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St Anne's Church, Limehouse |
| St Anne's Church, built by Nicholas Hawksmoor, was one of fifty churches
built in and around London under the 1711 act. The money for the construction of all these
churches was to be raised by a tax on seaborne coal landed in the Port of London or the
River Thames. The vast majority of London's seaborne coal was in fact landed at the
riverside parishes and hamlets of Stepney, Limehouse, Ratcliffe, Shadwell and Wapping. The foundations of St Anne's Church were laid out, in open fields, in 1712 and the building work was completed in 1725 at the cost of £35,000. It is a very big church with a large churchyard, despite one of it's corners being removed when Commercial Road was built in the 1830s. Although the church was completed, St Anne's remained unused for several years. In May 1729 St Anne's became a separate Parish and the church was finally consecrated on 22nd September 1729. The most striking feature of the church is it's tower which dominates (even today!) the surrounding area and became a landmark for every ship entering the Pool of London. Some people believed that the tower resembles a ship in full sail; if so, it would be in keeping with the strong connections that 'Limehouse Church', as it is also known, had with it's strong maritime community. On Good Friday, 29th March 1850, at 7 a.m., a fire was discovered in the roof of the church. The church bells were rung and people came to see what they could do to help, but all they could do was to stand watch helplessly as it burned. Three hours later the roof collapsed, leaving only the stone walls and tower standing. These were found to be sound and a new interior was built. The church was reconsecrated on 26th April 1857. Now the church had a Georgian exterior and a Victorian interior. The new organ had originally been built for the Great Exhibition of 1851 and is still in use today. St Anne's was also badly damaged during the blitz and the large crypt was used as an air-raid shelter. Recently the stonework has been restored and cleaned up once again; the tower has been given a new flag pole and four new clock faces, which were once the highest of their kind in the country. |
