. It was consecrated in 1730, one of the twelve churches built through the 1711 Act of Parliament.

History

St Anne's Limehouse was formed by the ( 3 Geo. 2. c. 17) from part of the parish of

St Dunstan's, Stepney St Dunstan's, Stepney, is an Anglican church located in Stepney High Street, Stepney, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The church is believed to have been founded, or re-founded, in AD 952 by St Dunstan, the patron saint of bell ringers, ...

, prior to the 18th century a large (but then thinly populated) East London parish that extended all the way down to the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

. As the population of London increased, growing parishes were subdivided. In 1709 a new parish in Limehouse was formed from part of the parish of St. Dunstan. The church may have been named after Queen Anne as she raised money for it by taxing coal passing along the River Thames. The building was designed by

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor ( – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principal architects ...

, as one of twelve churches built to serve the needs of the rapidly expanding population of London in the 18th century. The scheme never approached its ambitious target of 50 churches, but those built were also known as the Queen Anne Churches. The building was completed in 1727 and consecrated in 1730. The church was built by Edward Strong the Younger a friend of

Christopher Wren the Younger Christopher Wren (1675–1747), of Wroxall Abbey, Warwickshire was a Parliament of Great Britain, Member of Parliament and the son of the architect Sir Christopher Wren. Life Wren was the second but first surviving son of Sir Christopher Wren an ...

. Queen Anne decreed that as the new church was close to the river it would be a convenient place of registry for sea captains to register vital events taking place at sea. Therefore, she gave St. Anne's Church the right to display the second most senior ensign of the Royal Navy, the

White Ensign The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign because of the simultaneous existence of a crossless version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cr ...

. The prominent tower with its golden ball on the flagpole became a

Trinity House The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House (and formally as The Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St Clement in the ...

"sea mark" on navigational charts, and the Queen's Regulations still permit St. Anne's Limehouse to display the White Ensign 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The church was gutted by fire on

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

1850, and

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

between 1851 and 1854 by

Philip Hardwick Philip Hardwick (15 June 1792 in London – 28 December 1870) was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch ...

. It was further restored by Julian Harrap between 1983 and 1993, when tubular steel trusses were added to support the roof. The church was

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1950. St Anne's underwent extensive restoration during 2007–2009, including complete restoration of the organ and work on the altar and floor. The original 1741 pipe organ, destroyed in the 1850 fire, was by Richard Bridge, modified by William Russell in 1799. The replacement organ, by

Gray and Davison Gray & Davison was a large-scale manufacturer of church and cathedral pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboar ...

, won first prize in the

Great Exhibition of 1851 Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

at Crystal Palace, and is much prized by musicians. In 2009, the church became the main rehearsal venue for the recently formed Docklands Sinfonia, and occasionally hosts classical concerts. Today, the church remains the parish church of Limehouse, and is within the

Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames, covering and all or part of 17 London boroughs. This corresponds almost exactly to the historic county of ...

After the churchyard closed to burials, it was converted to public gardens with the assistance of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. The garden was laid out by the Association's landscape gardener Fanny Wilkinson. She retained the notable stone pyramid by Hawksmoor, dating from 1730 and bearing the inscription "The wisdom of Solomon". Also located within the churchyard is a 1918 white stone war memorial with bronze figure of Christ. They are separately Grade II listed.

Present day

St Anne's is within the

Conservative Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian go ...

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

of the Church of England, and it is under the extended episcopal oversight of the Bishop of Maidstone. It describes itself as, "A genuinely mixed East End Church with a passion for straightforward Bible teaching."

Location

The church is next door to

Limehouse Town Hall Limehouse Town Hall is a former town hall building on Commercial Road, in Limehouse, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a Grade II listed building. History The building was commissioned by the Limehouse Board of Works as a vestry h ...

and close to Limehouse Library, both Grade II listed buildings, the former now used as a community centre. Across the road is the former Sailors' Mission, where

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

held its conference in 1960. The address is: St Anne's Church, Three Colt Street, London E14 7HP The nearest Docklands Light Railway station is

Westferry Westferry is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Limehouse in London, England. It is located in Travelcard Zone 2. To the west is Limehouse station, whilst to the east the DLR splits, with one branch going to Poplar station and the ot ...

St Peter's Barge

With the redevelopment of the East London Docklands in the late 20th century, over 100,000 people work in the

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

estate, and a large part of this centre of business and finance lies within the parish of St Anne's Church. As a result, St Anne's began to run lunchtime meetings in pubs and

wine bar A wine bar is a tavern-like business focusing on selling wine, rather than liquor or beer. A typical feature of many wine bars is a wide selection of wines available by the glass. Some wine bars are profiled on wines of a certain type of origin, ...

s to reach out to those working in the Wharf. This effort developed with the support of St Helen's Bishopsgate, but further growth was hampered for lack of a permanent venue on the site, which has high property values. The idea to build a floating church was realised with the formation of the St Peter's Canary Wharf Trust and the purchase of a Dutch freight

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

in 2003. The barge was refitted in the Netherlands and brought across the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

under its own power in the summer of that year – a journey which was chronicled in a BBC documentary shown in the autumn. The barge now has a permanent

mooring A mooring is any permanent structure to which a seaborne vessel (such as a boat, ship, or amphibious aircraft) may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to ...

at the heart of the

West India Quay West India Quay is an area in the London Docklands, London, England. It is immediately to the north of the West India Docks and Canary Wharf. The warehouse at West India Quay was used to store imported goods from the West Indies, such as tea, su ...

area. A permanent full-time Church of England minister was appointed by the Trust in July 2004 and licensed by the area bishop to head the clergy. In September 2004 St Peter's launched a new Sunday evening congregation with its own programme of meetings and groups to serve the many thousands who now live in the area.St Peter's Barge: London's Floating Church. A Brief History.
1 May 2012.

References

External links

St Anne's Limehouse HomepageCare for St Anne'sSt Peter's Barge HomepageDiocese of LondonBBC Childhood Memory: St Anne's Church, Limehouse, during WW2Restoration of Gray & Davison's pipe organ case and carvings at St Anne's Limehouse Church in London
Laurent Robert, Woodcarver and cabinetmaker {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Annes Limehouse Churches completed in 1730